Calculate your Chile finiquito
| Last monthly remuneration used | CLP 1.200.000 |
| 90 UF cap on the indemnity base | CLP 3.712.765 (no cap: salary is below 90 UF) |
| Service counted | 67 months + 29 days |
| Indemnización por años de servicio (6 years x CLP 1.200.000) | CLP 7.200.000 |
| Indemnización sustitutiva del aviso previo | CLP 1.200.000 |
| Feriado proporcional (10 business days = 14 calendar days) | CLP 560.000 |
| Pending salary (unpaid days in final month) | CLP 0 |
| TOTAL finiquito (gross) | CLP 8.960.000 |
All amounts are in Chilean pesos (CLP) and are gross. The UF value shown is dated 1 November 2026; the UF changes daily, and the cap legally uses the UF on the last day of the month before payment.
What is a finiquito in Chile?
A finiquito is the settlement document that ends an employment contract. It lists every amount owed at separation: pending salary, years-of-service pay, notice pay, proportional vacation, and any other outstanding item. It must be made available to the worker within 10 business days of separation, and it must be ratified before a minister of faith (a labour inspector, notary, civil registry officer or municipal secretary) to have full legal effect. Without ratification, the worker can still claim differences.
Never sign a finiquito clean if you disagree with any amount or with the stated cause. Sign with a written reservation of rights (reserva de derechos), or do not sign, and challenge within 60 business days. Signing clean is the single most expensive mistake workers make, because it closes claims that were still open.
How Chile severance pay is calculated
The finiquito has up to five parts, and the cause of termination decides which parts exist:
Pending salary = days worked in the final month that are still unpaid, at monthly salary / 30.
Indemnización por años de servicio (Article 163) = 1 month of pay per countable year of service, from 1 year of service, capped at 11 years (330 days). A fraction over 6 months counts as a full year. The monthly pay used is capped at 90 UF.
Indemnización sustitutiva del aviso previo (Article 162) = 1 month of pay in lieu, when the 30 days' written notice was not given. Also capped at 90 UF. If notice was given, this line is zero.
Feriado proporcional (Article 73) = accrued vacation business days converted to calendar days, paid at monthly salary / 30. This line uses the uncapped monthly salary: the 90 UF cap covers the indemnities established in the indemnity title, and feriado compensation is not one of those indemnities.
Pending gratificación = only an amount actually outstanding. Gratificación is never added by default.
The formula box: finiquito = pending salary + years-of-service indemnity + notice pay + feriado + pending gratificación, minus any AFC employer-contribution deduction where it applies.
Termination causes: Articles 159, 160, 161 and 163-bis
| Cause | Years-of-service indemnity? | Notice pay? | Feriado? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article 161: business needs, desahucio | Yes, 1 month per year, capped at 11 years and 90 UF | Yes, unless 30 days' notice was given | Yes |
| Article 159: resignation, mutual agreement, end of term | No | No | Yes |
| Article 160: misconduct dismissal | No | No | Yes |
| Article 159 No. 5: obra o faena completed | Special rule: 2.5 days per month, no 11-year cap | No | Yes |
| Article 163-bis: bankruptcy or liquidation | Yes, the same Article 163 indemnity | As Article 161 | Yes |
Bankruptcy needs no separate calculation: it triggers the same Article 163 indemnity, so it is a row in this table, not a separate tool mode.
The 90 UF cap, explained
The monthly pay used for the indemnities cannot exceed 90 UF on the last day of the month before payment (Article 172, final paragraph). At the 1 November 2026 UF of CLP 41,252.94, 90 UF is CLP 3,712,765. The cap applies to both the years-of-service indemnity and the notice payment, for workers hired before and after 1981 alike (Dirección del Trabajo opinions 5717 and 2494/180).
What the cap does not cover: feriado compensation, which is paid at monthly salary / 30 without the cap, and pending salary, which is not an indemnity at all. And the cap can be waived by agreement: parties may agree a higher conventional indemnity, in which case the agreed amount applies instead of the capped legal amount. This tool shows the legal minimum; your contract may pay more.
The UF changes daily and is published for the 10th to the 9th of the following month. The tool's default UF is dated 1 November 2026; if your payment month differs, update the UF field, because the cap legally uses the UF on the last day of the month before payment. Do not trust aggregator UF feeds: one aggregator showed CLP 39,486 for 1 November 2026, contradicting the SII calendar figure of CLP 41,252.94 used here.
