Costa Rica severance calculator
Notice, severance, holiday and the Christmas bonus, with the breakdown of where each number comes from. Nothing is stored: the calculation runs in your own browser.
Reference calculation generated at ticuenta.com on —. It does not replace the formal settlement your lawyer or accountant prepares.
Where each number comes from
Notice — article 28
| Time worked | Notice |
|---|---|
| 3 to 6 months | 1 week |
| Over 6 months and up to 1 year | 15 days |
| Over 1 year | 1 month |
If the employer does not give it, it is paid in money. If it is given, the employee works it and it is not paid separately, and during that period they are entitled to one day off a week to look for work.
Severance — article 29
The days of each completed year accumulate, on this scale. If the final fraction is over six months, it counts as a full year:
| Year completed | Days of salary |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | 19.5 days |
| Year 2 | 20 days |
| Year 3 | 20.5 days |
| Year 4 | 21 days |
| Year 5 | 21.24 days |
| Year 6 | 21.5 days |
| Year 7 | 22 days |
| Year 8 | 22 days |
| Year 9 | 22 days |
| Year 10 | 21.5 days |
| Year 11 | 21 days |
| Year 12 | 20.5 days |
| Year 13 onwards | 20 days |
Before the first year there are two rules of their own: 7 days between 3 and 6 months, and 14 days between 6 months and a year. And there is a cap: in no case are more than eight years compensated, which come to 167.74 days.
Holiday — articles 153 and 156
The minimum is two weeks for every fifty weeks worked. If the contract ends before fifty weeks, the entitlement is one day for each month worked. On termination for any cause, untaken holiday is paid in money.
The Christmas bonus — Law 2412
It is one twelfth of everything earned since the previous 1 December up to the leaving date. The calculator estimates it from the average salary you entered.
And the accounting entry for all of it
A settlement is recorded on its own, separate from the month's payroll, and releases the provision that has been building up.
See how it worksVerified as of 24 September 2026. The rules and the tables come from the current text of the Labour Code, articles 28, 29, 30, 153 and 156. Article 29 was reformed by article 88 of the Worker Protection Act No. 7983.
Sources: Labour Code Current legal texts (Sinalevi)