Company Changes Bonus Structure

[neil_y1]

Hi

My MD gave a speech 3 days before paying our quarterly bonus , that we not getting paid it and would be subject to re-structure come March next year, he has no idea what the bonus structure is going to be, Bearing in mind there is only 5 sales staff responsible for bringing in business we are all mystified.

I have been employed there for 15 years and have been told i could claim for constructive dismissal, I also have a non- compete and other various clauses in my contract would these deem to be void , if i choose to work in the industry but with a competitor ??


Anyone else had a similar problem, or issue that could help ?

Thanks in advance

Best Regards

Neil.

 

[BusinessDeli]

Did the MD give reasons? Is he taking a hit also? Seems a tad unethical to me not to pay your bonus if you've earned it (I'm making a lot of assumptions in that statement) not to mention it could go against your existing contractual terms.
Are you also being sacked? I only ask as you mentioned constructive dismissal. If they do decide to go with redundancies then I wouldn't concern yourself with any anti-competitor clauses.
Any extra information you can add would be useful

 

[neil_y1]

He said in the speech that if he paid us all a bonus then the company would be in the red for that quarter and was'nt prepared to do that, considering one of the sales staff had his best quarter for some 2 years kind of goes against this fact,

I mentioned the constructive dismissal route as a solicitor informed me that as we have been paid a bonus for every quarter for the last 10 years or so, to give 3 days notice with the comments above i would have a case,

 

[Billmccallum]

Is the bonus structure part of your contract, or was it merely offered by the employer to incentivise staff?

If the bonus structure is based on profits and the company does not make a profit then there would be no bonus to pay!!!!

 

[kulture]

So you want your bonus even if it drives the company under? For all we know the sales targets may have been exceeded by salesmen underpricing and thus driving profits down. Not knowing what the targets are, nor how the bonus is calculated, nor what any new scheme may be, nor what compensation, if any, is proposed, it is difficult to say if there is a case for constructive dismissal.

 

[neil_y1]

Thanks for your responses, as for sales targets , there simply are not any the structure has been in place for several years and basically is 6% of your GP whether it is 500 or 50k, paid on a quarterly basis

We are all now dis-heartened and a couple sales people are leaving, This is a smallish company with a total of around 9 people in the whole business.

 

[Blood Lust]

Hi

My MD gave a speech 3 days before paying our quarterly bonus , that we not getting paid it and would be subject to re-structure come March next year, he has no idea what the bonus structure is going to be, Bearing in mind there is only 5 sales staff responsible for bringing in business we are all mystified.

I have been employed there for 15 years and have been told i could claim for constructive dismissal, I also have a non- compete and other various clauses in my contract would these deem to be void , if i choose to work in the industry but with a competitor ??

Anyone else had a similar problem, or issue that could help ?

Thanks in advance

Best Regards

Neil.

I've had a similar problem.

My employer was underperforming as the sales office wasnt generating enough deals. Rather than sack the staff that cant do telesales they decided to increase the basic wage and make commission harder to get.

They set a high monthly sales target you had to reach to get any of that months commission. It wouldnt have been so bad if it was done on a weekly basis but a monthly basis meant 4-5 weeks of top performance to get your bonus.

It amounted to a wage rise if you were poor at telesales (extra basic wage) and a punishment if you were good. Realising I would only get commission every other month I walked as did the other two top performers.

Losing their top staff got the manager sacked as office sales totally plummeted. The director called me up a few weeks later and got me to go back on more favourable terms.

My advice is to resign. This is obviously risky but if you're good at telesales they will try to keep you. If the bonus is written into your contract and they dont pay up then yes you'd then go for constructive dismissal.

 

[internetspaceships]

Well I employ 6 sales people but since this seems to be more of an employee discussion there's not a lot of point giving advice on it is there?

 

[neil_y1]

Thanks Bloodlust for your post, it does seem like a similar situation out of the 6 sales people , 3 are top performers, which includes me.

But no pay rises have been mentioned, we are dealing with not only the MD but the owner of business as well. The only thing he mentioned that come march next year the bonus structure will change and it wont be on the same structure as before i.e 6% and will likely to be less. So we could possibly get nothing come march next year

There lies another problem the bonus is not written in the contract (but bonus has been set and paid since at least 2001) , signed in 2009 , but also the company now runs as a different company with (UK) Ltd instead of ltd , with the old company now dissolved. We have not been issued new Contracts under the new company but essentialy nothing has changed and was done for tax reasons apparently.

 

[ScottishInvestments]

Hmm...

One would imagine that the MD may reintroduce the bonus scheme once the company picks up. Perhaps the current bonus scheme is unsustainable?

On one hand, you could be a good employee and accept the new terms for a while, or on the other hand, be a selfish employee and demand your bonus and watch the company go under - then you'll have no bonus and no wage!

ScotInvest

 

[kulture]

Or you could step up to the line and become a great salesman. Go talk to the MD, find out what sales are needed, sell your value to him, and make your own deal.

 

[Billmccallum]

the bonus is not written in the contract (but bonus has been set and paid since at least 2001.

As we're on business forum and not an employees forum, I will take the business line....

You have been getting a 6% bonus for 10 or 11 years, which the employers is not contracturally obliged to give you, and now when they can't afford it you kick off and start to talk about jumping ship?????

All rats to the lifeboat methinks.....:|

 

[PDRD]

You just need to accept it and move on. Would you prefer that they paid you all a bonus and then gave you your months notice in the same envelope?

 

[gary brown]

Hi neil_y1,

Sounds like what you need is a safety net, with an additional source of income so you are not reliant on your bonus. PM me if you want some ideas.