MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Victoria be there for Geri and share her bonus? 13 November 2007 at 7:07PM in Money Saving Polls 39 replies 10.8K views

Former_MSE_Wendy

Here's this week's hypothetical situation for you to cogitate on:

Should Victoria be there for Geri and share her bonus?

At the call centre where Victoria works, staff get a £500 bonus if they recommend a mate for a job and they’re hired. So Victoria puts her unemployed friend Geri forward for a vacancy. Geri lands the job, but asks Victoria to be a sport and split the £500 with her. Victoria says she should stop being a baby and just be grateful for the job. Yet Geri says, “who do you think are, friendship never ends. Share the cash.”

Should Victoria share her bonus with Geri and, if so, what percentage?

Click reply to have your say

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cat4772

No way. Victoria should keep the money and Geri should be grateful she has a job! Saying that, I'd probably split the money 80% to me and 20% to Geri!

Cat.x

Francis63

Its Victorias choice what to do with the money.

If I was Victoria I would offer to split it 50/50, however.

But....if I was Geri I would not have the audacity to ask!

So, it would be nice if Victoria offered and Geri refused. THATS a real friendship, anything else falls short.

(...you gotta get with your friends! lol )

BenL

Hindsight being the wonderful thing it is, they should have agreed it at the start. I had the agreement to split my referral bonus with the girl who was referring me 50/50.

It was all upfront, if afterwards it was discussed I would have hoped 50/50 anyway as its still money for nothing for the refering party.

sluggy1967

I wouldn't give Geri anything - after all, she is now in exactly the same position as Victoria, if she can find someone who needs a job, recommend them and bag £500 for yourself.

I think Geri has a cheek and should be relieved to have a job and grateful to Victoria for thinking of her.

Recommending a friend for a job can be quite dodgy, as if it all goes wrong you will feel pretty stupid for recommending them, it could reflect badly on you, so Victoria deserves the money!

David12

Geri should give Vic a present or take her out for a meal/drink as a 'thank you' for getting the job. It would be nice if Victoria then used some of her bonus for something they could share - weekend break, shopping/theatre trip, Gym sub, or whatever they both enjoy doing together.
NEVER exchange money between friends unless you want to ruin the friendship. Gifts should always be in 'kind'.

geofhart

Hi
No I think Victoria is entitled to keep the money, Geri is being avaricious in asking for a share. Victoria has already shown her friendship by getting her the job

danthemoneysavingman

I think victoria shouldn't have mentioned she gets a referral bonus in the first place - no argument then!

Though, she only got her the interview for the job - geri got the job herself. as it's been mentioned, 50/50s nice, given they're supposed to be mates.

Ezmondino

50/50 all the way. I have done this at my workplace - If Victoria is any kind of friend she would have offered half in the first place.

averagepunter

50/50 seems fair to me. Without Geri, Victoria wouldn't have got a penny. As friends, it seems the obvious thing to split the money.

If I was Geri, I wouldn't ask though. I had a situation once where I helped a mate get a £250 referral bonus, even though he didn't refer me, but with a tiny white lie or two I managed to swing the bonus for him. I didn't ask for a share and he never offered. I did feel a bit aggrieved, but it wasn't worth ruining a friendship over.

olly300

No the money shouldn't be split. I've worked at company's who have done this.

The company pays referral bonuses because it's cheaper to get someone via a recommendation then to go through the full recruitment advertising process, and the person recommended is likely to be more reliable than someone found through an advert.

Victoria's bonus is taxed so she won't be getting the full £500. Plus there is likely to be a delay of a few months (normally 3-9 months) before she actually receives it as there are conditions on them that the person recruited has to work at the company for a minimum amount of time, be up to a certain standard and the referer must still be working at the company.

I also know of companies who claim to give referral bonuses then don't actually pay out.

So Victoria may not actually get any of the money.