Year-End Bonuses

[eliza61]

In the federal government, at least where I work, we get nominated for cash awards, and extra leave. I used my extra leave already and we got a $500 cash award for the work we did for the Deepwater Horizon project.

Wow, if Aussie Government workers got paid cash awards the taxpayers would be outraged and it would on the front page of every newspaper. I think it's a great idea

I'm a government worker so to speak (nurse) and no cash bonuses for us other than penalty rates for public holidays.

[UMBS Go Blue]

I used to work on Wall Street and, even off Wall Street, in Wall Street-type positions.

[Rex]

Wow, if Aussie Government workers got paid cash awards the taxpayers would be outraged and it would on the front page of every newspaper. I think it's a great idea

I'm a government worker so to speak (nurse) and no cash bonuses for us other than penalty rates for public holidays.

Well, it is taxed to death, so we only get to see $300USD of that, so......it evens out in the end. They have to be competitive with the private sector; bonuses and cash awards help with retention.

[Stormy]

At my last job, we got bonuses depending on if the sales force hit the yearly goal. One year we got quite a nice chunk of change, the last year I was there we got bupkus. At the place I work now, there's been a salary increase freeze for about two years that was lifted recently. There's no bonuses, but people will at least get raises in 2011. I actually got a fairly substantial raise when I made a lateral move in the company so I was happy with that this year. My husband got a ridiculous bonus, but he works for a large corporation in our area. The kind that has their logo plastered all over Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium.

[PDilemma]

At my last job, our Christmas bonus was a half pound of sausage.

My husband's company gives out very generous bonuses every year. And everyone is getting a very generous raise in January as well.

[genevieve]

For those asking about giving out a turkey - I'm not sure where the tradition started, but in the US bonuses are considered taxable income, including gift cards, unless they are one-off goods. A gift of a holiday turkey is actually mentioned as a non-taxable example But if you are given a $100 gift certificate to a spa, say, your employer is supposed to report the $100 as taxable income on your check as well. It won't change your gross wages, but it should change your FIT/FICA withholding. Anyway, it could be the employer trying to find a way to give a non-taxable gift, although so many people are vegetarian now it seems outdated to give a turkey.

[Aceon6]

it seems outdated to give a turkey.

I remember the outrage when a former employer discontinued the turkey/ham giveaway at the holidays. The single folks were happy, but the ones with families really looked forward to the 20 lb turkey or 10 lb ham.

[my little pony]

I'm too much of a wuss to carry anything heavy or frozen out to my car. I would have probably abandoned it somewhere. But when it comes to giving stuff away, they can't win. We got target gift cards this year. I gave mine away.

As for the OP, we have a common anniversary date in March. Top producers get a bonus based on the company's performance. I know I'm lucky to get one every year since so many people don't have that option at their place of employment and also because we have had 2 rounds of layoffs this year.

[manleywoman]

A friend of mine who is a Physician's Assistant got a bonus last year of $60,000. That's more than I make in a year.

And this is one of the many reasons I'm considering becoming a PA.

[barbk]

An employer my husband worked for about ten years ago gave out holiday turkeys/hams -- but not by literally handing out stuff. Instead, everyone got a $25 gift card for one of two big supermarket chains and you were free to use it on turkey, ham, tofu, or whatever you liked. The IRS blessed that as a "de minimis" gift that did not affect taxable income.

His current employer does do bonuses, but in March, right before property taxes are due. If you're a good performer they typically come to about 10% of base salary. They did have salary freezes for the past two years, so the bonuses really helped. I'm hoping that the salary freeze is gone for this next year.

[Louis]

I think it's important to separate bonus from variable comp, though the two terms are often conflated.

E.g., job A pays $50,000 + up to $50,000 non-guaranteed "bonus"; comparable job B pays $90,000 + 0 "bonus." Which is really better?

If given my druthers, I'd take job B. And if the person in job A gets a $35,000 "bonus" in a bad year, there may be public outrage, but said person is probably receiving below market compensation despite the "bonus."

There are a variety of jobs, Wall Street and otherwise, where a large "bonus" is expected just to get the person to the correct total compensation level. The trend is to shift more and more compensation from base to variable, but failure to deliver on this variable comp can decimate the ranks.

[dbell1]

I once worked for a place where we got $20 gift certificates to the local food store so we could buy a turkey, a ham, or just a bunch of condiments. I used it the first year, and asked HR to give it to another employee the following year (she had 3 kids, I was childfree, shallow and didn't cook much).

Question - does getting a leaky coffee mug or a crap umbrella count? Because the current work did give those things away at the annual shareholder's meeting. Of course, the logo was all over it, so it's free advertising IMHO. :

[mpal2]

We get a "bonus," in February, and it is actually referred to as variable compensation. So, it's part of our salary but the amount varies each year according to your performance, your business unit's performance, and overall company performance, and also your pay level.

The companies I worked for have all done the same thing. It depends on their sales cycles and fiscal year ends so I've gotten the bonus in July and September. Never at year end or Christmas. If they did give a Christmas bonus it was something small like $25 to $50. That was actually more than I expected given the number of employees in the companies. That was a big expense for them.

Question - does getting a leaky coffee mug or a crap umbrella count? Because the current work did give those things away at the annual shareholder's meeting. Of course, the logo was all over it, so it's free advertising IMHO. :

Those are normally expensed as costs for the shareholder meetings and wouldn't count as a taxable bonus.

[deltask8er]

Year-end bonuses, no. And I have worked for many large media companies over the years. They would rather spend $100,000 on a fancy Christmas party than give bonuses or pay increases to non-executives.

Only my sales job I got paid via a combination of hourly, commission and monthly bonus if I surpassed quota ($50 - $500 per month). I used to think sales would be HUGE in the month of December and then for the first couple months of the new year. But I had more sales in January than December. Maybe a lot of those purchases were paid by bonus or Christmas money .

I used to work on Wall Street and, even off Wall Street, in Wall Street-type positions.

That reminds me of a opinion written in a newspaper recently.

Why tomorrow's Wall Street leaders don't like bonuses

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...121604899.html

Yet, in reviewing the roughly 800 essays our students handed in this year, we see a different story. Students increasingly distrust the bonus system and contend that annual bonuses are too large a part of the way they are managed, often serving as a substitute for thoughtful supervision or meaningful reviews.

But I didn't see a suggestion for alternative forms of compensation.

[znachki]

I worked in not-for profit - no bonus. I worked in a small privately held company that probably could have affored them, no bonus.

I now work at a law firm, and when I started, they gave a Christmas bonus based on the length of time you had been at the firm. That changed shortly after I got there, and now bonuses are performance based at the time of your annual review. I do very well under this method. Of course, my review just happens to be in late Nov/early Dec, so great timing.

For those of you who get your bonus in company stock, can you sell/divest it to diversify your holdings? I ask, because I know someone who worked at Enron and had a bunch of company stock, and we all know how that worked out

[aliceanne]

I didn't get bonuses when I was in entry-level positions (when I really could have used them!). Once I got to the middle management level I have always gotten them - I've worked in both the private sector and government.

[Aceon6]

For those of you who get your bonus in company stock, can you sell/divest it to diversify your holdings? I ask, because I know someone who worked at Enron and had a bunch of company stock, and we all know how that worked out

Enron required their ees to keep the stock. The SEC got involved and now there are rules to prevent companies from forcing ees to keep all of it. I think there's a maximum exposure rule, now.

[DFJ]

I work for a large Canadian law firm...this year, $1,000. Very nice two weeks before Christmas.

[Twilight1]

I work for a non-profit. We get an umbrella...if we donate at least $52.00 to the agency. No bonuses in social work

Not here either. Though we are part of the hospital, we were invited to a potluck dinner at our sister agency for Mental Health and Addictions. Complete with karaoke...thankfully I was scheduled for a night shift that night and missed out on the festivites...

For working Christmas day, I rec'd a $25 gift card for the movies which will be a nice date night for hubby and I.

[ioana]

I work in finance and we usually get around 15% of our salary as a bonus for good years and up to 25-30% if things go extremely well. You could also get laid off when things go badly, which happened to me 2 years ago. The current company where I work has its financial year end on June 30th, so our bonuses are handed out in September. We get things like a fleece or logo'ed backpacks for Christmas.