Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advice?

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
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ivyhedge
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Location: A Town of Beans with only one hill remaining

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by ivyhedge »

dgdevil wrote:Buy him a $30 bottle of wine, and say, "Y'know what? You're right. Thank you."
I like this idea, or something like it (in case you deem alcoholic gifts inadvisable).
Polymath.
nodenuff2
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Location: Deep South

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by nodenuff2 »

Your immaturity is showing again! You need to be more team oriented and less about Me me me. Put all your efforts either in fixing your issues or seeking new employment. Your manager was/is very patient with you. I would have been less so . You will probably here from this again.
2014 No. 42 2015 No.342 2016 No. 6 2017 238 2018 no. 175 2019 no. 144 6 year average 157.83. Proves I am just an average investor.What do I know? "Good bless America land that I love..."
cherijoh
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Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:49 pm
Location: Charlotte NC

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by cherijoh »

TIAX wrote:
TomatoTomahto wrote:
TIAX wrote:
TomatoTomahto wrote:In this situation, if I'm your manager, I can't help but add it to your file, where it will not help your cause. I guess I'm "hiding" it if it's verbal, but not for my benefit, for yours.
Oh no, not "the file" (is that like a folder in outlook now?). This whole "you should be lucky you have a job" meme is getting pretty old in this thread. Don't people here value themselves at all?
OP is under a "Personal Improvement Program" for, among other things, intemperate emails. I assume that there is a paper trail of issues around the Program, and referred to it as "the file." I'm sorry if I offended your sensibilities.
And what about asking the company to honor a contract is intemperate?
The OP should check the fine print in his contract. If it didn't explicitly state $ 8K year-end bonus then the earlier $3K could reasonably be included in this. Although, the idea of a guaranteed bonus seems odd to me since mine have always been a combination of my personal performance and the financial performance of the company.

OP should also check the policy regarding whether an employee must still be employed at the time of the bonus to get it - or whether he is entitled to the bonus in light of the fact that he was under a PIP. At the megacorp where I work, all year-end bonuses are contingent on you still being employed and having achieved a "meets expectation" grade on the performance review. Based on the performance issues OP previously reported, he/she is IMO lucky to have not been forced out before the bonus got paid.
harrychan
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Location: Pasadena

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by harrychan »

Agree with +cherijoh.

That happened to my wife. She was expected a bonus and she left the company prior to the performance bonus which was decided months back. When the time came, her manager indicated that they were not obligated to pay her as she was no longer an employee. They probably forgot about the mid year bonus and gave you short of the time you were not employed. Move on.
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
BenBritt
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Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by BenBritt »

Be thankful and move on.
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Kenkat
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Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:18 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by Kenkat »

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door!

I don't care
What they're going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway!

--- Queen Elsa
Boglegrappler
Posts: 1489
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2012 9:24 am

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by Boglegrappler »

My question is... should I try to recover/ do I have a good chance to recover this $500?
No.
Maybe, but it clearly isn't a good idea.

Or should I count my blessings (because technically I received $2500 more that I thought I would have throughout my time here) and just forget about it?
It isn't just "technically". Actually would be a better word choice. They gave you what amounts to a 3,000 advance on your bonus, and then topped it off with nearly the full amount that was guaranteed you in the first place. You in fact are $2,500 better off than if they honored their minimum. Your boss's joking comment about the $2500 is not off the mark.
Andyrunner
Posts: 856
Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 9:14 am

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by Andyrunner »

Do you want to burn bridges and piss off your manager? Give him an invoice for $500 payable within 30 days with the agreement in Nov as documentation. Make sure you add in a 5% late payment fee. Don't expect it to be paid. :D

If you dont want to burn bridges, just walk. $500 isnt worth it.
wfrobinette
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Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:14 pm

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by wfrobinette »

Look you are on a PIP. You're lucky they even gave you a bonus as most companies eliminate some or all of bonus when under corrective action.

Did you or did you not receive $8000 in bonus this year? Your answer is yes and actually you received a windfall of 2500 so their should be no complaints.

Like it or not people are not put on a PIP if they perform. I don't want to be harsh and may be off base here. By you feeling entitled to that additional $500 even after you are $2500 ahead of the guarantee bonus amount, It makes me wonder (as an observer) if you may be prone to create friction in your work environment or have an overly active sense of entitlement. As a leader of teams, I attempt to coach people like this to see if I can get them to see the "light". If not they become a malignant cancer that has to be removed. I don't care how good you are at the job, if you don't fit into to the culture you must go.

I suggest you self reflect of why you got on the PIP, read a few books about managing up, influencing and leading/creating teams.

Your goal as an employee should be to provide as much value as possible(make sure your boss knows it), rock the boat only when necessary, and alert your boss to your career aspirations and such.
BahamaMan
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Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2014 5:52 pm

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by BahamaMan »

Yup, glad I'm not in Management anymore! :D
daggerboard
Posts: 132
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:16 pm

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by daggerboard »

Asking for clarification is fair.

I have personally witnessed examples where the manager simply goofed and initiated the wrong bonus (e.g. $1k instead of $10k).

But tone and delivery of that clarification request matters....
Flashes1
Posts: 1431
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 7:43 am

Re: Bonus received. But its not what was agreed upon. Advi

Post by Flashes1 »

A famous lyrist once said: "girl, don't go away mad, just go away."
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