I have been at my job for a few years and have realized that I cannot grow with this company.

Anonymous

February 6,2024 at 7:35PM UTC

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I have been at my job for a few years and have realized that I cannot grow with this company. I feel like there is a lot of nepotism here and have been overlooked for 2 promotions that I am highly qualified for. I get raving reviews from all of our executive leadership on how amazing a leader I am so I thought I was a shoo-in for this last internal opportunity that I applied for. After interviewing with a few of the VPs, I was notified that they were going with another applicant. I have a job offer coming from a different organization but I am worried about not getting my annual bonus. Does anyone know or been in this position before? If my bonus is part of my salary, is the company obligated to that pay that to me if it is based on data from all of 2023? They generally pay out towards the end of 1st quarter.

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AnonymousFebruary 6,2024 at 10:06PM UTC
The terms of bonus payments will be in your employee handbook or via you company policies. I have worked at places that make current employmentb on the day of bonus payment a criteria for bonus payment. Other places I've worked have a pro-rata calculation for payment calculation based on last day employed.
But the end of March is not that far away so perhaps you can negotiate a start date of April 1st. I would make sure.
AnonymousFebruary 6,2024 at 10:26PM UTC
What does language in bonus documentation look like (offer letter, handbook, etc.)? You can negotiate a later start date with potential new employer, maybe negotiate it as a signing bonus or added into base salary. I've seen all happen. Whatever you do, don't pass on a good/great opportunity solely to wait out payment of a bonus if you can't come up with some work around with new potential employer.
AnonymousFebruary 6,2024 at 10:30PM UTC
I agree with the other commenter. Said another way, the payout obligation largely depends on the terms of your employment contract and the policies of your company. Generally, bonuses are considered discretionary and may not be legally required to be paid out, especially if you're not there when distributed.
Previously, I've negotiated an advantageous start date. If I felt I had the leverage, I'd bring it up with the new employer. I've been able to negotiate the leftover money from my past employer as a sign-on bonus with the new one. But this was not too recent so it may not be relevant any longer. I'd also decide if I'd be ok with losing the bonus for this new job before negotiating, and sometimes we have to take the hit. Good luck with this one!
Diane Frances Lesley-NeumanFebruary 7,2024 at 2:05PM UTC
Leave. They already overlooked you twice.
AnonymousFebruary 7,2024 at 4:58PM UTC
As another poster said, depending on your industry, it can be common for the hiring company to take over the expected bonus from the company you're leaving as a sign on bonus (financial and consulting firms, for example). This is a known issue when hiring around this time. And it's still current practice.
Agree with the other posters that the current company's bonus policy should be in the employee handbook, but I would expect that if you leave before payout you'll forfeit any bonus.