Earned commission during Maternity Leave

dadtobe

Hi,

2 points.

1. Your SMP shouldn't be affected you should get 90% of your average SALARIED earnings provided you qualify.

2. You should receive any other contractual commissions or bonus related pay unrelated to remuneration. As long as you earn't the commission before you went off.

http://www.xperthr.co.uk/faq/where-a-salesperson-is-not-paid-commission-until-the-pay-date-in-the-month-after-the-one-in-which-she-earned-it-is-the-employer-obliged-to-pay-her-commission-earned-before-she-went-on-maternity-leave-while-she-is-on-maternity-leave/86730/

Good luck and be firm with them.

muhandis

Amazing, thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed

dadtobe wrote: »

Hi,

2 points.

1. Your SMP shouldn't be affected you should get 90% of your average SALARIED earnings provided you qualify.

2. You should receive any other contractual commissions or bonus related pay unrelated to remuneration. As long as you earn't the commission before you went off.

http://www.xperthr.co.uk/faq/where-a-salesperson-is-not-paid-commission-until-the-pay-date-in-the-month-after-the-one-in-which-she-earned-it-is-the-employer-obliged-to-pay-her-commission-earned-before-she-went-on-maternity-leave-while-she-is-on-maternity-leave/86730/

Good luck and be firm with them.

roxy7699

As Dadtobe said, you are entitled to anything that you would get if you would normally be working, you can not be any less favoured.

Where this could be an issue is if it is a discretionary bonus scheme that some companies operate (doesn't sound this way for you), here it is at the companies discretion. Personally I don't like the legalities of these schemes but do not know what case law there is around it.

dadtobe

roxy7699 wrote: »

As Dadtobe said, you are entitled to anything that you would get if you would normally be working, you can not be any less favoured.

Where this could be an issue is if it is a discretionary bonus scheme that some companies operate (doesn't sound this way for you), here it is at the companies discretion. Personally I don't like the legalities of these schemes but do not know what case law there is around it.

If everyone gets it and the employee doesn't because they're on mat leave then its discrimination.

All the contractual obligations still apply, holiday accrual, cont service, access to company benefits life insurance, private medical and so on.

Undervalued

dadtobe wrote: »

If everyone gets it and the employee doesn't because they're on mat leave then its discrimination.

All the contractual obligations still apply, holiday accrual, cont service, access to company benefits life insurance, private medical and so on.

That is true. However if the bonus is an any way discretionary (and the vast majority are) then it is quite easy for a firm to get round this.

The law requires that discretion is not "perversely" applied, that is all. A tribunal is not empowered to make business decisions about the finer points of who qualifies and who doesn't. It is also not unknown for this sort of situation to be a catalyst for a firm to withhold a bonus from another member of staff as well so as not to appear to be discriminating.

muhandis

A final update -

I sent an email to HR specifically asking the question discussed in this thread. As expected, HR came back saying that since the SMP calculation will include the commission paid on the 2 relevant paydays, the company "can't afford to pay any additional commission" during mat leave.

I said the SMP shouldn't have anything to do with this, since the company gets it back from HMRC and my commission is a share of the money received by the company on sales that I've made, closed and completed.

She sounded bewildered by my claim about the SMP refund and said that can't be right. I told her to please check with finance and if what she said still stands, to put it in an email to me.

2 days later she emails me saying "Good news, you will be paid any commission due on your business that banks while on maternity leave."

Many thanks for all your posts on this topic!

pioneer22

muhandis wrote: »

A final update -

I sent an email to HR specifically asking the question discussed in this thread. As expected, HR came back saying that since the SMP calculation will include the commission paid on the 2 relevant paydays, the company "can't afford to pay any additional commission" during mat leave.

I said the SMP shouldn't have anything to do with this, since the company gets it back from HMRC and my commission is a share of the money received by the company on sales that I've made, closed and completed.

She sounded bewildered by my claim about the SMP refund and said that can't be right. I told her to please check with finance and if what she said still stands, to put it in an email to me.

2 days later she emails me saying "Good news, you will be paid any commission due on your business that banks while on maternity leave."

Many thanks for all your posts on this topic!

Good on your for standing firm!! She blatantly got advice from somewhere else.

Good luck with your baby!!! :j :beer: