THR (Tunjangan Hari Raya) is a mandatory annual bonus, typically equal to one month’s salary, paid to every employee ahead of their major religious holiday. It’s non-negotiable under Indonesian labor law, and it’s the single line item we see first-time employers forget to budget for most often.
Who actually qualifies for it
Any employee who has worked at least one continuous month is entitled to THR. Employees with a full year or more of service get the full one month’s salary; those with less tenure receive a prorated amount based on months worked. It applies regardless of religion or which specific holiday the employee observes. The entitlement itself is universal, timed around whichever major holiday is relevant to the employee.
When it’s actually due
By law, THR must be paid no later than seven days before the relevant religious holiday. For most companies, this means budgeting for it well in advance rather than treating it as a surprise expense that shows up on the calendar. Payroll timing here is not flexible, and late payment carries statutory penalties.
What happens if you pay it late
Late THR payment triggers a flat 5% penalty on top of the full amount owed. The penalty doesn’t replace the obligation, it stacks on top of it. Under Government Regulation 36/2021, that penalty money legally has to go toward employee welfare, not to the state, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re a day late or a month late. It’s the same 5%, not a daily-accruing fine. The government’s Ministry of Manpower runs an active enforcement channel for exactly this, called Posko THR, which takes complaints directly from employees before every major religious holiday.
How THR is actually calculated
For an employee with twelve months or more of continuous service, THR is one full month’s most recent gross salary. For someone with less than a year, it’s prorated: months worked divided by twelve, multiplied by monthly salary. An employee who joined in July and hits their religious holiday nine months later would be owed roughly nine-twelfths of a month’s salary, not the full amount and not zero.
Why the 2026 minimum wage increase makes this more expensive, quietly
Jakarta’s minimum wage rose 6.17% for 2026, landing at IDR 5,729,876 a month under the government’s new inflation-plus-growth wage formula. Because THR is calculated directly off salary, every wage increase flows straight through into a bigger THR obligation the following year, without anyone needing to make a separate decision about it. It’s easy to budget THR once and forget that it moves every time base pay does.
One thing that catches companies off guard: it’s enforced, not theoretical
This isn’t a rule that quietly goes unenforced. The Ministry of Manpower opens its THR complaint hotline every year in the run-up to major religious holidays, specifically because THR non-payment and late payment are common enough to warrant a dedicated channel. If an employee complains and the payment genuinely was late or short, the employer is the one holding the exposure, reputational as well as financial.
How this plays out in practice
The employers who get tripped up aren’t usually confused about the rule. They simply didn’t build it into their annual budget cycle the way they budgeted for base salary. Treat THR the way you’d treat a 13th-month payment in other markets: a known, recurring, non-optional cost that needs its own line item, planned a full year out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does THR apply to remote or offshore employees the same way?
Yes. THR is a function of Indonesian employment law and applies regardless of where the employee physically works, including fully remote arrangements. Location doesn’t change the entitlement.
Is THR the same as an annual bonus based on performance?
No. THR is a fixed statutory entitlement independent of performance or company results. A discretionary performance bonus, if you choose to offer one, sits on top of THR, not instead of it.
If I’m using an EOR, who actually calculates and pays THR?
Your EOR handles the calculation, timing, and disbursement as part of standard payroll administration. It’s built into the compliance service, not an add-on you need to manage separately.
How THR stacks on top of your other costs
THR does not exist in isolation. It lands on top of salary, BPJS, and PPh 21 income tax, and the combination is what your annual budget actually needs to absorb. A simple way to think about it: budget one extra month of salary per employee per year for THR, then add roughly 10 to 15% of gross for employer BPJS on the ordinary months. Companies that model only the twelve monthly salaries and forget the effective thirteenth are the ones scrambling when the payment falls due a week before the holiday.
A quick worked example
Take an employee on IDR 12,000,000 a month with over a year of service. Their THR is a full month, IDR 12,000,000, paid at least seven days before their religious holiday. Miss the deadline and a 5% penalty is added on top, and that penalty money must go to employee welfare, not the state. Spread across the year, that single obligation is effectively an extra 8.3% on annual salary cost. It is entirely predictable, which is exactly why forgetting it is so avoidable, and why a good EOR simply builds it into your monthly run rate so it never becomes a surprise.
Do part-time or probationary employees get THR?
Yes. THR entitlement is based on length of service, not full-time status. Anyone with at least one month of continuous service qualifies, prorated below a year. Probationary employees are not exempt, so factor THR in from the first hire, not just for confirmed permanent staff.
A note on who we place
For context on the people behind the compliance: MixWork places top tier professionals, not volume staff. Degrees from Indonesia's top universities, an average of six years of professional experience inside multinationals and global agencies, and roles from individual contributor through to managerial level. They are permanent employees on compliant Indonesian contracts rather than contractors, freelancers or virtual assistants, and twelve-month retention runs above 90%.