The 11-year cap and the 6-month fraction rule
The years-of-service indemnity is capped at 11 years, which is 330 days of pay. The fraction rule decides the countable years: a fraction over 6 months counts as a full year. The edge cases, confirmed against the Article 163 wording:
| Service | Countable years |
|---|---|
| Under 1 year, however many months | 0 |
| 1 year 5 months | 1 |
| 1 year 7 months | 2 |
| 3 years 5 months | 3 |
| 3 years 6 months 10 days | 4 |
| 14 years | 11 (cap) |
Two exceptions to the cap, neither of which is a second cap: workers hired before 14 August 1981 and still employed at 1 December 1990 keep the indemnity without the Article 163 cap (Article 7 transitorio). Workers hired after 13 August 1981 and before 1 December 1990 get the current 11-year cap, but the payment form differs: 150 days at once, the remainder in successive monthly instalments of 30 days (Article 8 transitorio). That is a payment-form rule, not a larger amount. The obra o faena indemnity is a separate regime with no 11-year cap at all.
Feriado proporcional: the 1.25-day rule and the calendar-day conversion
Chilean vacation is 15 business days per year, or 20 business days per year in the extreme zones (Magallanes, Aysén, Palena). That accrues at 1.25 business days per full month, plus 1.25 / 30 business days per day of a partial month, minus days already taken. Those business days are then counted from the day after termination, adding the Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in the window, and the resulting calendar days are paid at monthly salary / 30 (Article 73).
A worked mini-example: 6 months and 12 days since the last vacation anniversary gives 6 x 1.25 + 12 x 1.25 / 30 = 7.5 + 0.5 = 8 business days. Those 8 business days are then converted through the real calendar, not through a fixed multiplier: a fixed 7/5 multiplier would be wrong in holiday weeks, which is how rival tools silently misprice feriado. This tool counts actual weekends and Chilean public holidays in the window, using the official calendar dates; if a holiday in your window was moved to a Monday by law, the count may differ by a day, so check your window.
Progressive vacation (feriado progresivo) adds one extra day after 10 years of pension contributions with at least the last 3 years with the same employer. It needs no separate mode here: enter the higher entitlement through the months input and the tool prices it.
Aviso previo: 30 days' notice or 1 month's pay
Article 161 requires 30 days' written notice, with a copy to the Labour Inspectorate, or, failing that, 1 month's pay in lieu, also capped at 90 UF. The notice must be in writing and state the business-needs cause; a verbal warning is not notice. If you were given proper notice, the notice-pay line is zero, and the tool shows it as zero rather than hiding the question.
Worked examples
UF = CLP 41,252.94 on 1 November 2026, so 90 UF = CLP 3,712,764.60, shown rounded to CLP 3,712,765. Amounts are in Chilean pesos and are gross.
Example 1: standard Article 161 dismissal (the full finiquito)
Salary CLP 1,200,000 per month; service 5 years 8 months; no 30-day notice given; full final month worked; 8 months since the last vacation anniversary, no vacation taken; not an extreme zone.
Countable years: 5 years plus an 8-month fraction (over 6 months) = 6 years. Cap: 6 is below 11, no cap bite. Base: 1,200,000 is below 3,712,765, no cap bite. Years-of-service indemnity: 6 x 1,200,000 = CLP 7,200,000. Notice pay: 1 x 1,200,000 = CLP 1,200,000. Feriado: 8 x 1.25 = 10 business days. Termination Friday 30 October 2026; counting 10 business days from Monday 2 November 2026 gives 2 to 6 November (5) plus 9 to 13 November (5); the window 31 October to 13 November contains 4 weekend days, so calendar days to pay = 10 + 4 = 14. Daily rate 1,200,000 / 30 = 40,000. Feriado = 14 x 40,000 = CLP 560,000. Total = 7,200,000 + 1,200,000 + 560,000 = CLP 8,960,000 (plus any pending salary, gratificación or overtime actually owed; none in this example).
Example 2: both caps bite (high salary, long service)
Salary CLP 5,000,000 per month; service 14 years; Article 161; no notice given.
Capped base: min(5,000,000, 3,712,765) = CLP 3,712,765. Countable years: min(14, 11) = 11. Years-of-service indemnity: 11 x 3,712,765 = CLP 40,840,415. Notice pay: 1 x 3,712,765 = CLP 3,712,765. Indemnity plus notice total = CLP 44,553,180 (before feriado and any pending salary, which follow the uncapped salary rules). Lesson: without the caps the same worker would show 14 x 5,000,000 + 5,000,000 = CLP 75,000,000; the caps remove CLP 30,446,820 from the indemnity plus notice lines.
