You receive two offers in the same week. A developer role in Amsterdam at €72,000 gross. A developer role in Madrid at €72,000 gross. Same number. Very different take-home.
Not because of tax — though that also varies. Because the Dutch employer and the Spanish employer mean different things when they write “€72,000.” EU countries mandate different extras on top of base salary, and the convention for whether those extras are included in a headline number or added on top differs between countries. Evaluating an offer without knowing this leaves money on the table — or creates a surprise in January when the “bonus” you thought was extra turns out to be what you were already counting.
Here is the country-by-country breakdown for the six countries where Xeito users most frequently apply.
Spain: Two mandatory extras, always in the headline number
The Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Art. 31) requires employers to pay at least two pagas extraordinarias (extraordinary pays) per year — one in June and one at Christmas. The minimum value of each is one month’s base salary.
What this means for your offer: Spanish salaries are almost universally quoted as salario bruto anual, the total annual gross. A €42,000 annual salary is exactly €42,000 — not €42,000 plus two extra months. The extras are baked in. Your employer will pay the annual total divided across either 14 installments (12 regular months + 2 extras in June and December) or, if the extras are prorated, 12 equal monthly payments of €3,500.
How to confirm: Ask “¿El salario está en 12 o en 14 pagas?” (Is the salary in 12 or 14 payments?). If 14, each monthly payment is lower but the two extras land as a windfall in summer and December. If 12, the extras are built into each monthly paycheck.
Practical impact: A Spanish offer is not hiding anything — the headline is the ceiling. Budget against the annual gross, not a 14× multiplier.
Netherlands: Vakantiegeld is almost always on top
Dutch law (Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag) requires employers to pay a vakantiegeld (holiday allowance) of at least 8% of the employee’s annual gross salary. This is paid in addition to regular salary, typically in May or June as a lump sum.
For a €72,000 gross salary, that is approximately €5,760 in vacation pay — bringing total annual remuneration to around €77,760.
The critical difference from Spain: Dutch employers routinely quote the base salary without including vakantiegeld. A job posting that says “€72,000 gross” almost always means €72,000 base + 8% vacation allowance separately. Some employers offer a “gross all-in” salary that already incorporates the allowance — these will typically say “inclusief vakantiegeld” — but this is the exception.
How to confirm: Ask “Is the salary exclusive or inclusive of holiday allowance?” If exclusive, add 8% to your annual gross to get total remuneration. If your Dutch employer pays vakantiegeld monthly (some do, especially in tech), confirm this in writing — it affects how you budget.
Optional 13th month: Some Dutch employers also pay a 13th month salary as a discretionary bonus. Unlike vakantiegeld, this is not statutory — it depends on your contract or collective agreement (CAO). Do not assume it unless your contract names it.
Portugal: Two extras, similar to Spain, included in the annual figure
The Código do Trabalho (Art. 263-264) requires two mandatory extras: subsídio de férias (holiday allowance, paid in June) and subsídio de Natal (Christmas allowance, paid in December), each equal to one month’s base salary.
Portuguese salaries are quoted as annual gross (renumeração bruta anual), which includes both extras. The math is the same as Spain: a €36,000 annual salary is typically paid in 14 installments of €2,571, or prorated into 12 monthly payments of €3,000.
Practical note: Portugal and Spain are structurally identical on this point. The annual headline number is the total. Budget against it.
Italy: Tredicesima is universal; some sectors add a 14th
Every Italian worker covered by a national collective agreement (CCNL) receives a tredicesima — a 13th month salary — paid in December. Collective agreements cover essentially all private-sector employment in Italy, making the tredicesima effectively universal.
Some sectors (commerce, metalworkers/metalmeccanici) also pay a quattordicesima in July, giving workers 14 months of pay per year.
Italian salaries are quoted as RAL (Reddito Annuo Lordo) — annual gross — which includes the tredicesima. A RAL of €48,000 means 13 installments of approximately €3,692 (or 14 if your CCNL covers a 14th). The 13th month is already in the number.
How to verify: Ask which CCNL applies to your position and whether a 14th installment is included. For tech and software roles, common CCNLs include CCNL Commercio and CCNL Metalmeccanici; both include the tredicesima and, in some companies, a 14th month.
Belgium: 13th month via collective agreement, typically included
Most Belgian workers receive a 13th month salary mandated by their sector’s collective agreement (convention collective de travail / collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst). This covers white-collar workers in most industries including technology.
