Commisson problems

hello2007

I started a job at the beginning of the month which is a sales role with commission.

The basic salary is very low and so the commission is very important.The manager is always going on at us to make sales to boost our commission. However in our contract it says that the commission is not a part of the contract and can be paid at the discretion of the company.

So does this mean the company can legally withold my commission and still expect me to make sales.

I did not read the contract properly and just sign it because I was happy to have a job well I will never make that mistake again.

Jarndyce

hello2007 wrote: »

I started a job at the beginning of the month which is a sales role with commission.

The basic salary is very low and so the commission is very important.The manager is always going on at us to make sales to boost our commission. However in our contract it says that the commission is not a part of the contract and can be paid at the discretion of the company.

So does this mean the company can legally withold my commission and still expect me to make sales.

I did not read the contract properly and just sign it because I was happy to have a job well I will never make that mistake again.

Sounds like it! Providing they pay you at least at the miinimum wage that is.

hello2007

Jarndyce wrote: »

Sounds like it! Providing they pay you at least at the miinimum wage that is.

The basic pay is barely more than minimum wage so I was counting on the commission. I am so angry I have lose the will to make any sales and I am so over this job.

emsywoo123

hello2007 wrote: »

So does this mean the company can legally withold my commission and still expect me to make sales.

Do you have any reason to believe they would do this? It makes no sense, they want you to make sales as much as you do-more so in fact!

it could well be in there as a sneaky little "we will not pay commission if you naff off and leave us" type clause!

Fruitloop

Hello hello

I worked for a company where the set up was very similar.

The company (insurance) used this to weed out the people who were not natural and consistant sellers, those who always exceeded targets did very very well and lasted in the job.
However if problems arose on a sale months down the line, they could claw back any financial loss (such as compensation) from the next commission/bonus pay out due to that staff member, meaning no further loss to the company. Plus it was a great way of keeping staff in line, £25 deduction for being late, £50 for a bad telephone call evaluation or performance review......as they were not obligated to pay it in the first place.

It wasnt all bad tho, I was there for over 3 years and only had one or two minor deductions, but that is down to me refusing to mis-sell(not always appreciated by those above me :mad:), and following the "rules"

F x

hello2007

emsywoo123 wrote: »

Do you have any reason to believe they would do this? It makes no sense, they want you to make sales as much as you do-more so in fact!

it could well be in there as a sneaky little "we will not pay commission if you naff off and leave us" type clause!

The contract said there is commission attached to the job role if you meet targets and KPI However the commision is not part of the contract and is only paid at the company discretion.

Yes they want us to make sales but they do not have to paid us the commisson according to the contract.

Its a very small company and they are very cheap so I would not put it past them to do this.

Jarndyce

It sounds like you need to get some clarity on the circumstances when commission will be withheld in practice. Like others say, it may just be an employer's safeguard for exceptional circumstances.

If this info is not available from colleagues, you could ask the employer, and are entitled to write and ask of couse, but that is going to send signals you may not wish to send at this stage in your employment, unless you can find an opportunity to throw it in to a casual conversation.

gingerdad

Seems like a fairly normal clause I have worked for some large companies and alll had a similar clause. Only time I didnt get paid mine was when I left without completeing notice period

Nirvana9

As as been said, I think it's pretty standard in sales roles.

It may well just mean that if you leave, you won't receive any commission owed, or it could mean that you will receive fines for being late or something (I've worked like that, hated it, feels as if there's no respect from the employer to the employee - but then again, it's pretty standard).

emsywoo123

hello2007 wrote: »

Yes they want us to make sales but they do not have to paid us the commisson according to the contract.

yes and then you would leave, and they would have to recruit and re-train someone else and start all over again-they would not withhold it for the hell of it as then you would just leave!!

Sometimes I think this site just scares people!