Example 3: resignation (no indemnity, no notice pay)
Salary CLP 800,000 per month; resignation after 4 months since the last vacation anniversary; 15 days worked in the final month; no vacation taken.
Pending salary: 15 / 30 x 800,000 = CLP 400,000. Feriado: 4 x 1.25 = 5 business days. On the same Friday-termination pattern, the 5 business days span 7 calendar days (5 plus 2 weekend days). Daily rate 800,000 / 30 = 26,666.67. Feriado = 7 x 26,666.67 = CLP 186,667 (rounded). Total = 400,000 + 186,667 = CLP 586,667. Years-of-service indemnity = 0, notice pay = 0. This is the correct resignation result, not an error.
Example 4: obra o faena (the mode neither English rival has)
Salary CLP 1,200,000 per month; contract for a specific project, worked 8 months 16 days; termination on genuine completion of the work (Article 159 No. 5).
Countable months: 8 months plus a 16-day fraction (over 15 days) = 9 months. No 11-year cap applies to this indemnity; the 90 UF base cap still applies (1,200,000 is below 3,712,765, no bite). Indemnity: 9 x 2.5 = 22.5 days of pay. Daily rate 1,200,000 / 30 = 40,000. Indemnity = 22.5 x 40,000 = CLP 900,000 (plus pending salary and feriado actually owed, calculated as in Examples 1 to 3). Contrast: if the same worker had instead been dismissed under Article 161, the years-of-service indemnity would be 0 (under 1 year of service). The obra o faena indemnity is the only reason this worker gets an indemnity at all.
Special cases: obra o faena, extreme zones, variable pay, progressive vacation, domestic workers
Obra o faena (Article 159 No. 5) pays 2.5 days per month of the project, with a fraction over 15 days counting as a full month, no 11-year cap, and the 90 UF base cap still applying. Extreme zones (Magallanes, Aysén, Palena) accrue vacation at 20 business days per year instead of 15. Variable pay uses the average of the last 3 calendar months under Article 172, and the tool has a toggle for it. Progressive vacation adds a day after 10 years of contributions with 3 years with the same employer. Domestic workers are different: Article 163 does not apply to them; instead they have the 1.11% employer-funded all-event indemnity (Articles 165 to 166), which is a different calculation and is excluded from this tool.
The AFC deduction: why your finiquito may be smaller
Under Ley 19.728 Article 13, on an Article 161 dismissal the employer may impute, against the years-of-service indemnity only, the part of the unemployment-insurance account balance made up of that employer's contributions (1.6% for indefinite contracts, plus return, minus admin costs). Your own contributions can never be deducted, and nothing may be deducted against vacation, pending salary or notice pay. Check the AFC 'Certificado de Saldo Aporte Empleador' for that employer: if the dismissal is ruled unjustified, the deducted amount can be reclaimed. This is the most common reason a real finiquito is smaller than a calculator predicted, and neither English rival tool models it.
What is NOT in this calculator
Court surcharges (Article 168, 30 to 100% by cause) and discrimination or union cases (6 to 11 months or reinstatement): explained, never calculated, because they are court decisions, not formulas. The Article 162 paragraph 5 unpaid-contributions rule (dismissal does not take effect while social-security contributions are unpaid): explained, never calculated. Contractual indemnities above the legal minimum, including any agreed waiver of the 90 UF cap: noted as "your contract may pay more; this tool shows the legal minimum". Tax: indemnity and feriado amounts are shown gross, with no net-pay modelling. Domestic workers: excluded, as above. Instalment payment: by default the finiquito is paid with the document; instalments exist only by agreement (and, for the pre-1990 transitional cohort, by the Article 8 transitorio form). Chile has no statutory proportional aguinaldo (SAC): do not add a SAC line, unlike one Spanish-language rival that imports the Argentine concept.
How to check your finiquito before you sign
Checklist: the cause letter and whether it matches the real reason; whether social-security contributions were paid up to the dismissal date; the vacation record against the months you entered; gratificación payslips, to confirm nothing is outstanding or double-counted; the AFC certificate, if an AFC amount was deducted; and the ratification: sign with a written reservation of rights if anything is wrong, and challenge within 60 business days.
