Leaving before bonus payment?

[sianyb83]

After coming back from mat.leave, I was rather sneakily pushed into a new role (my old role has never been back filled or advertised). My new role was a side step, same basic but much higher bonus (increasing from 10 to 30%) I didn't apply for new role, or have an interview or even a conversation with HR about. My job title just changed on intranet overnight.
The new job isn't a good fit for me, and I was wary but felt vulnerable with covid, maternity leave, etc - so I went with the flow.
Fast forward a few months, I am increasingly unhappy and looking for a new role when I can actually use my skills.
I have a second stage interview this week - but the only thing holding me to current job is a large bonus payment.
Our bonus is accrued 1st Jan to 31st Dec, but not paid until march. My notice period would mean I would work passed the accrual date, but I would still be there for the payout date.

Do I have any standing to say I want bonus paid?

I wondered if I should allude to maternity discrimination and/ or constructive dismissal in my notice letter - and request that I want compensation of bonus or equivalent?

You'll need to check your employee handbook / contract. At my work if you have handed in your notice before the bonus is paid into your account then you are not entitled to the bonus.

It will depend on your contract but March is a long way away so probably better to cut your losses and take the new job if you get it.

Usually there would be a date that you still need to be employed not under notice to receive the bonus payment. It would probably be company wide so nothing to do with your maternity. Find this out and negotiate with the new company around notice period.

At The company I used to work for that paid a yearly bonus You had to be employed and not working your notice when it was due

Normally company policy would be that you are still employed (and not under notice etc) on the pay out date
However....when people have been dismissed/ moved out of roles, the company has honored their potential bonus as part of the pay off.
I guess what I am saying is that if I leave on the basis that the job I was forced into after maternity isn't suitable and I feel I can't stay in it - what do you think the likelihood is that they would offer me part of it??
March is a long way off so don't think potential new employee would be happy to wait that long

You’re too late to start making noises about maternity discrimination and constructive dismissal. You need to put in a claim no later than three months after an act of discrimination, and constructive dismissal means something so awful that you have no option but to resign straightaway. If we’re now “a few months” down the line, neither of those are really viable.

You might be able to get the new employer to give you something to make up for missing the bonus.

With us, if you got made redundant, you'd probably get your bonus (even pro-rataed, if you went after June but before December.) If you resigned, you'd lose it.

But that doesn't mean it's what other employers do.

At my old job if you were under notice, you wouldn't get the bonus

No, you either stay and receive it and then leave, or leave before and forfeit the money.

If your new salary will be an uplift on your current role, then think of it as having partially or fully recompensed the loss of the bonus. Plus you will be moving to an organisation where, presumably your prospects for advancement in future years are greater.

It is very unlikely they would agree to paying you even a partial bonus if your contract doesn't already provision for paying a bonus during a notice period. Why would they, they will have no interest in incentivising you if you are leaving. If it is an entitlement covered under your contract, you'll be paid the bonus anyway.

If you didn't object to your new role allocation at the time, then several months down the line working in that role, you are deemed to have accepted the change. The time to have raised concerns or to have challenged their decision, was when you returned from mat leave.

@sianyb83

Normally company policy would be that you are still employed (and not under notice etc) on the pay out date However....when people have been dismissed/ moved out of roles, the company has honored their potential bonus as part of the pay off. I guess what I am saying is that if I leave on the basis that the job I was forced into after maternity isn't suitable and I feel I can't stay in it - what do you think the likelihood is that they would offer me part of it?? March is a long way off so don't think potential new employee would be happy to wait that long

I think that is quite a stretch and it is too late to complain about the role now anyway. I am not clear how you would know the details of somebody else’s termination package but even so, it sounds like they were being moved and this was part of the compromise agreement, whereas you are resigning.

Everywhere I have worked, which is quite a lot of place, the bonus is not paid out after notice has been handed in, Even if the individual is still in employment on bonus day. So it is possible you would have to wait until March before you even hand your notice in.

If the new job is very appealing and the current one not working for you, your best option might be to right off the bonus and hand in notice now.