Leaving and boss holding out on bonus - what to say

[mydoorisalwaysopen]

I'm leaving my job and am starting the process of handing over to my successor. My boss is holding out on letting me know my bonus for the past year - I suspect she is going to try to give me nothing and is waiting til the last minute as the only "power" I have now will be gone once the handover is complete. She is very flaky so I might be being ungenerous but last year's bonus allocation caused a ruckus so I don't really think so. What should I say/do?

What does your contract say about your bonus, or the terms and conditions of your bonus scheme?

The contract does not mention it - it is discretionary.

Not a lot you can say then. She's not obliged to give you anything at all, so if she chooses not to, nothing you can do about it. It entirely depends on whether she feels inclined to give you something. If you are keen to know her plans you could ask her if she intends to give you a bonus. You suggest you have "power" while doing the handover - would you intend to refuse to complete handovers if she doesn't intend to give you a bonus? I wouldn't advise that.

You are very likely to get shafted.

You will get nowt.

It's pretty standard for companies to not pay bonuses if someone's handed their notice in. If your contract says it's discretionary, I wouldn't hold your breath. Sorry. :(

Thanks for all the replies - I pretty much expect to get nowt. I wonder why you would think I would do a fantastic job of handing over in this circumstance, flowery? There is very little time anyway to do a handover and I have said to my boss I am willing to support the company beyond my leaving date - but I would not do this in the event of the bonus not being paid.

I know of someone who waited until the CEO had signed the bonus paperwork before handing his notice in; and he still got it revoked as it was pulled at the last minute. Never resign expecting it until it is in your bank. Otherwise - don't expect it.

"I wonder why you would think I would do a fantastic job of handing over in this circumstance, flowery?"

I don't really understand what you are saying there tbh. I haven't said anything about what kind of job I think you'll do of handing over. I have no idea.

But to clarify what I said, you gave the impression that you feel you have "power" until handover is complete, and that might be less than helpful with handover if no bonus is forthcoming.

I was just saying if you are thinking of doing that, I wouldn't advise it. Unless you know you'll never need a reference from this employer or come into contact with your manager in the future, that is.

If you're being asked to do something reasonable (which handover is) during your notice period, that's what you should do to the best of your ability. If your company decides not to give you a bonus you're not entitled to, that shouldn't have any impact on how well you perform your job. It's perfectly standard not to pay bonuses to departing staff.

I see what you mean. I do not intend to behave in a way that compromises my integrity but I believe my boss is compromising hers. I also don't intend to stress myself out over the perfect handover. She clearly expects me to be annoyed or she would already have told everyone their bonuses. No one else has been told theirs. I don't need a reference from this employer and its unlikely I will although things change.

mydoor when would the bonus normally be paid and what is the usual criteria for being paid one? If you feel you would have been paid one had you not been leaving, I agree that it is worth raising, sooner rather than later.

the bonus is usually communicated in May and paid in June. The owner decides the overall bonus and leaves it to my boss to share it out. Last year there was a problem when she gave 90% of it to herself so this year the owner has told everyone the total bonus so we will each know what our share is. The boss is furious about this as she knows giving people a few hundred is going to cause a major morale problem.

Ok, so a few issues here, including not being able to count on your boss to be fair. The bonus will presumably be intended partly to reward past performance and partly to motivate and encourage future good performance. Unfortunately, because there is no laid down criteria for meriting the bonus, it is likely that not giving you one will be considered a saving, especially given the information you have provided on your boss's extremely generous previous 90% self allocation. (Sounds like it's a small company and that the owner should be participating more actively in the allocation - what happened last year sounds entirely counterproductive/defeating the purpose of a bonus.)

Really only you can gauge the best way to tackle this. Whilst the outcome shouldn't sway your handover efforts, I agree that your ability to effect a positive outcome (which may already be limited) will reduce as you come to the end of your handover/employment. I think your best bet is raising the issue, saying it would be useful to know what the situation is and politely outlining reasons why consideration might be given to a bonus, based on last year's performance. But it's useful to be aware of the political implications of pushing for a bonus (that might be how it's perceived) in terms of your boss's reaction and your future need for a reference. Obviously if the owner is more accessible and reasonable than your boss, that might make a difference to how you approach this.