People moaning about lower bonuses this year

[airjordan]

I think it makes them sound really spoiled. The couple of people moaning are already on huge salaries so I'm sure they'll cope with a less than great year!

I do think it's tricky in some cases to say it is not guaranteed. Commission based bonuses should still be paid.

The company I previously worked for did have bonuses in the contract. So your salary is £X and annual bonus at X% of that. The percentage increased with the seniority of your role. So I guess when it's in your contract there is a high expectation of it. When I left and there was no bonus in my new company, they said it would be reflected in the salary offered. Whish is great for me, as I now don't need to worry about it.

Re pension- Unknown as they keep changing it (extend working age etc and change payments ) but prob about 18k a year if everything goes well

OP is right that you should never rely on a discretionary bonus to pay your bills. Even if you have worked for a company for 30 years and received it every year, it’s still discretionary and relies on the company hitting targets.

You salary is for paying bills etc, if you work for an organisation that suddenly is not hitting targets due to COVID then you don’t get the bonus and you should always be prepared for that.

I agree with you.

However, those of us at my company who weren’t furloughed took a 6 month 25% pay cut and no bonus to try and save colleagues’ jobs (which it did). I think I’ve done 150% of my usual workload for 75% pay for 8 months now. I’m exhausted.

I’m not complaining. There are people with much bigger problems. I signed up for the salary sacrifice willingly. I’m very happy to have my job. I don’t complain about it publicly.

But yes inside I am sad, that bonus money would have made it feel worthwhile and would have covered a lot of Christmas!

Little sympathy here for them. Never had a bonus in my life . 6.5 % payrise over the last 3 years. Less than 1 % for the previous 3 before that with we're all in this together savings . Now it looks like more freezes. NHS retrial age gone from 55 to 68 with restricton on taking it before that. Worked all summer no furlow in the park for me with a glass of wine.

When I worked ( private sector ) pay rises were few and far between - not even 1percent Also not to be counted on. Also retirement age went up and up with further restrictions, I think there are many who are not earning ££££££££s as some would have you think ( I exclude here some of the very lucrative City type jobs. )

@Trisolaris

OP is right that you should never rely on a discretionary bonus to pay your bills. Even if you have worked for a company for 30 years and received it every year, it’s still discretionary and relies on the company hitting targets.

That's not what she said though, she said a bonus is not for bills. A bonus is for whatever you want to spend it on, the fact that it's discretionary doesn't preclude it from being used to pay bills.

@swiftsoo

Op replied to a comment where someone said that maybe people rely on their bonus to pay bills to point out that that isn’t what it’s for.

Once you have a bonus confirmed then sure, use it however you want but again, op is completely right that you should never rely on a discretionary bonus to pay your bills.

That's just your interpretation, @Trisolaris. My interpretation is she means a bonus isn't for bills.

I can assure people I wasn’t in the park drinking wine on furlough. I was taking care of my young children as nursery was closed. Trying to occupy them whilst my husband worked full time at home. It was no picnic.

I’m also waiting to be made redundant, so I can assure those people bitter about furlough it really isn’t a great position to be in. Also in my company, those few that are left working, yes they are working bloody hard, but putting majority on furlough means that a company is saving money so hopefully at least saving some jobs. Yes even those still working

It’s shit, I hate furlough

@switswooo

That's just your interpretation, *@Trisolaris*. My interpretation is she means a bonus isn't for bills.

I meant bonuses shouldn't be relied on.

@mbosnz

We're not getting one at all this year. And I haven't heard one person bitch about it. We count ourselves lucky we have retained our jobs, on full pay.

This.

It's industry dependent. Not all business are on their knees and some staff are busier than ever. DH's company has just posted record profits.

There are plenty of companies who will use Covid as an excuse not to give pay rises or bonuses. In that case, yes, they would be right to feel aggrieved.

YANBU. I get a Christmas bonus usually. I would never ever take it as a given and factor it into my household expenses. It is extra money, that's all. I don't care if I don't get one this year, I'm glad I've got a job.

We got the bonus of some claps and card from our Chief Exec. More than we have ever got in our trust so I am counting myself lucky this year. And I still have a job.

If people don't expect a bonus then they can't get upset when they don't one! My husband still got his 15k which he was appreciative about but he never factors them in every year. Its a nice added extra.

Am I reading this right - your husband gets a £15k bonus?? And it's a "nice added extra"?

Dh and I have given the best years of our lives to the NHS, what is a bonus?

Ha, ha. Yes, I ONCE had a bonus, when I worked for John Lewis for a couple of years. Otherwise, I've never (48 years working so far) worked in a place where bonuses were paid.

I meant bonuses shouldn't be relied on.

It’s funny that THIS is the post you’ve come back to respond to, OP!

@switswooo

I meant bonuses shouldn't be relied on.

It’s funny that THIS is the post you’ve come back to respond to, OP!

Is it? I was settling a bunfight

@Butchyrestingface

If people don't expect a bonus then they can't get upset when they don't one! My husband still got his 15k which he was appreciative about but he never factors them in every year. Its a nice added extra.

Am I reading this right - your husband gets a £15k bonus?? And it's a "nice added extra"?

It’s not that uncommon.

Both my husband and I receive annual bonuses in excess of this. It’s standard in our industries and would be hard to attract strong talent without competitive packages- we both also have car allowance, despite driving not being a major part of our roles.

That said, we never ever rely on them although they’ve been paid consistently. For a recent mortgage application, I asked the bank to completely disregard our bonuses for affordability calculations.

We do treat it as a very nice added extra. The alternative would be to treat it as part of income, which would also be frowned on based on the responses on this thread.

I didn’t get a bonus or pay-rise this year and now been told I will loose an extra £150 a month & that pay will be frozen for at least the next 3 years. With the pay cut I’m not on much more than living wage. We are being told that at least we have a job which I completely understand & lucky to be getting paid - but after working through a very busy year as we’ve had redundancy’s as well, so reduced staff.

Depends on the industry and specific company's performance. If their company hit all targets (not by cost-cutting) - then they wouldn't be unreasonable to feel let down. I work in finance and some dpts in my company have a very clear bonus structure set per unit above target. These are guaranteed so people know exactly how much they'll get with every unit they complete above their target number. Other dpts get discretionary bonuses. We had 20% organic growth this year without new hires, so our staff will be expecting significant rewards... and deservedly so.