Worried about DP’s job

[notimetococo]

So today is comp day at work. DP who has a good reputation at work (over 15 years in job for same company) was called to an HR meeting last week and told not to worry and then quizzed about his boss and their boss’s boss and what they are like and any altercations they may have had between them. Conversation then proceeded in a friendly manner and HR person asked what DP’s plans were, if he was considering sabbatical etc.. Nothing sinister and all very friendly… nothing more came of it.

Roll on to today and comp day and he’s told by his boss and their direct boss that his compensation is on hold pending an investigation that he might be directly or indirectly involved in and told to sit tight and let things play out. He’s fuming as he has no idea what this means and what investigation he’s involved in. He was already demotivated as he picks up the slack for most of his team and manager is incompetent but he’s always professional at work and has a good reputation both in his company and others he interacts with.

Does he just ‘let it play out’ as his manager has said or go quiz HR on what on earth is happening. He literally has no idea what it can be about. Company is laying off a lot of people at the moment so worried it might be something to do with redundancy.

Grateful for any advice you might have

I'd start taking people for coffee to find out what is going on and updating my CV.

Is he in a union?

I am confused
He was due compensation
from who?
and how is this linked with the latest issue? surely entirely separate?

What is “comp day”?

When you say 'comp day' do you mean the day annual bonuses are announced?

Sorry - he works in financial services. So today is pay rise and bonus day. He didn’t expect anything but it’s more to the fact he’s under some sort of investigation that he has no clue about. It’s already a stressful job with long hours so this is added stress

Yes sorry I should have been clearer

I'd hook a meeting with HR and ask what's going on. To withhold compensation and pay rise without a formal meeting isn't on. Does he have a union or can he take someone with him. I'd not trust managers or HR at this point so he needs to document everything that's said in the meeting and follow it up with an email with the details in it

why did he expect zero pay rise and
bonus?

Ooh yikes.

So bonuses are obviously always discretionary. The small print always says so.

But the issue is that if he is under investigation for something i would have thought by law he’d have a right to know what for and why and be kept updated.

He needs to speak to HR and clarify what’s going on though I would separate out the comp point. The bigger issue seems to be what the investigation is and if he can get that sorted hopefully the bonus should follow

Maybe company is doing badly. Certainly around the last financial crisis we were pre warned in bank i worked at the bonus pot was close to zero

It amazes me how many mumsnetters think most of us have access to a union! 😂😂

He needs to talk to someone senior he trusts. HR unlikely to be able to help

It sounds to me as if he’s being considered as a witness in an investigation, not being investigated. If he was being investigated he would be notified.
If he was being asked if he’d seen/heard altercations between other staff one of the people involved could have suggested your husband as a witness to something.

If HR have withheld his comp then he’s somehow implicated, though possibly only indirectly.

I’d be requesting some info if I was him though with no expectation of success, necessarily.

I’ve never heard of someone’s comp being “delayed” like this. Something is up.

Has everyone else in his team had their compensation discussed? That would be my first call an off the record chat with a mate to see if they got their review done!
Must be an American company!

Thank you all. He’s going to speak to HR and make sure it’s all documented. It’s so weird as he genuinely doesn’t know what it could be although one team member who is fairly new is off indefinitely with no explanation which is even more curious.