£100 bonus, unfair!

[LaraS2511]

Can’t say who I work for. It was announced that the reward scheme money had been raised so more rewards could be given, in the past people were given a small reward money in their pay or voucher for work that was seen as exceptional, this was obviously confidential. Recently on a teams chat there was a message asking if anyone had received a dodgy email regarding a £100 voucher, someone else replied it’s legitimate & well done & then a manager replied saying don’t panic all your mangers know everyone is getting it & they are working through a list. Anyway I work in a smaller side team, still part of the bigger team where the teams messages were posted. I’ve found out that 3 out my 4 colleagues have the voucher too over 2 weeks ago but myself & my colleague haven’t! My colleague asked our manager & he said it was confidential who got it & that’s it. Out of the people that were given it someone who was off sick for 6 months, someone who never accepts calendar requests. I have gone beyond & above, agreeing to do something that no one else would do, never sick, always available & online. It’s ridiculous, I don’t care about the £100 it’s the principle!!

I’m sure your turn will come. You don’t know everyone’s personal circumstances. Maybe it took the person off sick for 6 months a huge effort to get back and that was acknowledged, maybe the person who never accepts calendar requests has a huge amount going on that only their manager knows about. Maybe they have both achieved or contributed things that you are unaware of.

It's not confidential though if another manager confirmed in writing albeit in a group message that everyone was getting it?

If everyone is getting it there’s no list to work through, they should just give everyone. If it’s a performance based reward there should be a clear criteria that staff know they need to achieve. If it’s at managers discretion it’s unfair and I’d raise a grievance based on the unclear nature of the criteria to gain a reward, not citing anyone who did get it but that no one knows how to get the bonus.

Why not get together with your colleagues who have also not revieved the bonus and ask for a meeting with your boss to discuss this. Explain that its not the money but the principle. You feel dismissed and unappreciated. If no bonus is forthcoming after that time maybe to go "quiet quitting". Stick to only upur appointed duties and take more sick leave. Obviously your going above and beyone has not been appreciated.

I don't see the value in keeping the names of those eligible for a bonus secret. A bonus is to reward those who have gone/achieved above and beyond and encourage that type of behaviour in others. If no one knows what the rules are and who receives a bonus, it's just a reward for being someone's favourite.

Are bonus criteria published, OP? If not, I'd asked for the rules determining eligibility for the bonus. If it's a reward for being a kiss arse, and you desperately want the reward, then you'll have to start sucking up more. If you don't desparately want the bonus, ignore this shit, do a good job, and hopefully move on to a better employer soon.

Ask HR for the criteria. Then, in your next line management meeting, ask your boss to talk through where you are doing well and less well against this criteria compared to the wider team. If the reward pot isn’t limited , you don’t even need to ask for a comparison with others.

Unless reward schemes like this are well managed, they can be very divisive. Those who have protected characteristics can easily bring discrimination claims.