Recommending a new employee and bonus...AIBU to think I should be paid?

[PeridotPassion]

My workplace has a system where if you introduce someone to an entry level position (subject to successful application and them being unknown to the company), you get a £500.00 bonus. It saves the company a fortune in recruitment agency fees as it's a high turnover, call-centre environment. You submit their basic details, the company contacts them and interviews and if they're successful, you get a £500.00 payment after 4 months of them being employed. I've done this twice over the past 5 years, both were successful and I got the bonus each time.

Last year, I recommended a man I know (vaguely...a friend of a friend). He interviewed but was unsuccessful and was fairly gutted.

He contacted me a couple of months ago to ask me to recommend him again as the 12 month re-application period for unsuccessful candidates had just expired. So I completed the process again, submitted his profile and contact details and he interviewed last month, was successful, and started the job last week.

I emailed our HR department yesterday just to clarify whether I would receive the bonus in May or June as he started right on the cusp of the payroll cut off date. The reply I got was that the candidate was previously known to the company, so no bonus was payable.

Their basis for 'previously known' is the fact that he interviewed with them last year, after my first introduction of him. He'd never applied to, or enquired, or had any dealings with the company before that. The company also do not pro-actively contact previous candidates to re-apply.

I've checked the full wording of the Introduction Scheme T&C (which is fairly brief) and the only mention is that you will only get paid the bonus when you introduce someone previously unknown to the company. No further clarification.

I get that if he'd applied previously through a recruitment agency or directly from an advert, the bonus wouldn't apply. But considering the only reason they had his details on record already the second time around is because I introduced him the first time around , I feel this is very unfair.

AIBU to think I should be paid the bonus?

I think you should, yes.

Don't know what you can do about it though.

YANBU. You're owed that bonus!

Escalate to HR director. Say this is the 3rd person you have recommended and you have many more to come.

I think you should get the bonus for your initial introduction even though it has taken two interviews for him to get selected for a job.

You're clearly morally correct and should get the bonus but I'm not sure what your legal footing is.

The legal footing is probably that the first introduction is the important one and she should be paid when he gets a job even if there's a delay.

YANBU, that stinks

Unfortunately I don't think you are entitled to it, as annoying as it seems!

I'd escalate to head of recruitment. Explain you introduced and re-introduced the candidate and would expect a bonus as the candidate would not be known to them on either occasion but for your introduction.

Thanks for the replies...I had to post and run earlier, time got away from me.

I'm glad that most think i'm not bu to think I 'should' get it. I told a good friend in work about it, fully expecting her to share my indignation but she thought the company were in the right which made me doubt whether my desire for the £500 was clouding my judgement!

I'll email HR tomorrow and say i'm not happy with the decision and ask for an escalation/complaint and see what happens...worth a shot!