My company has given bonuses every year since I was hired in 1999 but said last year it would no longer do it due to our industry’s economic struggles. These bonuses have always been based on 10 criteria. In an average year, I’d meet eight of these and receive 8 percent of my salary. I understood the financial situation until I discovered at least one other manager, Jane, received a bonus. Is there anything I can do?
To read my answer, click here: My Company Stopped Giving Bonuses, but My Coworker Got One
“but sometimes people are scared to tell the truth because people won’t like it. That may be true, but telling the truth is always better than letting people find out through back channels.”
From your lips…(ok, fingers). People always find out, and now they’re not just mad at you, they don’t trust you as much anymore.
It doesn’t hurt to ask if done correctly and politely. If one person got a bonus as claimed, then others did, too. As the article stated, there probably was some kind of achievement earned, prior to the cutoff announcement of no more bonuses, so some may have earned a bonus level at the cutoff date. Usually, when decisions like this are made there’s a calendar date involved, and as the questionnaire stated the bonuses were based on 10 factors that could have had achievement dates versus a year-round ending performance summation. And we all know how selective people are in assuming facts without thorough research.