THR in Indonesia: Holiday Allowance Rules and Calculator
THR is Indonesia's religious holiday allowance: who qualifies, how one month's wage is worked out, the seven-day deadline, and a calculator for your own staff.
- Permenaker No. 6 Tahun 2016 tentang Tunjangan Hari Raya Keagamaan bagi Pekerja/Buruh di Perusahaan — the standing instrument. Article 2 sets eligibility, Article 3 the amount and what counts as one month's wage, Article 4 the effect of a more generous contract or practice, Article 5(4) the deadline, Article 6 payment in money, Article 7 dismissal within 30 days, Article 10 the late-payment fine, Article 11 administrative sanctions
- Permenaker No. 6 Tahun 2016, Article 12 — revokes the predecessor, Permenaker No. PER.04/MEN/1994
THR — Tunjangan Hari Raya Keagamaan, the religious holiday allowance — is a payment every employer in Indonesia must make to every qualifying employee once a year, before their religious holiday. It is not a bonus in the sense of being discretionary. It is an obligation with a deadline, a formula, and a penalty for missing it.
It is often described as a thirteenth month of pay. That is a fair shorthand for a full-year employee and misleading for everyone else, because the amount is proportionate to service and the wage it is calculated on is not always the one people assume.
Everything below comes from the instrument that governs it, Permenaker No. 6 of 2016, which replaced the 1994 regulation and is still the standing rule. Article numbers are given so each point can be checked.
Who qualifies
Anyone with one month of continuous service or more, under Article 2(1). That is the whole test for eligibility — length of service decides the amount, not whether there is an entitlement at all.
It applies equally to fixed-term contracts (PKWT) and indefinite ones (PKWTT), under Article 2(2). There is no probation exclusion and no minimum grade.
Two situations catch employers out, and both are in the regulation:
- An employee on an indefinite contract who is dismissed within 30 days before the holiday is still entitled to that year’s THR (Article 7(1)). Terminating shortly before the holiday does not avoid the payment.
- An employee transferred from another company with continuous service is entitled at the new employer, if the previous one has not already paid (Article 8).
The one case where entitlement does not arise is a fixed-term contract that simply expires before the holiday, under Article 7(3).
How much, and on what wage
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| One month's wage, as defined below | IDR 8,000,000 |
| Months of continuous service | 7 |
| Proportion of a year (7 ÷ 12) | 0.5833 |
| THR payable | IDR 4,666,667 |
Twelve months of continuous service or more earns one month’s wage. Below twelve months it is proportionate: months of service divided by twelve, multiplied by one month’s wage. Both are in Article 3(1). To work it out for one employee, with the latest date to pay, use the THR calculator.
One month's wage is not always basic pay alone
This is the part most often got wrong, and getting it wrong means underpaying staff. Article 3(2) defines one month’s wage as either the clean wage where the package carries no allowances, or basic pay including fixed allowances — whichever matches the company’s own wage structure. Where employees are paid a basic plus fixed allowances, those allowances form part of the figure THR is calculated on. Advice that THR is “basic salary only” is wrong for any company with a fixed-allowance structure, and the shortfall is owed to the employee either way.
For daily and casual workers, Article 3(3) calculates one month’s wage as the average of the last twelve months before the holiday, or the average over the period actually worked where that is shorter.
When, and what happens if it is late
The deadline is at the latest seven days before the employee’s religious holiday, under Article 5(4). Each employee’s entitlement follows their own religion — Idul Fitri, Christmas, Nyepi, Waisak or Imlek — although a company may agree a single date with its workforce, recorded in the employment agreement, company regulations or a collective agreement.
| Paid late | Not paid | |
|---|---|---|
| What applies | A fine of 5% of the total THR, from the day after the deadline (Article 10(1)) | Administrative sanctions (Article 11) |
| Does it discharge the obligation | No. The THR is still owed in full on top of the fine (Article 10(2)) | No |
| Where the money goes | To worker welfare, under company regulations or the collective agreement — not to the state (Article 10(3)) | Not applicable |
The destination of the fine is worth noting, because it is not what people expect. Under Article 10(3) it is applied to employee welfare through the company’s own regulations or collective agreement. It is not a payment to government.
Where a contract or a custom pays more
Article 4 is short and frequently overlooked. Where an employment agreement, company regulations, a collective agreement or an established practice provides more than the regulation requires, the higher amount is what is payable.
That last limb matters most. A company that has paid a full month to everyone regardless of service, or added a fixed sum each year, may have created an expectation that binds it. The question to ask before reducing a payment is not only what the regulation requires, but what the company has actually done in previous years.
Two practical points
THR must be paid in money, in rupiah (Article 6). Goods, vouchers and gifts do not discharge it, however generous.
It is also taxable, and it is taxed as employment income in the month it is paid, which makes the withholding in that month noticeably larger than usual. That is a payroll calculation rather than a manpower one, and where employees are close to a bracket it is worth checking before the run rather than explaining afterwards. Employers without an Indonesian entity carry the same obligation through whoever employs their staff locally, which is one of the things an employer of record exists to handle.
For the wider question of how the holiday period affects working hours, collective leave and office closures, that is a separate subject with its own rules.