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AIBU?

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Original poster

People complaining about their 'bonus'

275 replies

extramoney · 26/06/2023 06:09

Reading a thread about the NHS bonus and everyone unhappy that it's not as much as they expected because of deductions

Made me think that actually people are a bit entitled. we all get taxed on bonus, we should just be grateful we've had some extra.

OP posts:
DanceMonster · 26/06/2023 07:54

I wonder whether people thought it would be tax/NI free?

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 07:56

The sting is, getting it all in one month will push some temporarily in to a higher tax band and if you are not used to 40% tax it can be a shock.

I get a (modest) bonus next month (not NHS) as I am already a higher rate tax payer, with tax and extra pension contribitions I will see about half the headline sum in my pay.

Kedece2410 · 26/06/2023 07:57

But at least NHS staff got a bonus. I'm a public sector worker. We got 5% this year after getting 2% last year & not a penny of a bonus.

crazeekat · 26/06/2023 08:01

nhs staff self entitled????
just shows u don't undrstand the nhs one little bit

Dorisbonson · 26/06/2023 08:02

honeyandfizz · 26/06/2023 06:36

Just checked mine and out of the 2300 I will be awarded (not paid until this Friday) I will pick up just over 1400. Yes it is better than nothing but bloody hell it stings to see so much deducted 😫

Imagine what it feels like when you have moved away from your family, had a mountain of student debt, work a 60 hour week pay a fortune in tax and someone on here who works 35 hours a week says it's your taxes should go up even more.

Phos · 26/06/2023 08:04

YANBU. All bonuses get taxed and the NHS should be no different. It's a job like any other, that people have chosen to go into.

YeahIsaidit · 26/06/2023 08:05

I think complaining about a bonus is a bit grim, everyone for the most part works hard in their job but not everyone gets any kind of bonus let alone having the gall to moan about it

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 08:09

It shows that pay negotiaters should never get their heads turned by talk of bonuses. A consolidated pay rise is always better.

I used to work for a public body where the annual pay award (determined by a performance rating) was a combination of a consolidated payrise and a one off bonus that was a percentage of your current salary (capped at 15% but most people would get about 2 - 4%).

People were obsessed with their bonus percentage and would argue for hours about it whilst ignoring the pay rise aspect. It was odd.

FastBlueHedgehog · 26/06/2023 08:12

I thought you were going to be talking about people who get huge bonuses - not people already on low salaries, with bugger all pay increases for years. I'm a public sector worker and we are getting £1500 non-consolidated as a bribe to stop us striking, plus a possible 4% pay increase if Rishi doesn't then block it. People not used to bonuses may well not understand tax implications because they never have had to. I'm in a good position financially so anything extra is literally a bonus as I'm not relying on it but I can easily see why people are shocked when they realise what they are actually getting in there take home pay.

FatCatBum · 26/06/2023 08:14

It doesn't really matter if it's a bonus or back pay, it's still taxable so I find it odd that people are complaining to be honest. Everyone gets taxed on their earnings so I don't understand why it is coming as a surprise to people, surely no-one was naive enough to believe it would be tax free

jfshu · 26/06/2023 08:15

I work for government and we are getting £1500, I will have £730 to show for it after deductions, it does feel a bit meh that government are giving us a cost of living payment (NOT a bonus, assume that's the same for the NHS) but most of it is going back to government...I know, I know that's how it goes but after over a decade of severe wage stagnation, excuse me if I don't jump with the joy about a payment that doesn't touch the sides of and which I won't see half of.

Stickybackplasticbear · 26/06/2023 08:16

It's so hard because I've had a tiny cost of living pay rise which is about 1.5% I think. So I do feel resentful of people who are saying they got 5% and a bonus.

BUT it really isn't a race to the bottom and I try to remind myself that I want 5% and a bonus (or more) for myself and everyone. It's not entitled to not want to work for less money than you did last year (in real terms)

Kitcaterpillar · 26/06/2023 08:17

I don't know anyone who doesn't have a little whinge about the amount of tax they pay on their bonus, so I don't see why NHS staff shouldn't be allowed to too.

