Handing in Notice and Bonus payment

El_Torro

At my company we get an annual bonus in March (it's discretionary). As long as you are still employed on the 1st of January you still get your bonus, even if you have already left the company when the bonus is paid. Various people I know have left over the years and still got their bonus, as long as they met the criteria. 

There'll be a policy about this at your employer, so you're right to ask what it is. 

Tabieth

PierremontQuaker03 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

PierremontQuaker03 said:

Hi, I thought I would create a different thread for this- I am potentially handing in my notice today, but am due to be paid a bonus in November.  I am going to ask for the policy from HR, but do you think they could take that away from me. There is a lady who is retiring next year, she has told them last week, and there is no indication that she will not be paid her bonus. So I'm thinking it could be double standards if I am refused, but she gets hers.

Is your bonus discretionary? 

If it is you will most likely not receive it if you are working your notice etc. The joys of discretionary bonuses is they can use all sorts of reasons as to apply their discretion and as long as its not because of your skin colour, religion and other protected characteristics its all perfectly legal. 

Its called a Value Chain Bonus, I've just googled it and yes its classed as discretionary - however "If a bonus has been paid regularly and predictably, an employee may argue they have a contractual right to it, even if it's labeled as discretionary" - I have been paid it for at least the last 5 years.  I'm expecting my manager to challenge me getting paid it, but I want to understand the policy first. If she does challenge it then (a) I will go to her manager to explain and (b) I will be less incentivised for the handover if you know what I mean  

You do indeed want your cake! I think you need to decide what you’d prefer - the bonus or working a shorter notice period. You may not get both, so prioritise.

And I would not under any circumstances even hint at threats of sabotaging your handover. That alone could cost you your bonus or even worse. 

Honestly, I’d put my head down, get the bonus, hand in a neutral & bland resignation letter, work my full notice, not cause any trouble, and leave. 

CliveOfIndia

The only way to be sure is to check with your HR department.  Certainly in every job I've had, it's clearly communicated that any bonus would be forfeited if you are on a notice period.

But since a bonus is not a contractual right (or at least, it's not in the vast majority of scenarios), a company is at liberty to impose pretty much whatever terms & conditions they wish - just so long as it can't be construed as discrimination based upon a protect characteristic.

Clive_Woody

I appreciate every company is different, but in every company I've worked in the bonus was discretionary, and if you were working your notice period it was not payable. What I have been able to do previously is ask my new employer if they would consider a sign-on bonus to compromise for the loss of my annual bonus - several were happy to do so.

I don't think you're going to get far arguing that a discretionary bonus should be payable once you've handed in your notice (for whatever reason).

Grumpy_chap

The OP needs to decide whether they are staying in this job or moving to the new job.

If moving, hand notice in, irrespective of the bonus, and request shortened notice period.

From the point of view of the new employer, they will probably accept "I have handed my notice in and requested an early end date but it has not been agreed so I need to set the start date for 3 months time."

I doubt the new employer will be as receptive to "I really want to come to work for you, but I am going to hold off handing in my notice for 6 weeks and then I might still have a 3 months notice period."

PierremontQuaker03

Grumpy_chap said:

The OP needs to decide whether they are staying in this job or moving to the new job.

If moving, hand notice in, irrespective of the bonus, and request shortened notice period.

From the point of view of the new employer, they will probably accept "I have handed my notice in and requested an early end date but it has not been agreed so I need to set the start date for 3 months time."

I doubt the new employer will be as receptive to "I really want to come to work for you, but I am going to hold off handing in my notice for 6 weeks and then I might still have a 3 months notice period."

I think you have summed up my position perfectly @Grumpy_chap - looks like the notice is going in tomorrow - but just want to check the Value Chain Bonus policy with HR first.

TELLIT01

El_Torro said:

At my company we get an annual bonus in March (it's discretionary). As long as you are still employed on the 1st of January you still get your bonus, even if you have already left the company when the bonus is paid. Various people I know have left over the years and still got their bonus, as long as they met the criteria. 

There'll be a policy about this at your employer, so you're right to ask what it is. 

Different companies have different policies regarding entitlement to bonus payments.  The requirement not to have tendered resignation, and to still be in employment on the date the bonus is payable are both common.

I missed out on a bonus payment because I started less than a week after the start date of the bonus year.  That's life.

Savvy_Sue

flaneurs_lobster said:

Forget the retiree, they may not have the same terms in their contract.

And has she had it in writing that she will still receive her bonus? AND has she actually given notice, or just started talking about it?

I made it very clear for almost a year that I was intending to retire "in June", but I had not handed in my notice. In February was just starting to wonder when to do so, and had mentally decided to give them three months' notice. At any point I could have changed my mind and gone either sooner, or later.

Then everything went t*ts up, and I was told I could EITHER stand by the end of June date I'd mentioned informally, OR they would make me redundant at the end of May. I had the choice, because I had NOT given notice. They said I needed to think about it. 

prowla

Some contracts have a clause where bonus will not be paid after notice given.

MyRealNameToo

PierremontQuaker03 said:

I appreciate all the comments - I am in a position where I want my cake and I want to eat it - but basically the bonus is relevant to the year I was working, so I do feel entitled to it, and I have worked hard for it - I do have a few options - I could wait for a month - hand it in then and hope that I can get an early release - or I could bite the bullet, do it now and hope for the best.  If I do wait then I will jeopardise my new role - which I don't want to do - it is a difficult one, which is why I want peoples perspectives on it. 

This why you generally read your contract and understand your position before deciding to apply for other roles. 

If you know in advance then you can tell them up front that you can't resign until at least X else you will forfeit the bonus and then you have a 3 week notice period which may or may not be negotiable. If companies are very keen on you they may consider a golden hello in exchange for an earlier resignation, it will rarely be as much as your bonus would be but is a decent step towards it and can also incorporate other considerations like maybe a higher salary.

Alternatively, if you dont think you are that much of a catch that someone will pay a premium for you up front then you defer job hunting until you're ready to hand in your notice.