DH company and salary/'bonus' issue - advice needed!

[catladymaybe]

Namechanged as possibly outing.

DH started in a senior role setting up the UK arm of an international company last April. It's a sector where bonuses are a norm (sales rather than banking though!) and targets are set at achievable levels. When DH took on the new role, he and his boss agreed that the 'bonus' after six months would be a set amount and not based on performance as it's difficult to set profit based targets when a company is being set up. DH has been winning contracts, hiring people etc etc - doing all the stuff required to get this UK arm of the company going, with the intention being that they would move to bonuses based on company performance after the first six months. All good. Boss and wider company giving A LOT of positive feedback to DH - general view is that he's smashing it, going above and beyond blah blah.

October rolls around and the boss does a U-turn. Starts saying errr, well, actually they didn't set concrete targets for the first six months and therefore, won't be getting the bonus that was promised (not to mention significant at a quarter of his annual salary). DH (stupidly!) didn't get this agreement in writing last April. However it was a significant verbal agreement - DH outlined it in detail to me, we planned our income accordingly, and through the year he's been mentioning it to me/expecting that amount.

It's not like things changed at the company and it got forgotten etc, it's like the boss has just decided to completely dick him over.

He's not in a sector where he can easily quit and get another job. He's not about to bring in lawyers or anything...but I am raging on his behalf. Has anyone had similar and how did you approach it? Sorry for essay. I am fuming.

In a sales role I’d always still expect bonus terms to be laid out in writing and ‘signed up to’.

your DH has been really naive here but it’s a painful lesson. Sadly I don’t think he has any legal grounds. It would however highlight that his boss is untrustworthy and this incident would have me looking for a new job.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday - totally naive of him I know. I think because it wasn’t really a ‘bonus’ in terms of it being performance related, more a ‘we’ll pay you this after the first six months in the job’ and terms with his boss have always been open, friendly and good, he was far too trusting.

I don’t think he will leave as he loves the job (despite this) and it would be difficult to find a new one. But how can he deal with this going forward? Insist it’s taken into account during his salary review? Inform HR?

FWIW I think verbal agreements are binding, but he’s not about to get into a legal battle over it.

Too late for your DH unfortunately, but unless a ‘guarantee’ is in writing, it should be considered discretionary allowing the company to not pay.

He can try at his salary review. But he can’t insist.

He isn’t going down the legal route. Yes, verbal agreements can be binding. The problem is proving it was said. And your dh isn’t going to go down the legal route so it doesn’t matter.

There’s not much you can do, apart from make sure he has the terms of his bonus in writing.

Yes he should have got it in writing. But, He should now have a quiet word verbally with his boss. oral agreements are considered contracts. They are legally binding. I'd politely remind boss that.

@Justbetweenus - discretionary, but VERY bad form from the employer, no? Particularly because DH has gone above and beyond (think bringing in contracts worth very large amounts to the company) that his so-called boss was never able to achieve himself here.

It would be one thing if, say, it was a small Christmas gift the whole company expected, but it had been a bad year and therefore the people at the top decide against giving it. But this feels much nastier than that tbh. DH isn't an idiot and like I said, has been in this industry a long time, and in previous roles, he's always articulated to me the possibility of bonuses not coming in if the targets aren't met. This was totally different - the boss gave the impression this was a done deal.

I’d say disappointing behaviour rather than really bad. The company will look after itself first and maybe the company’s circumstances changed and the bonus pool is smaller. That’s why bonuses are discretionary - it creates flexibility for the company. If DH is valued as you describe, I agree with PP that it’s worth him saying to whoever made the ‘promise’ how disappointing the decision is, etc.

What does his Contract of employment say about his remuneration package? I would not trust them now. He does need to nail down his package details and get the written contract changed if it is incorrect.

He's not in a sector where he can easily quit and get another job. He's not about to bring in lawyers or anything..

Sadly his bosses know this and will play on it. He needs to bring this up at his next review, request that it is included in his next salary and payable quickly. Explain that he only took the job on on the basis of that package offered and he now feels they dont respect him and what hes done for the company. He also needs to ensure that everything in future is in writing - sending emails in himself after meetings confirming discussions etc so that if no formal paperwork comes forward he at least has that to fall back on.

Despite what you say I would suggest he starts looking for other jobs. He might love it but they clearly don't respect him.