Am i entitled to my bonus?

Gandrews1

I am looking to leave my job and i have to give 1 months notice. In the period i would work my annual bonus is paid. Would i be entitled to this still? Our bonus is half for our personal performance and half for the groups performance and we have been told we are to receive bonus' this year? Any help would be appreciated as i would like to receive my bonus as i played a part in the companies success.

Daedalus

What does your contract say? I imagine like mine it would ultimately say it is completely discretionary. But if company policy is everyone gets X with a specific way X is worked out, I don't think they can refuse.

Any

I would be very carefull..
Check your contract, and delay the move if possible.
At least until the bonus has been announced.. I personally wouldn't risk it.

[Deleted User]

I'd wait until the money is in the bank.. most bonus's are 'non contractual' and can be whipped away at a moments notice

Gandrews1

Ok thank you, i will check my contrat when i get home. Hopefully if i explain to the new job i have to give a months notice with the holiday period coming up they would suggest i start after christmas and maybe i could then not hand my notice in until i have received said bonus? I guess worse case scenario i dont receive it but it would just be nice as i have worked al year to receive the bonus :-\

Uncertain

I would agree with the above comments that your legal right to the bonus may be limited or non existent!

Once you have got the bonus it may well be possible to negotiate a shorter period of notice. Equally, if you get really lucky, they may pay you in lieu of notice and tell you to clear off!

McKneff

Definitely look for the word 'discretionary' it mean that they can please themselves whether you get paid it or not.

skintandscared_2

Our annual bonus is not payable to staff who are working out a notice period or involved in any form of disciplinary procedure.

Daedalus

McKneff wrote: »

Definitely look for the word 'discretionary' it mean that they can please themselves whether you get paid it or not.

The issue I see is that there would seem to be a set test to how much of a bonus you get. % of personal targets + % of team targets. I am not sure if an employer can give everyone a bonus following that rule and not one employee because they are leaving.

I don't think an employer can give everyone a bonus for good performance but not X who has performance that is above the average employee.

Uncertain

Daedalus wrote: »

I don't think an employer can give everyone a bonus for good performance but not X who has performance that is above the average employee.

It depends entirely on whether the bonus is a contractual right (obviously subject to meeting the agreed criteria) or, more likely, discretionary.

People tend to forget that most types of discrimination are perfectly lawful. It is only a handful of reasons that are prohibited.

Acc72

Have a good search on this forum - there have been a couple of cases recently where people have not received their bonus even though they still worked for the company (they were working their notice).

As somebody else has said, wait until the cash is in the bank before you resign.

And also (sorry to state the obvious) do not post anything about your new job on Facebook or tell any of work colleagues ......