Countries › Chile › Guide › 7. Labor and employment › Pay in Chile: what counts as remuneration, the legal profit share (gratificación), payment rules, payroll deductions, the payroll book and equal pay

Pay in Chile: what counts as remuneration, the legal profit share (gratificación), payment rules, payroll deductions, the payroll book and equal pay

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

Every profit making employer that keeps accounts in Chile must share profits with staff through the legal gratificación: either 30 percent of tax profit (after a 10 percent return on equity) split by pay, or 25 percent of each worker's annual pay capped at 4.75 minimum monthly incomes, about CLP 2.63 million a year. Pay must be in pesos, at least monthly, with a payslip, and commissions are due with the month in which the sale happens. Deductions agreed with the worker are capped at 15 percent of pay and all deductions together at 45 percent; employers with five or more workers keep an SII stamped payroll book.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial of 23 October 2026 (Ley Nº 18.840 art. 44). UTM amounts use the SII value of CLP 72,151 for October 2026. Amounts capped in UF use the SII value of CLP 41,057.20 for 30 September 2026, the value the law applies to payments made in October 2026; other UF amounts use CLP 41,205.16 for 23 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Annual legal profit share cap under art. 50	4.75 minimum monthly incomesCódigo del Trabajo art. 50, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Annual legal profit share cap per worker at the minimum wage from 1 May 2026	2629376.75 CLPCódigo del Trabajo art. 50; Ley Nº 21.830 art. 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Profit share under art. 50 as a share of annual pay	25 %Código del Trabajo art. 50, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Minimum share of net profit distributed under art. 47	30 %Código del Trabajo art. 47, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum agreed deductions as a share of total pay	15 %Código del Trabajo art. 58, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum total deductions as a share of total pay	45 %Código del Trabajo art. 58, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Workers from which an SII stamped payroll book is required	5 workersCódigo del Trabajo art. 62, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Remuneration is everything in cash, and in kind valued in cash, that the worker receives from the employer because of the contract: base salary, overtime, commissions, profit participation and gratificación, among others. Allowances for transport, cash loss, tool wear and meals, travel per diems, legal family benefits, severance and reimbursed expenses are not remuneration, so they do not bear contributions.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 41 and art. 42, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. Profit making businesses and cooperatives that must keep accounting books and earn a net profit must pay a yearly gratificación of at least 30 percent of that profit, split among workers in proportion to what each earned. Profit is the SII's income tax assessment with normal depreciation and no deduction of prior year losses, less 10 percent of the employer's own capital as a return on it. The employer pays advances on the basis of the tax return while the SII assessment is pending, and the SII certifies the base on request within 30 working days.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 47, art. 48 and art. 49, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. An employer that pays each worker 25 percent of the year's monthly pay is released from the art. 47 obligation whatever its profit, with each worker's gratificación capped at 4.75 minimum monthly incomes. Workers with less than a year receive it in proportion to months worked. Most employers choose this option and pay it monthly in advance.
Cost to do it: At most CLP 2,629,376.75 a year per worker at the minimum wage in force from 1 May 2026.
Example: About CLP 219,115 a month per worker earning CLP 876,460 or more. / About US$222 a month, US$2,665 a year.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 50 and art. 52, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. Pay is made in legal tender (pesos), or at the worker's request by cheque, bank draft or transfer at no cost to them, with a payslip showing the amount, how it was calculated and the deductions. The pay period may not exceed one month, and commissions are due with the pay of the period in which the sale or operation occurred (or the next month if technically impossible), whatever the payment terms agreed with the customer; clauses deferring them are void.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 54 and art. 55, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Workers paid by the day, and monthly paid workers with variable pay such as commissions, are entitled to pay for Sundays and holidays equal to the average variable pay of the period (the semana corrida), excluding one off items such as bonuses.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 45, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. The employer must withhold taxes, social security contributions and union dues. With the worker's written agreement it may deduct housing, savings and education payments (and recover interest free loans for those purposes up to 30 percent of pay), and other agreed amounts up to 15 percent of total pay. All deductions together may never exceed 45 percent of total pay, and the employer may not deduct for losses caused by third parties without the worker's fault or for fines not provided in the internal regulations.
Example: On CLP 1,500,000 of total pay, agreed deductions cap at CLP 225,000 and all deductions at CLP 675,000. / About US$228 and US$684.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 58, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

7. Every employer with five or more workers must keep an auxiliary payroll book stamped by the SII, and only pay recorded in it can be deducted as a payroll expense in the company's accounts.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 62, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

8. Employers must pay men and women doing the same work equally; objective differences based on skills, qualifications, suitability, responsibility or productivity are not arbitrary. Complaints go first through the procedure in the internal regulations, answered in writing within 30 days, and then to the labour court.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 62 bis and art. 154 Nº 13, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

9. Unpaid remuneration, severance and other amounts owed to workers are adjusted by the consumer price index and bear the maximum interest rate allowed for indexed operations from the due date.DFL Nº 1 of 2002, Ministerio del Trabajo, Código del Trabajo, Art. 63, 2003-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Option	Base	Amount	Cap per worker	Depends on profit
Art. 47	Tax profit less 10 percent of own capital	At least 30 percent, split by pay	None	Yes
Art. 50	Each worker's annual monthly pay	25 percent	4.75 minimum monthly incomes a year	No

Legal profit share options compared (Código del Trabajo art. 47 and art. 50)

Worked example

A subsidiary with 50 staff on an average CLP 1,800,000 a month books a tax profit of CLP 2,000 million and own capital of CLP 5,000 million. Under art. 47 the base would be CLP 1,500 million (profit less 10 percent of capital) and the minimum pool CLP 450 million, about CLP 9 million per worker. Under art. 50 each worker gets at most CLP 2,629,377 a year, CLP 131.5 million in total (about US$133,257), so the company opts for art. 50.
A loss making start up still pays under art. 50 if it has chosen that option, because the 25 percent applies "whatever the net profit"; under art. 47 nothing is due in a loss year.

Step by step

Choose the gratificación system in the contract (most employers state the art. 50 monthly payment) and apply it consistently.
Pay monthly, in pesos or by transfer, with a payslip; settle commissions with the month of the sale.
Get written authorisations for any voluntary deductions and keep the 15 and 45 percent caps.
From five workers, keep the SII stamped payroll book; only recorded pay is deductible.
Include an equal pay complaint procedure in the internal regulations.

Common traps

Commission plans that pay only when the customer pays are void under art. 55; commissions accrue with the sale.
Variable pay workers are owed the semana corrida for Sundays and holidays (art. 45).
Pay not recorded in the payroll book cannot be deducted as an expense (art. 62).
Late pay accrues CPI adjustment plus maximum conventional interest (art. 63).

Sources

← Minimum wage in Chile: CLP 553,553 a month from May 2026, the youth and senior rate, inflation indexation in January 2027, part time proration and family allowanceSocial security contributions in Chile: pension, health, unemployment and work accident insurance, the new employer pension contribution, caps, deadlines and foreign staff →