Bonus Payments

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I've been paid a bonus payment annually for being available to work bank holidays if necessary. My employer now wants to cease this practice and replace it with a day in lieu for any days worked.

At what point if any does a bonus payment become part of your salary?

This practice has been in place for 15 years and the payment is equivalent to 6% of my salary so at this point I consider it part of my annual renumeration.
 
Doesn't really matter what you consider it to be. Is it part of your contract or was it just an informal arrangement?
 
'Custom and practice' can be a factor in industrial relations issues, so it's not just a matter of what is in the contract. It would be helpful to know what (if anything) is in the contract, whether there is a trade union involved, does the change apply to one person or the entire staff etc.
 
Complainer said:
'Custom and practice' can be a factor in industrial relations issues, so it's not just a matter of what is in the contract. It would be helpful to know what (if anything) is in the contract, whether there is a trade union involved, does the change apply to one person or the entire staff etc.
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Ask all the bank staff who received bonuses for years through customs and practices if they are still getting them despite meeting performance targets. The only ones getting them are the ones with contractual entitlements.

Bonuses are 99% of the time totally discretionary.
 
As Complainer says, 'custom and practice' is important, and actually becomes an integral part of the implied crontract of employment. Irish case history demonstrates the courts pay more heed to this than what is written in the contract.

If some of these bankers or anyone who recently lost out on bonuses decided to pursue the issue, they would very likely win, espcially if they had 15 years of history.

To the OP, this is a change to the terms of your employment. As such it must be agreed to by the staff. The employer may force the change through, and it'll then be up to someone to challenge it through the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the court system.
Leo
 
Leo said:
As Complainer says, 'custom and practice' is important, and actually becomes an integral part of the implied crontract of employment. Irish case history demonstrates the courts pay more heed to this than what is written in the contract.

If some of these bankers or anyone who recently lost out on bonuses decided to pursue the issue, they would very likely win, espcially if they had 15 years of history.
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Trust me, they didn't. I know a group of people who got legal advice on this from two barristers and were told to forget it. Bonuses are not a normal term and condition of work. They are completely discretionary unless you are contractually entitled to them. Otherwise, you could be claiming a bonus even if your company was bankrupt just because you are used to getting them and then claiming breach of contract when the employer said he couldnt afford to pay.

Contact a Union if you have one. Otherwise you will have to come to some sort of arrangement.
 
Their advice seems to have differed to that given by our senior council to the board of management here. We continue to get our bonuses :D

If a company can't afford to pay, that's a different matter, they don't have to. No court will mandate them to make payments that jeopardise the future of he company.
Leo
 
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