Belgian salaries are typically quoted as annual gross including the 13th month. A €60,000 annual gross in Belgium generally means 13 payments, not 12.
Note on holiday pay: Belgium also has a statutory holiday pay system (“double vacanciegeld” / “pécule de vacances”) with a structure different from the Dutch model — paid by the holiday fund for blue-collar workers, or by the employer for white-collar workers, calculated based on the previous year’s earnings. Tech roles (white-collar) receive this directly from their employer, typically in May or June.
Germany: No statutory 13th month — contract language is everything
This is the outlier. Germany has no statutory obligation to pay a 13th month salary or a Christmas bonus (Weihnachtsgeld). Whether you receive one depends on:
- Your collective agreement (Tarifvertrag). Workers covered by IG Metall, ver.di, or other unions often receive a Weihnachtsgeld or Urlaubsgeld (vacation bonus). Tech companies that negotiate their own Betriebsvereinbarungen may or may not include one.
- Your employment contract. If your contract explicitly promises a 13th month or Christmas bonus, it is contractually binding regardless of statutory rules.
- Established custom (betriebliche Übung). Under German case law (BGH), if an employer has voluntarily paid a Christmas bonus for three or more consecutive years without reserving the right to discontinue it, that payment may become an implied contractual obligation. But this is a legal remedy, not a baseline assumption.
What this means for your offer: A German salary quote of “€84,000 Jahresgehalt” (annual salary) typically means exactly 12 months of base salary. Anything beyond that — Christmas bonus, Urlaubsgeld, performance bonus — is additional, variable, and explicitly stated in your contract or Tarifvertrag. Do not assume it.
How to confirm: Ask directly: “Zahlen Sie ein 13. Monatsgehalt oder Weihnachtsgeld?” (Do you pay a 13th month salary or Christmas bonus?). Ask for the exact amount and whether it is guaranteed or performance-dependent. If the employer is covered by a Tarifvertrag, ask which one — you can look up the specific bonus entitlements.
Reading your offer across borders
When you are comparing offers from different countries, normalize to a single figure: total annual cash remuneration before tax. The formula:
| Country | Starting point | Add |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | Salario bruto anual | Nothing — it’s the total |
| Netherlands | Annual gross (base) | + 8% vakantiegeld (+ 13th month if contracted) |
| Portugal | Remuneração bruta anual | Nothing — 2 extras included |
| Italy | RAL | Nothing — tredicesima included |
| Belgium | Annual gross | Nothing — 13th month typically included |
| Germany | Jahresgehalt | + Weihnachtsgeld/Urlaubsgeld only if contracted |
Three questions to ask before accepting any EU offer:
- Is the salary quoted in 12, 13, or 14 installments? Or is it a prorated annual total?
- Is holiday pay (vakantiegeld / subsídio de férias) included or additional?
- Are any bonuses guaranteed in the contract, or discretionary?
Guaranteed extras belong in your base-case budget. Discretionary bonuses do not.
When you browse job listings on Xeito, the salary field shows the figure as posted by the employer. Filter by employer country and use the country rules above to decode whether that number is your total annual cash or your base. For Dutch and German listings especially, the posted figure is often the base without vacation pay or bonus — the real remuneration is higher.
This article describes the statutory minimum framework in each country. Actual pay arrangements may exceed the statutory floor. Consult your employment contract and applicable collective agreement for the specific terms that apply to your role.
Sources
- Spain — Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015 (Estatuto de los Trabajadores), Art. 31: Gratificaciones extraordinarias. BOE núm. 255, 24 October 2015. boe.es
- Netherlands — Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag (WML), Art. 15 (vakantiegeld, minimum 8 % of annual gross). Current consolidated text via wetten.overheid.nl. wetten.overheid.nl
- Portugal — Código do Trabalho (Lei 7/2009 e alterações), Arts. 263–264: subsídio de férias e de Natal. Diário da República. dre.pt
- Italy — Tredicesima mensilità is contractually mandated by CCNL agreements and treated as ordinary pay for INPS/IRPEF purposes under Art. 51 of the Testo Unico delle Imposte sui Redditi (TUIR), DPR 22 December 1986 n. 917. normattiva.it
- Belgium — CCT nr. 13bis (Conseil National du Travail) on prime de fin d’année; sectoral CBAs set the standard one-month year-end bonus. cnt-nar.be
- Germany — No statutory entitlement; see § 4a TVG (Tarifvertragsgesetz). Bundesregierung overview of Weihnachtsgeld and Urlaubsgeld. bundesregierung.de