> and only way not to get it is to leave company before the payday. There have been rulings that yearly, regular bonuses have to be paid partially if you leav

> and only way not to get it is to leave company before the payday. There have been rulings that yearly, regular bonuses have to be paid partially if you leave before the payday. For "Weihnachtsgeld", which is a fixed bonus, this is the reason why modern contracts usually don't include it anymore but just put it on the monthly salary. See the link[1] for a recent ruling (german, sorry). Still, a lot of stuff that would be a "bonus" in the US is included in Germany. Contracts in germany include mandatory health care, social security, the whole range. [1]: http://www.zeit.de/karriere/beruf/2013-11/urteil-anspruch-weihnachtsgeld http://www.zeit.de/karriere/beruf/2013-11/urteil-anspruch-we...