Payments witheld?
Discussion
A bit of a long one this one folks but would appreciate your advice.
Current employer pays me a salary and on top of this pays me a 17.5% bonus every year that is based on group performance. Group is pretty big - circa 75,000 worldwide employees etc.
The bonus to salaried employees is paid in 4 quarterly instalments - the first three being at 90% and the final quarter being a larger payment to provide the total payment. If group performance is good then the final figure is higher than 100%. If group performance was poor then it would be lower than 100% however it has only once been paid at below 100% in the last 25 years. (98% in 2007 / 2008) The last two years have been paid at above 100% (104 & 108%)
At the end of July I received a new job offer and handed my notice in - agreeing to work my three month notice period as per my contract, I finished last Friday.
The company are refusing to pay the proportion of the 10% of the bonus that is withheld as it is not "company policy" to pay this. They claim that they don't know if the final payment will be higher or lower than 100% so is unfair to pay out earlier than this as either they could end up owing me more money or I could end up owing them money.
There is no mention of this bonus not being paid in my contract - infact there is no mention of the bonus being paid at 3 x 90% and 1 x larger % in my contract, just that it will be paid in 4 instalments.
Contract states that if notice period is not completed then all bonus payments are voided - not applicable in my case, I worked full notice and then also went back in for an extra week as a goodwill gesture to cover some holiday.
Before I left I spoke to my line manager who agreed to authorise the payment of my missing 10% (pro rata) however his request was knocked back by the FD. I spoke to the site HR manager on my penultimate day and outlined my feelings - he explained it was simply company policy but could provide no paperwork or handbook that explained this. He finally agreed to speak to the FD again but I heard nothing more before I left. I have since emailed him asking for a final decision but have had no reply.
I also suggested that I would be happy to wait until the final bonus calculation is made (next March) but again this was deemed not suitable and against company policy.
There seems to be no written policy to cover this and it just seems that other people who have left have either not realised the small section of the bonus is not being paid or just accepted the decision.
Just wondering if the company can just decide not to pay the bonus or if there is anything I can do about this?
Current employer pays me a salary and on top of this pays me a 17.5% bonus every year that is based on group performance. Group is pretty big - circa 75,000 worldwide employees etc.
The bonus to salaried employees is paid in 4 quarterly instalments - the first three being at 90% and the final quarter being a larger payment to provide the total payment. If group performance is good then the final figure is higher than 100%. If group performance was poor then it would be lower than 100% however it has only once been paid at below 100% in the last 25 years. (98% in 2007 / 2008) The last two years have been paid at above 100% (104 & 108%)
At the end of July I received a new job offer and handed my notice in - agreeing to work my three month notice period as per my contract, I finished last Friday.
The company are refusing to pay the proportion of the 10% of the bonus that is withheld as it is not "company policy" to pay this. They claim that they don't know if the final payment will be higher or lower than 100% so is unfair to pay out earlier than this as either they could end up owing me more money or I could end up owing them money.
There is no mention of this bonus not being paid in my contract - infact there is no mention of the bonus being paid at 3 x 90% and 1 x larger % in my contract, just that it will be paid in 4 instalments.
Contract states that if notice period is not completed then all bonus payments are voided - not applicable in my case, I worked full notice and then also went back in for an extra week as a goodwill gesture to cover some holiday.
Before I left I spoke to my line manager who agreed to authorise the payment of my missing 10% (pro rata) however his request was knocked back by the FD. I spoke to the site HR manager on my penultimate day and outlined my feelings - he explained it was simply company policy but could provide no paperwork or handbook that explained this. He finally agreed to speak to the FD again but I heard nothing more before I left. I have since emailed him asking for a final decision but have had no reply.
I also suggested that I would be happy to wait until the final bonus calculation is made (next March) but again this was deemed not suitable and against company policy.
There seems to be no written policy to cover this and it just seems that other people who have left have either not realised the small section of the bonus is not being paid or just accepted the decision.
Just wondering if the company can just decide not to pay the bonus or if there is anything I can do about this?
Personally, in your situation I wouldn't expect the rest of the bonus payment.
You've left the company prior to receiving all your bonus and they aren't going to see the point in paying someone who has jumped ship. My GF left her job to move closer to me 6 months ago. She gets a bonus at the end of each financial year, but would have been leaving prior to the payment being made.
We accepted the fact that if she left before then, she would not receive her bonus, even though she had worked hard for 11 months to ensure she got it. Instead we push her move back a month, meaning she handed her notice in after she got her bonus.
Honestly, I think you just need to suck it up. If you wanted it that badly, then you probably should of held off until the final payment had been made.
You've left the company prior to receiving all your bonus and they aren't going to see the point in paying someone who has jumped ship. My GF left her job to move closer to me 6 months ago. She gets a bonus at the end of each financial year, but would have been leaving prior to the payment being made.
We accepted the fact that if she left before then, she would not receive her bonus, even though she had worked hard for 11 months to ensure she got it. Instead we push her move back a month, meaning she handed her notice in after she got her bonus.
Honestly, I think you just need to suck it up. If you wanted it that badly, then you probably should of held off until the final payment had been made.
I think it comes down to contractual vs discretionary.
Every contract I have had has also stated that you must be employed at the date of payment. Add to this that it has always been like this (custom and practice?) I'm not sure you have a leg to stand on.
Finally is it a bonus or commision? I have always taken a bonus as a payment against future performance i.e stay with us and there is more of this to come. A commision is on past performance (sales).
Every contract I have had has also stated that you must be employed at the date of payment. Add to this that it has always been like this (custom and practice?) I'm not sure you have a leg to stand on.
Finally is it a bonus or commision? I have always taken a bonus as a payment against future performance i.e stay with us and there is more of this to come. A commision is on past performance (sales).
It is described in the handbook & contract as the group bonus scheme.
Fully accept that I'm not entitled to the full bonus payment but it seems wrong that they withhold the 10% from each quarterly payment, and then not pay the pro rata amount for time worked.
The other annoyance is that if you work on the shop floor on an hourly wage the bonus is paid in full at 100% every quarter.
Thanks for the feedback though.
Fully accept that I'm not entitled to the full bonus payment but it seems wrong that they withhold the 10% from each quarterly payment, and then not pay the pro rata amount for time worked.
The other annoyance is that if you work on the shop floor on an hourly wage the bonus is paid in full at 100% every quarter.
Thanks for the feedback though.
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