A bonus for a termed EE?

Crout

I anticipate this one will be coming up over the horizon very quickly. We are in the process of firing an EE for willful misconduct. I'm assuming that she and the Union will be grieving the termination, which generally takes a few weeks. Just today I drafted a Sidebar Agreement for the Union for us to pay out a bonus for a specific class of employees, based on hours worked in Fiscal Years 2003-2004. The EE who will be fired this week is one of those people, and I was wondering if she might have a claim to the bonus. It's very possible that the Union will make that one of the issues at her grievance meeting. Personally I think she's a skunk, and I would like to avoid paying her anything extra if at all possible. Thank you kindly.

twochr

Wish I could help but can't - just so glad we don't have unions in our company! We just have a policy that if an employee is term'd for willful misconduct that they do not get any type of bonus that may have been earned prior but not given out yet.

Don D

If it's still in draft stage, I'd add some conditional language to it. Like: Must be employed at time of payout. Payout to be quarterly by the 10th day of the month following. Must be in good standing. Now, your mission would be, should you decide to accept it, to define those things in a manner with which the union would agree. But, they have an incentive to agree if they want a bonus, don't they?

Crout

I had that lauguage in the original draft, but the effective date of the Sidebar is June 30 to correspond with the end of the Fiscal Year. On June 30 the EE in question was not yet in trouble. The Union has already agreed in princlple to the bonus, and I have to get the Sidebar done ASAP because if we don't use that money for bonuses we essentially have to give it back by the end of this week. Do you think the EE would have a valid claim?

AnneLa

If you had already promised a bonus and the employe was eligible at closeout time, then she should be paid what she earned. Her termination date (unless for gross misconduct) is insignificant. If she earned it, it is hers.

Crout

Her termination WAS for gross misconduct (she abused a client), so how does that fact mitigate her claim to the bonus?

Don D

Crout: As you know, denial of the bonus probably ain't gonna hold up with the union unless you can point to very specific contract language which allows the denial. The discussion here seems to be revolving around 'reason' and 'sound business decisions', both of which don't mix particularly well with union contracts.

AJ SPHR

(hmm, I already typed a reply to this but as I was submitting it, the server lost the connection to the site or some weird thing? so the page took me back to the main lobby. Ok, I'll try again)

I agree with others who have said if you don't have any specific policy provision stating not to pay the bonus if performance is at issue or if they're not on the payroll at the time of the bonus payment, then you should pay the bonus.

Even if her termination was for gross misconduct, the courts will ask what the provisions for paying the bonus are, you will respond nothing, and they will say - then you must pay it.

In my opinion, just not worth a battle to fight that has a great potential of being a loser.