Bonus Payments

bchapin

Hi folks. I am actually posting this question on behalf of my husband, since I can't seem to find the answer. He was employed for an overhead door company. The company had an incentive program for service personel, if you sell an operator you get $10.00 if you sell a new garage door, you get $20.00. My husband was terminated and had approximately $200 in sales he had not been paid his "bonus" for. We filed a claim with the wage and hour division and they are going back and forth between the employer and us.. they have talked with the employer personally but not us, only via mail. I think they are on the employers side! The employer claims they WOULD have paid him the bonus the week after he was terminated, IF he were still an employee and in good standing with the company. They argue since he was not an employee on the "bonus pay date" he was not entitled to the money. I would think the Wage and Hour division or FLSA would regulate the payment of these kinds of things somehow, but I can't find any amo to use in our favor... any help on this would be appreciated! Thanks a bunch!

moneyman

Not knowing anything about this in regs. I have seen incentive programs that work by outlining a calculation date, like the last day of a pay period. If you are an employee on that date and you have qualifying sales, then you are entitled to the incentive pay. I have not seen anywhere that states this was illegal or anywhere that gives this backing, just that I have seen programs that work like this. In this case, then your husband's employer might very well be able to NOT PAY you husband the bonus. I know that many profit-sharing and 401(k) matching programs work that way too. You must be employed on a certain calculation date (like the last day of the year) in order to receive an employer's contribution.

San Francisco

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-03-03 AT 03:14PM (CST)[/font][p]I am definitely not an expert in this area and maybe you need to review your state's law regarding what sounds like a commission and not a bonus. But, our store managers receive quarterly bonus' (really commissions) based upon total store sales for that quarter. If that manager quits or is terminated before the end of that quarter he/she will receive a prorated amount based upon how many months worked in that quarter. This is because it is payment for work performed -to increase sales - and is considered wages in California. My point with your husband is that he has already completed the "work" by selling the items and should be paid accordingly. The company still has profited and I think it should pay. But, my opinion is obviously not the law.

Also, the courts do not favor forfeitures and unless the language regarding the forfeiture is very clear and unambiguous, the courts usually will not enforce it. So, you need to review whatever document your husband signed regarding that company's bonus plans.

Elizabeth