Tippingadvice · 26/06/2023 08:17

@Ginmonkeyagain as the op says many people don’t understand tax, nor pay rises.

The good thing is for those who slip into the 40% band due to back pay is they will get tax rebates in the next months salary.

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 08:20

Indeed. The fiscal drag of the 40% band not being adjusted for years, is a real issue, so there will people tipped in to it, albeit temporarily, with this modest bonus.

eveoha · 26/06/2023 08:21

I do hope they never introduce performance related pay in the NHS 😐

Seymour5 · 26/06/2023 08:21

Badbudgeter · 26/06/2023 07:21

I work for the local council and got my back pay “bonus”. By the time you paid tax/ni/pension and then the UC taper rate I got an extra £300 out of £1500. The government giveth and the government taketh.

I’m not very knowledgeable about UC, but I thought that was the point of it. The more someone earns UC reduces by a proportion?

The NHS payrise last year saw staff on two different bands actually lose money. The increase put them into a different pension category, where deductions were higher.

Themermaidspool · 26/06/2023 08:23

eveoha · 26/06/2023 08:21

I do hope they never introduce performance related pay in the NHS 😐

Id be on triple what i am now!!!

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 08:23

And yes there may be a rebate but it can take a while. I remember a hilarious year where I slipped in and out of the 40% band a few times due to redundancy, a hefty PILON payment, claiming JSA and then getting a fixed term contract.

HMRC relentlessly pursued me for a £282 underpayment which I paid at a point of some financial uncertainty. At the end of the tax year they wrote to me declaring I was eligible for a rebate of ......... £282.

Saschka · 26/06/2023 08:23

Kedece2410 · 26/06/2023 07:57

But at least NHS staff got a bonus. I'm a public sector worker. We got 5% this year after getting 2% last year & not a penny of a bonus.

This “bonus” is a backdated pay rise for last year, which we had to go on strike to get… most people will have lost more pay in striking than they got in bonus.

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 08:26

@Seymour5 that was common woth the old style student loans. I remember getting a modest payrise and then I suddenly had to pay back £134 a month as the repayment eligibility was a cliff edge.

Tinkerbyebye · 26/06/2023 08:26

I don’t understand people’s argument here over the amount of tax they are paying. If it’s because of a back dated pay rise, you would have paid tax on it had the pay rise been given at the correct time, it’s just now you pay it in one hot rather than each month

due to massive union discussions the pay rise for my industrial is always paid late, one year it was paid in the March when it should have been paid the previous April so 12 months. I had to pay, rightly, tax on 12 months payrise, but would have paid it anyway, albeit monthly.

RafaistheKingofClay · 26/06/2023 08:29

groupery · 26/06/2023 07:27

Thing is it’s always horrible being told you’re getting a bonus of say 2k and then realising or remembering that actually you are not at all. I think a bonus under X amount should either be tax free once a year or employers should have to talk about it at actual take home value.

How can bonuses be tax free?

Employers can't tell you the take home prior because everyone has different income due to jobs & additional income.

It’s not so much employers as the government. They’ve spent weeks going on about this being a great deal and how the extra money will help with cost of living.

Everyone I know knows that there will be huge deductions. We were expecting it. But the government needs to stop banging on about every NHS worker getting at least £x because we haven’t and never were going to get that.

Letittow · 26/06/2023 08:29

It does even out over the year if it's back pay, but the month its paid if its a lump sum stings.

I suspect most NHS staff are annoyed because the 'bonus' was a slap in the face anyway and in lieu of a fair pay rise. Working in heakthcare is unbelievably shit and before people say well people should just leave then- they are, in droves which is a huge issue! The government have treated them all terribly and for many its another straw for the camels back rather than omg I got taxed on my bonus.

Willmafrockfit · 26/06/2023 08:30

my colleagues were disgruntled before it was received.
ok, it seems a lot of tax, more than usual.
but noone mentioned being disgruntled on friday