Anyone know how a case like this might get decided?

An employee is on a salary and bonus contact. The targets to get the
bonus are subject to change at any time, at the employers whim.

Employee is given a target, which they manage to meet enough to merit a
particular payment. Employee then leaves the company. In the time
between employee leaving and bonus payment date company changes the
bonus targets such that employee no longer qualifies for as much
payment. Is employee entitles to original or revised payment?

One other complication - the time delay between leaving and payment
means that the time limit for employment tribunal claims is over, is
this likely to be a problem?

In ,
lid opined:
Anyone know how a case like this might get decided?

An employee is on a salary and bonus contact. The targets to get the
bonus are subject to change at any time, at the employers whim.

Employee is given a target, which they manage to meet enough to merit
a particular payment. Employee then leaves the company. In the time
between employee leaving and bonus payment date company changes the
bonus targets such that employee no longer qualifies for as much
payment. Is employee entitles to original or revised payment?

One other complication - the time delay between leaving and payment
means that the time limit for employment tribunal claims is over, is
this likely to be a problem?

I'm not an employument expert, but it sounds like a breach of the duty of
trust and confidence between employer and employee. If the tribunal limit
has passed you may need to claim in the County Court - but does the tribunal
time limit apply to cliams for unlaful deduction of wages?

Chris R

On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:30:08 +0100, Chris R wrote:

In , lid opined:
Anyone know how a case like this might get decided?

An employee is on a salary and bonus contact. The targets to get the
bonus are subject to change at any time, at the employers whim.

Employee is given a target, which they manage to meet enough to merit a
particular payment. Employee then leaves the company. In the time
between employee leaving and bonus payment date company changes the
bonus targets such that employee no longer qualifies for as much
payment. Is employee entitles to original or revised payment?

One other complication - the time delay between leaving and payment
means that the time limit for employment tribunal claims is over, is
this likely to be a problem?

I'm not an employument expert, but it sounds like a breach of the duty
of trust and confidence between employer and employee. If the tribunal
limit has passed you may need to claim in the County Court - but does
the tribunal time limit apply to cliams for unlaful deduction of wages?


The bonus scheme my company runs explicitly says the bonus is entirely at
their discretion. It also says you must be an employee on the nominated
bonus payment date to get it at all - so in the above situation I'd
expect, and get, nothing.

On Sep 11, 9:50 pm, PCPaul wrote:
On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:30:08 +0100, Chris R wrote:
, opined:
Anyone know how a case like this might get decided?

An employee is on a salary and bonus contact. The targets to get the
bonus are subject to change at any time, at the employers whim.

Employee is given a target, which they manage to meet enough to merit a
particular payment. Employee then leaves the company. In the time
between employee leaving and bonus payment date company changes the
bonus targets such that employee no longer qualifies for as much
payment. Is employee entitles to original or revised payment?

One other complication - the time delay between leaving and payment
means that the time limit for employment tribunal claims is over, is
this likely to be a problem?

I'm not an employument expert, but it sounds like a breach of the duty
of trust and confidence between employer and employee. If the tribunal
limit has passed you may need to claim in the County Court - but does
the tribunal time limit apply to cliams for unlaful deduction of wages?

The bonus scheme my company runs explicitly says the bonus is entirely at
their discretion. It also says you must be an employee on the nominated
bonus payment date to get it at all - so in the above situation I'd
expect, and get, nothing.

If you had left the company before the bonus was paid, or would
ordinarily have been paid, then I submit you will be due nothing.

If you had left the company before the bonus was paid, or would
ordinarily have been paid, then I submit you will be due nothing.

The previous two posters, I suspect, have no experience of big money
bonuses. This may help:
http://www.cityjobs.com/home/discretionary_bonuses.html

In the particular instance I'm asking about this is a distraction
because the bonus is part of the employment contract.

bonuses. This may help:
http://www.cityjobs.com/home/discretionary_bonuses.html

and also

http://www.roydens.co.uk/content04.htm

lid wrote:
If you had left the company before the bonus was paid, or would
ordinarily have been paid, then I submit you will be due nothing.

The previous two posters, I suspect, have no experience of big money
bonuses. This may help:
http://www.cityjobs.com/home/discretionary_bonuses.html

In the particular instance I'm asking about this is a distraction
because the bonus is part of the employment contract.

Exactly. It's purely a matter of contract law, for which we need to know
exactly what the contract says about the payment of any bonus. If that just
refers to some other policy document, then we need to know what that says
exactly, and so on.

However, it is wholly unreasonable that targets should have been set (where,
and in what terms?) for the payment of a bonus then, when they have already
been met, be revised so that the expected bonus is not paid. It's
fundamental that the contract is what it was at the time the work was done
and cannot be unilaterally revised to have retrospective effect.