About pay review and bonus at work

fairly standard to have a pay review annually. but the whole business usually does it at the same time.

in my place we start the review process in February, decisions are made in March, bonuses paid in march payday and then pay rises effective 1 April.

if someone starts in January they will be on probation so they won't get a review. same if on notice. no bonus. no payrise. we typically see that people leave after 1 April if they aren't happy with their pay.

Sounds like you'll have an appraisal and pay review in July, I'd be inclined to wait until then and see what's said about bonus. You might well get one, but they won't tell you then as they'll need to do their budgeting for the entire financial year. And review your performance.

They won't want piecemeal pay reviews throughout the year obviously - that'd be a nightmare.

Were you still in a probation period when the last July pay review happened? If they were doing percentage pay rises across the board then it's a shame you missed out if you were a few months in. You could mention this in your July pay negotiations if necessary

I think most companies wouldn’t give a pay rise until the first pay review date after you’ve been there for a year.

I assume your salary has also been reviewed annually, in that it was set in 2023 and will be reviewed in July 2024.

And bonuses are discretionary. 10% is probably typical but will likely depend on yours and company performance in the year.

It’s annoying but you’ve just misunderstood how it works and didn’t clarify. I don’t think the company have done anything wrong.

I've had a number of bonuses over my working career. Certainly not every year. I work hard and have had to step up/step in a number of times for different employers. Where I work now is a listed company and there is usually an annual pay rise - we got it early last year to help with CoL. There is an incentive scheme for some grades. What that pays is dependant on company performance and it's a share award.

Presumably you have objectives and an appraisal? If you've exceeded your objectives that's the time to ask for a bonus.

You've been very fortunate not to encounter this before! I used to work for a similar private org. – guaranteed bonuses for up to 20% (and at least 10% even for the worst performers!) and an annual pay increase of inflation + an extra 1-5% depending on performance. It was my first job and I thought it was fairly normal – it was very hard to leave behind once I realised it wasn't!

Having said that, I bet they don't operate that way any more. Things have changed dramatically for businesses as well as for workers and there just isn't the room for that kind of thing these days, depressing as it is.

All standard. Foolish to rely on a bonus as part of your salary.

I agree with everyone else, I'm not sure what you're questioning as everything is completely normal.

Bonus is discretionary and as others have said will be based on certain metrics. Ask for the bonus plan rules/criteria if you're not sure. At my company we have a 10% bonus level, but that's 'target', i.e. if performance metrics are reached of X,Y,Z then 10% is paid out. Although 10% is target, the actual payment may be more or less depending on if we under/over achieve (there is a minimum for any bonus to be paid out).

A bonus is always based on individual/company performance though. Otherwise it would be your salary.

And also fairly standard to get a pay review at a certain time of year with everyone being reviewed at the same time.

I think you've been a bit naive to think the 10% was guaranteed or that your annual pay review would be bang on 1 year.

Have you come from the public sector, OP? Everything you're experiencing is normal and ime in the private sector you should never count on bonuses or annual pay rises as it's not unusual for neither to actually happen, unless they're contractual. For example, I have a contractual "annual pay review" but that doesn't actually guarantee I'll get a raise at that point.

It's all very standard. Of course pay reviews within most businesses are carried out at a setpoint, else it would never end.

Why would you accept a job without properly reading and understanding the contract of employment, and querying any discrepancies before signing?

I'm a pay consultant. Everything you describe is completely normal

Entirely normal to have an annual review cycle, although as PP said much more usual to be end of year / end of April.

Is you bonus contractual and have you fulfilled the demands? All contractual bonuses have ben been withheld in my company this year as the criteria haven't been met.

All sounds pretty standard to me.

It's pretty standard for companies to hold pay reviews once a year at a certain time - July in your case.

The only bonus I've seemed guaranteed is when they promise you a 13th month bonus. Other than that it's always discretionary.

Your company's policy sounds pretty standard.

Bonuses are never guaranteed and are often more to do with company rather than personal performance, or a mixture. You should never have relied on getting a bonus.

unfortunately it’s quite normal for pay rises to be very hard to nail down these days. However it sound like July is not much more than a year after you joined?

Bonus is generally discretionary unless a specific amount is written into your contract. Its also usual that bonuses are only paid if the company hits certain financial targets so for example a 10% of tour gross salary bonus paid out if the company hits £xx profit and a sliding reduction or increase on a percentage basis depending on company results.

Wherever I've worked, pay rises are linked to inflation and the cost of living. If inflation is going up but you don't follow that with pay rises that are in line with that, people will end up being 'poorer' each month. Obviously promotions are different

I've had bonuses as part of my contract but in 3 jobs I've only ever had it twice since 2008. What irks me most is that the crickets can be heard bit no manager actually goes through why there is no bonus.
Pay rises - push for one at any time of the year. If you think there is a valid reason then ask for one. I have had tweaks to pay from their side but the largest increases have been from my persistence. Unfortunately those reasons are because of pay discrepancies.

It sounds like a timing thing - often if you've only been in a role a couple of months or still in probation you wouldn't be eligible for a pay review last year, at July.

It sounds like they do happen annually, just not on your work anniversary but inline with the company. If you'd started November, it sounds like you'd have had review 7/8 months in.

Bonuses are bonus - that said, did you check the criteria to get 10%? I wouldn't expect a 10% bonus without some "strings" so to speak...otherwise why wouldn't they just put it in your salary? Some sort of performance based - individually, team or company - or combination there of.

The offer was probably that your bonus could be up to 10% of your salary but that would likely be subject to a range of performance indicators being met - both your own and the company's.