Bonus and maternity leave

[Snapandcrackle]

I would appreciate advice on this issue

In 2014 I was on the bonus scheme at my company. I had a baby at the end of 2014 and left for ML.

On my return a year later I have been taken off the bonus scheme for 2015. I'm not sure about 2016.

Is this right? Thanks in advance.

I thought that if you are on ML, you are still entitled to all your usual pay and benefits etc as if you were still at work.

I'd give ACAS and HMRC a ring, they'll definitely know. ACAS deal with employment law, so I'd try them first.

Good luck!

I think that is right. You don't normally get a bonus whilst on ML.

Once you go back to work? You should still be eligible for a bonus as before (unless they've stopped the scheme). Whether or not you get one for 2016 probably depends on the period the bonus covers (calendar year?) and whether you were working for enough of this period to be eligible.

I think it depends what you mean by 'taken off the bonus scheme'.

If there is a bonus scheme attached to your job, and your remuneration is partly composed of normal salary and partly composed of a bonus (usually calculated by individual performance sometimes combined with organisational performance), then you will be entitled to the appropriate proportion of your bonus relative to the time you spend at work (plus the two weeks compulsory maternity leave).

So if there are 52 weeks in a bonus year, and you spend 26 of them on maternity leave, if you would have got a bonus of, say, £2,500 by being at work the whole year, you'd get a proportion of that to reflect 28 weeks. (The 26 weeks you were working plus two weeks compulsory maternity leave). So in that instance your bonus would be £2,500 divided by 52 x 28 = £1,346.

On the other hand, if there is a genuinely completely discretionary bonus, which is not part of your normal remuneration, you should get the whole thing whilst on maternity leave. An example would be if the company decides to give everyone a discretionary bonus of a week's pay, or a set amount of £250 at Christmas. Just to be nice, rather than because anyone's entitled to it. In those circumstances, if you are on maternity leave you can't lose out so should get the same as everyone else.

If there is a 'bonus scheme', it sounds as though the first scenario applies to you OP, so you should get a bonus proportional to the time you spent at work in the relevant years, plus the two weeks compulsory mat leave.

Since it appears OP's maternity leave started at the end of 2014, it is likely that she isn't entitled to any bonus for 2015 under the first scenario.

Our scheme is run under this type of scenario - and requires you to have worked for at least 8 months of the year to be eligible (so e.g. new employees who join after 1 May aren't eligible for a bonus until the following year).

I got 1/4 of my usual bonus because i was on mat leave for 9 of the 12 months. Its back to normal now.