Commission after Furlough ends

Thrugelmir

mobilejo said:

Grumpy_chap said:

I read this totally differently and would say the employer has been generous.

• OP works in Sales, so typically a low basic salary plus commission on orders received (paid at dispatch / invoice date).
• There was a period when no sales were made because the OP was not working, but the company used the furlough scheme to support 80% wage.  This could have been interpreted as fixed rate employee, so 80% of the low basic salary only, or as variable rate where the commission can also be considered.
• Now the OP is back at work and can sell again, so will be paid on new orders received, when those orders are dispatched.  Depending on the industry, this may even be a back-log of orders to land in June if orders will have queued up awaiting the company being able to receive the orders.

Either way, sadly, for a Sales role, if you do no sales for 2 months that is going to be less commission somewhere along the line.  Also, those sales that have not been made won't generate turnover or profit for the company to fund the commission on the sales that were not made.

I can see that the OP has sales made in March for which commission has not yet been received from the company as the goods have not been dispatched and invoiced.  This may be something the OP could have a discussion about with the company, but if they say "no", it is probably tough luck.

The bright side for the OP is that the business survived and he has a rewarding job to go back to and the pain of this short period will hopefully pass soon.

If he has a contractual right to commission, he doesn't need to be grateful, he needs to get what he's owed.

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Keeping ones job and enabling the business to survive would be my personal take. As in the longer term thatr's far more valuable. Companies don't make such decisions likely. Not a question of a switch being flicked and all is going to return to normal. 

Roullier

Thanks for your observations people. I appreciate  the need to understand the demands on the business right now. However, this ‘refreshing’ of all commissions was not mentioned when we were furloughed. Indeed, it only came to light on our return, and only then when somebody asked the management if future pipeline deals would be paid as normal. Not sure when we would have found out otherwise. 

Galloglass

Just following up on @mobilejo 's comment. What is in play here is a contract. You have to understand what both parties have agreed to and are operating. If, after studying the details, you feel there is an issue you raise the issue through the dispute mechanism in the contract. It is the same for every contract but in this case it will be the grievance procedure.

If after airing your concerns, you still think there has been a drift from the terms agreed, you can either accept the variation of this contract, or sue for breach of contract / or an Employment Tribunal. You can only go to an ET if you have been employed for more than 2 years but BoC is an alternative. 

A court/tribunal will not accept gratitiude as a means of varying a contract.

Roullier

Thanks for the legal clarification Galloglass - you have confirmed what I suspected about gratitude and generosity not being valid reasons for effectively  changing ones contractual t&c’s.