Aguinaldo for dummies

Back in ancient Rome, the Republic’s citizens paid tribute to their Gods in hopes of having a better year by sharing gifts. Herbs and food offered changed with time to gold, bronze, silver, furniture, and clothes.

Eventually, the tradition went to all corners of the country. Centuries later European royalty turned the custom upside down — residents gave their gifts to kings, students to teachers and so on. The Christian Church forbid the pagan tradition and adapted it to the religion. By the end of the 18 century, Louis XIV prohibited the étrennes paid to workers.

The fascist’s regimes of Spain and Italy implemented the payment of a bonus previous to Christmas to all workers, while other European countries, including England, Germany, Netherlands, and Austria have similar traditions, although not mandatory.

Most of the Latin American countries copied the tradition with some of them turning it into a legal mandate. Mexico lies within the later. Article 87 of the Federal Labor Law sets the payment of the aguinaldo, also known as the 13th-month salary or Annual Wage Supplement as defined by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower.

The amount of the Christmas bonus equals to at least 15 days of labor salary. However, if an employee has worked for less than a year, the payment must reflect the number of days worked during the year. By law, the bonus must be paid by Dec. 20 of every year by employers. In case of violations, workers can file a claim and violators are entitled to be fined by the Mexican government. Since several years ago businesses and public agencies decided to make a partial payment of the aguinaldo before the end of November in order to allow employees to be part of the so-called El Buen Fin, or The Good End, a Black Friday-like event held around the Mexican Revolution Day of Nov. 20.

For decades American businesses located next to or close to the Southwestern border had benefited from the Mexican legal mandate. Residents from the other side of the border exchange their pesos and flock to US stores primarily to purchase toys, electronics, clothes, and shoes, according to a study prepared for the Imperial County government.

Just to give you an idea of the impact the bonus has on trade activity, on Wednesday the director of Baja California’s public employee retirement and healthcare system known as Issstecali Javier Meza, said 11,000 retired teachers and public employees would get paid in total 378 million pesos or $21 million. And that does not include city, state and Mexican public employees, as well as those working in the private sector. In fact, Meza himself receives an aguinaldo equivalent to several thousands of dollars, and many other top officials get similar amounts for their bonuses.

Of course, that entire amount of money doesn’t end up in Imperial Valley businesses and coffers in the way of sales taxes, but I am pretty sure a good chunk of it does since Mexicali consumers always want products that are of value, quality and with great warranties.

Recently, a good friend of mine wondered if we had such a legally mandated bonus in California. Well, at first it sounds good, but the reaction from the private sector would be harsh to say the least. A bill to create a mandated Christmas bonus or 13th-month payment like this would be considered a job killer by associations, chambers of commerce and other business organizations. So please, readers avoid from sharing this column’s content with progressive, liberal lawmakers or otherwise we would leave business owners so poor they would be left dressed only like ancient Rome — just with robes.