Understanding Salary: Types, Structure, and Wage Guarantees

Concept of Salary: Salary encompasses all cash and in-kind payments provided for professional services rendered.

Salary Types: Lessons from Salary

According to the Method of Payment:

  • Cash: Cash or bank transfer.
  • In-Kind: House, car (cannot exceed 30% of gross salary).

Based on the Calculation Method Used:

  • For working time: for hours, days, months
  • For work done or money: work done effectively
  • In part: a part of your salary goes to production
  • Joint: fixed salary more incentives

Perceptions Not Considered Salary

  • When responding to social assistance benefits.
  • When granted by the company for the best development of its purposes.
  • When mandated by law.

Payment of Wages

The company is obligated to pay wages at the designated place and on the indicated dates.

The Payroll

Each individual receives proof of wage payment. Any employee may request an advance on account for work already performed. In case of payment delay, arrears accrue at 10% annually. Lack of an official payroll and misappropriation of amounts is a serious company offense.

Structure of Wages: Accruals

The list must include the basic salary and wage supplements.

Structure of Basic Salary

  • Base Salary: Depends on the professional category.
  • Wage Supplements: Additional amounts due to different circumstances:
    • Personal (e.g., image)
    • According to the job (e.g., hazard, toxicity)
    • For the quality or quantity of work (e.g., production)

Wage supplements (night shift, hazard pay, etc.), unless otherwise specified, are not consolidated (wages which the employee ceases to be eligible for if they change jobs).

Both the salary and wage supplements are considered perceptions of character salaries.

Perceptions of Wage

Base salary, wage supplements, overtime, bonuses, overtime pay, wages in kind.

Extra Payments: Accrue annually or every six months, except where collective bargaining specifies otherwise.

Perceptions Not Considered Wage

Allowances or credits (acquisition of pieces of work, costs of transport, subsistence and travel) for SS benefits, compensation for removal, suspension or dismissal, plus CREB currency. All of these are not listed.

Wage Guarantee

Guarantees that protect the wages of workers, summarized into three:

SMI (Minimum Wage)

Set annually by the government, representing the minimum a worker must receive in full.

Criteria taken into account to determine it:

  • Indexes of consumer prices
    • Productivity national average
    • Increased participation of labor in national income

The SMI is inembargable, with exceptions for food payments due to a spouse or children under a court order in the process of annulment, separation, divorce, or provisional/definitive food provisions.

Privileges of Salary

Given the various debts of a company, the wages of its employees take precedence.

The Wage Guarantee Fund: FOGASA

The agency that addresses outstanding debts a company may have due to a declaration of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings.

It is financed through employer contributions to social security.

FOGASA pays a maximum amount multiplied three times the daily minimum wage by the number of days pending payment of wages, with a maximum of 150 days.

  • Agency funded by business contribution: 0.20% per month on BCCP.
  • Pays wages and compensation: Up to a maximum of 150 days (20 days per year worked, 7 years and middle).
  • Maximum Daily Amount: Triple the minimum wage in force.