City bonus and Maternity leave

[squiffy]

Not sure if this should be in employment topic or this one...so have put it in both...

I'm back at work after a period of maternity leave and my annual bonus assessment is imminent. I know that the bank routinely scales down annual bonuses for the period of maternity leave and I also know that this is probably illegal (but there are no definitive cases - my bonus is completely discretionary and the law is only clear on contractual bonuses). I also know that our company lawyers always advise the mgmt each year to pay bonus in full (I've been present at such meetings as I am at mgr level myself), and the company is advised every year to not scale it back but they do it anyway...
What I don't know is if others have been in similar situations and fought it, and if so what the outcomes were? It will be a significant amount so am really keen to find out whether it is worth kicking up a stink or not - I quite like where I work and think this is farily standard treatment across the city, but am hoping that others might have experience here on what happens when you complain about this.

Hi,
I work in the City and for my first maternity leave, my bonus was definitely scaled back. Was your full 6 mos. maternity leave in the same year? what happened to me was that 3 mos was in one year, and 3 mos in another year and i got stuffed for both years. So, for the second year, i really kicked up a fuss (though i knew it was discretionary) - i also knew i was in a strong position - they regarded me well, i had an upcoming IPO (which would really have left them in the lurch) - and they knew the money i got that year was poor. So, they actually came back to me with more money within the next few days (i used the line - the money you would pay me to make me happy you will spend in a headhunter to replace me). BUT I THINK YOU CAN ONLY USE THIS ONCE IN YOUR CAREER IN THE SAME BANK - and i only used it as i was quite aggrieved and was truly ready to resign over it.

Second maternity leave, was v. lucky as i got poached (whilst on ML) so didn't return to work and wrangled a guarantee.

Good luck - i think instinctively you know what you're worth - you have to ask yourself if you are willing to resign over it or will it be difficult to find another environment as the one you seem to enjoy currently. If you do feel aggrieved though, i think it is worth fighting for it. Banks make you think that once they tell you your bonus it can't be changed. Rubbish. They did with me!
Good luck!

In my bank it's a sliding scale with a minimum of 40% of bonus (even if you've only worked a couple of weeks of the year - this is not publicised, i only know because it happened to one of my team) - they will pay up to 100% depending on how much input you have made during your leave ie if you've made no contact at all you'll get fully scaled back - if you've answered emails, calls etc you don't.

In the investment bank I work for, your bonus is protected for the first 6 months of your maternity leave. Your bonus is based on your "rating" which comes from a 360 degree evaluation process, (though I'm sure with discretionary thrown in too).

So, when I go on maternity leave at the end of March, my bonus is protected for a further 6 months. Come next Jan, I will be rated on my performance until March, it's "assumed" that my performance would be the same until Sept and then they pro-rata the bonus, so I effectively get 9 months of the full bonus.

Does that make sense? As you say, they're not allowed to scale it back, simply because you're on maternity leave, but they don't have to give you the full year's money if you're not there either. If you can find out the basis of the discretionary amount, then that helps to understand the final sum.

Thanks all for the info. This is all much in line with what I expected, but really depressing - it seems to be illegal to scale back any of the discretionary element at all purely because of maternity leave (even if that is their stated policy) - you can only legally scale back contractual elements. Really sad to know some banks are still doing it anyway. I only took 3 months off and came back for the odd day during this period, so will definately kick up a stink and see what happens.