Discretionary bonuses and resigning

jim1999

Undervalued said:

jim1999 said:

Mistermeaner said:

Thanks for input ; clearly waiting until money in the bank is the safest option but that would mean not putting in my 3 months for another 2 months (so 5 months total for potential new employer) - I will of discuss this but would understand they might think this a little long

Will also check prior communications regards the bonus - I'm fairly sure there's nothing in my contract but there is an old employee handbook that might have something in

There has also been a number of separate comms as the measures etc have changed over time

Be very interested in the legal angles of there is nothing specific about being employed and not under notice - I don't recall this ever being mentioned but wasn't really concerned at prior times so may not have noticed 

I've been down this road with the Employment Tribunal.  You can win, and my employer paid out my full bonus shortly before we went to tribunal. 

It is all dependent on contractual wording.  In my case the contract didn't make any comment relating to actually being employed at the time the bonus would be paid - but generally they do.

However, I really wouldn't want to go down that road unless I had no choice.  For me, I was happy to take the new job even if I lost the bonus, but obviously I still fought for it.

In short - yes you can fight it, and yes you can win.  But it would probably cost a few thousand in legal representation unless you DIY it or can convince your legal insurance to take on the case, require a fair bit of work and tussling with your old employer.

So, with all due respect, you don't actually know whether you would have won or not. You got your money which is great but large numbers of civil case and particularly employment tribunal cases are "settled on the steps of the court" for all kinds of reasons.

As you say it all depends on the wording and the OP would need to take proper legal advice as to whether he has a case worth arguing. By far the safer option is to delay and get the money in the bank unless he, like you, is willing to take the risk and treat getting the bonus as a bonus, if you see what I mean! 

Technically, I don't know.  However, I asked a friend of mine who is an employment lawyer for some help framing arguments etc.  They a) said that I had a good chance of winning and b) after the settlement said that it was the first time they'd seen the defending law firm settle for the full claim amount - consequently I conclude that it is likely that I would have won.  And based on the various examples I read through whilst preparing my case, I would not be the first to win under similar circumstances.

The only reason I posted is because people often think (and advise others) that discretionary bonuses can just be revoked or ignored whenever a company likes, and that definitely is not true.