Frequently asked questions about the Chile finiquito
What is a finiquito in Chile?
The settlement document ending the contract; it must be made available within 10 business days of separation and ratified before a minister of faith (labour inspector, notary, civil registry officer, municipal secretary) to have full legal effect; without ratification the worker can still claim differences.
When do I get severance pay for years of service?
Only on Art. 161 dismissal (business needs, desahucio, bankruptcy) with 1+ year of continuous service: 1 month per year, fraction over 6 months counts, capped at 11 years. Not on resignation, mutual agreement or Art. 160 misconduct dismissal.
What is the 90 UF cap?
The monthly pay used for the indemnities cannot exceed 90 UF on the last day of the month before payment (Art. 172). At the 1 Nov 2026 UF of CLP 41,252.94 that is CLP 3,712,765. It applies to both the years-of-service indemnity and the notice payment. Parties may agree a higher conventional indemnity without the cap.
How is feriado proporcional calculated?
15 business days per year (20 in Magallanes, Aysén, Palena) = 1.25 business days per full month plus 1.25 / 30 per day of a partial month, minus days already taken; those business days are then counted from the day after termination, adding the Saturdays, Sundays and holidays in the window, and the resulting calendar days are paid at monthly salary / 30 (Art. 73).
Do I get notice pay if I was given 30 days' notice?
No. Art. 161 requires 30 days' written notice (with a copy to the Labour Inspectorate) or, failing that, 1 month's pay in lieu, also capped at 90 UF.
Why was an AFC amount deducted from my finiquito?
Under Ley 19.728 Art. 13, on an Art. 161 dismissal the employer may impute, against the years-of-service indemnity only, the part of the unemployment-insurance account balance made up of that employer's contributions (1.6% for indefinite contracts, plus return, minus admin costs). Your own contributions can never be deducted. Check the AFC 'Certificado de Saldo Aporte Empleador' for that employer; if the dismissal is ruled unjustified, the deducted amount can be reclaimed.
Does Chile have a proportional aguinaldo (SAC) in the finiquito?
No statutory one. Unlike Argentina, Chile has no general 13th-month or SAC law for private-sector workers; aguinaldo is payable only if it is in the contract, a collective agreement, or an acquired right, and then only the proportional part actually owed. Do not add a SAC line by default.
What if my dismissal was unjustified, or my contributions were unpaid?
Do not sign clean: sign with a written reservation of rights, or do not sign, and challenge within 60 business days (suspended during a Labour Inspectorate claim, up to 90 days). A court may add a surcharge of 30-100% to the indemnity depending on the cause (Art. 168); separately, if social-security contributions were unpaid at dismissal, the dismissal does not take effect until they are paid (Art. 162 para. 5). Neither is calculated by this tool.
Important: This calculator gives a simplified estimate of the Chile finiquito under the general rules of the Código del Trabajo. It is for standard employment at the legal minimum and does not cover court surcharges, the unpaid-contributions rule, contractual indemnities above the legal minimum, tax treatment, domestic workers, or instalment payment. The feriado pay base uses the uncapped monthly salary, following the reading that the 90 UF cap covers the Article 162/163 indemnities; if a Dirección del Trabajo opinion is found to cap feriado too, that line must be corrected. The result is not legal advice: for your exact settlement, check your contract, vacation record and AFC certificate, or ask the Labour Inspectorate.
Official sources on the Chile finiquito
The rules above follow the Código del Trabajo (DFL No. 1), Articles 159 to 163, 172 and 177, the Dirección del Trabajo opinions below, and the SII UF calendar. UF value dated 1 November 2026; the UF changes daily.
- Dirección del Trabajo: indemnización sustitutiva del aviso previo, 90 UF limit (Ord. No. 5717)
- Dirección del Trabajo: 90 UF cap applicability to the years-of-service indemnity (Ord. No. 2494/180)
- Dirección del Trabajo: transitional payment form for workers hired after 13 Aug 1981 and before 1 Dec 1990
- Dirección del Trabajo: conventional indemnity may waive the 90 UF cap (Ord. No. 4295/175)
- SII: UF table for 10 October to 9 November 2026 (Circular No. 40; 1 November 2026 = CLP 41,252.94)
The Código del Trabajo text (Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional) and the AFC employer-contribution certificate (Ley 19.728, Article 13) are cited as authorities above; their live pages should be linked from the current official sites at the next refresh.
