Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Letittow · 26/06/2023 08:31

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.

Out of interest, did the government use your back pay to plaster over the papers and news to try and win points?

Zebedee55 · 26/06/2023 08:32

My NHS daughter, and her colleagues, were happy with their bonus's, even with it being taxed, so I'd guess it's just a few that weren't.

OhmygodDont · 26/06/2023 08:34

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.

Where dh works they do. He gets told his bonus is X and that’s what hits his account because they make sure in his pocket is say 2k.

NotTellingYouMyRealOne · 26/06/2023 08:34

DH (not NHS, but public sector) got notice of his annual increment yesterday. The £2k increase translates as £80 a month. Better than nothing, but the headline vs reality can be very disappointing!

He's one of the parts of public sector that cannot strike so they aren't expecting a payrise (not increment) anytime soon.

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 08:36

@Letittow that is one of the downsides of working for a state run service - unfortunately your pay and ts and cs become a political issue.

fiftiesmum · 26/06/2023 08:37

It may be called a bonus but it is something to paper over the shit permanent pay rise of 2%.
Still never mind many NHS staff can look forward to the added bonus of a mass produced cupcake next week for the 75th birthday of the NHS (which this government is obviously hoping will be the last)

TheFairyCaravan · 26/06/2023 08:38

They did this with the armed forces pay a few years back. Once the bonus had been taxed etc it was laughable at how much people actually received.

Everyone knows they will get taxed on it, but when you’re told you’re going to be getting X, to make up for the fact that they can’t give you a decent pay rise, but you receive Y, which is significantly less, it makes a mockery of the whole thing.

LemonPeonies · 26/06/2023 08:40

YABU. Thanks to deductions I haven't even got half of what I should. Its an insult to what I have to endure each shift as a ward sister working with medically unwell elderly.

jfshu · 26/06/2023 08:41

@TheFairyCaravan yes that was shit, don't even get me started on "X factor" pay...armed forces pay is shocking, I am intrigued as to what they will announce in July.

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 08:42

But that is how bonuses work, everyone knows this. This is why they are a shit offer compared to proper payrises.

Stillcantbebothered · 26/06/2023 08:44

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.

What has being taxed on bonus have to do with being happy about the amount of bonus received? You sound like you have been so conditioned by the culture of poor wages in the UK that you can’t fantom pushing for more.

RafaistheKingofClay · 26/06/2023 08:45

Ginmonkeyagain · 26/06/2023 08:42

But that is how bonuses work, everyone knows this. This is why they are a shit offer compared to proper payrises.

Which is exactly why unison shouldn’t have been recommending their members accepted it and like the RCN should have been balloting for increased strike action.

PitYacker · 26/06/2023 08:46

No poll?
I think it would be very much in favour of YABVU

Nw22 · 26/06/2023 08:47

Yes I read that thread and thought the same. It sounded like many thought they shouldn’t pay tax on it whilst at the same time expecting payrises from taxes.

LadyGardenersQuestionTime · 26/06/2023 08:51

DH and I are both frontline NHS, both benefitted from the bonus/back pay/whatever you want to call it, and are both very happy to pay the tax owing on it. If you earn more you pay more tax whoever you are.

There is a general lack of understanding about how tax in general and PAYE in particular works. Why we teach children about the Romans and not about basic personal finance I will never understand.

Katypp · 26/06/2023 08:53

I am a bit 🙄why NHS staff seem to think they are not party to the same laws as everyone else.
We got a £100 cost of living payment in January. I got £45 out of that and one of my colleagues who also gets UC actually ended up with less overall because it affected her UC payment that month.
It is a mystery to me that nurses - who now earn an absolute minimum of nearly £28.5k - still manage to keep up the poverty narrative.

YoucancallmeKAREN · 26/06/2023 08:55

Aren't some people extremely lucky they get a bonus and not just a crap wage for doing their job.

DanceMonster · 26/06/2023 08:56

LemonPeonies · 26/06/2023 08:40

YABU. Thanks to deductions I haven't even got half of what I should. Its an insult to what I have to endure each shift as a ward sister working with medically unwell elderly.

I sympathise, and think nurses should be better paid. But surely you knew in advance you’d pay tax and NI on it?

DanceMonster · 26/06/2023 08:58

OhmygodDont · 26/06/2023 08:34

Where dh works they do. He gets told his bonus is X and that’s what hits his account because they make sure in his pocket is say 2k.

Show quote history

That must be a really complicated thing for payroll to work out for everyone, as everyone’s tax circumstances are different. How big is the company? I have various company benefits which mean my tax is really complicated (as you pay tax on the benefit you receive). My tax differs month on month. Different people in the company have different company benefits, so different taxation. It would be impossible for payroll to figure out who will actually receive what out of their bonus.

Tiredalwaystired · 26/06/2023 09:00

This was always a government bribe. If you read every bit of spin on it they talk in terms of NHS staff getting AT LEAST £1500 each. Which is utter bollocks. But the Daily Mail brigade will parade that figure to every member of NHS staff you can guarantee it.

It was a shit deal, it would have been a bit less shit if it was consolidated. None of this will help recruit and retain nurses.

And it’s all looking even more shit with inflation so stubbornly high.

Letittow · 26/06/2023 09:00

Nw22 · 26/06/2023 08:47

Yes I read that thread and thought the same. It sounded like many thought they shouldn’t pay tax on it whilst at the same time expecting payrises from taxes.

I agree they shouldn't get a pay rise from peoples taxes. Its high time the NHS was laid to rest and people paid for HCPs wages out of their earnings instead, pay would absolutely be better for staff with market forces at play and we might have a chance at a functioning health service. I think many underestimate the chronic shortages in the health service and the effect this is going to continue having.

RafaistheKingofClay · 26/06/2023 09:02

The NHS would function perfectly well if the government paid anywhere near the amount that other countries paid. People need to stop believing Tory government lies.

Letittow · 26/06/2023 09:08

RafaistheKingofClay · 26/06/2023 09:02

The NHS would function perfectly well if the government paid anywhere near the amount that other countries paid. People need to stop believing Tory government lies.

No it wouldn't, it is indeed the government's fault though. The shifting demographic (which has long been seen on the horizon) of people living longer but with more comorbities is extremely challenging/virtually impossible in the current NHS to manage as no one has done anything to plan for adapt to this. There would need to be a ridiculous amount of investment (which no government would do) beyond staff wages to make a difference- although of course it would help. Its just no longer sustainable, the long term staffing plan looks to be a huge risk to patient safety too- I'd recommend any NHS HCP to leave whilst they can.

mrsneate · 26/06/2023 09:11

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.

It's not a bonus. It's back dated pay from the payrises they've failed to give

justteanbiscuits · 26/06/2023 09:12

This "bonus" is honestly more hassle than it's worth. It's not a pay rise, as it's just a one off (why? Why not give a pay rise) and just another piss take by the government. It will completely screw so many people with regards to tax, benefits etc. Taking people just over different limits, changing their tax for the rest of the year, now having to work out how to pay back part of the child benefit. And it's a one off. Just so the government try and look good.