Retention Bonus / Leaving

m4cc45 · 11 May 2016 at 06:40

Hi,

A bit of a strange one.

When I moved roles a few months ago I was offered a retention bonus. The wording goes like this: A retention bonus of £x will be paid upon the successful implementation of Project Z, not before September 2016.

Project Z goes live in a week or so and I have turned down roles because of it. The way I read it was that the payment will be made in September and not that I had to be there until September. I'm actually leaving in July.

How does it read to you guys?

M.

dowie · 11 May 2016 at 11:04

You want to be paid a retention bonus after you leave?

I think the key word here is 'retention' - if you leave before it is due to be paid then you're probably not going to get it - that is the purpose of the incentive no?

I mean otherwise would they not simply pay it upon completion of the project?

Redgie · 11 May 2016 at 11:49

You want them to pay you for staying after you've left!?

tom_e · 11 May 2016 at 11:51

You will not be seeing that money once you leave.

HangTime · 11 May 2016 at 22:17

LOL

If you want the money stay until it is paid. Even it wasn't labelled a retention bonus, in my experience bonuses often have some clause about not being payable to people who have left or have given notice to leave.

Caged · 11 May 2016 at 22:57

Clearly the wording means that your retention bonus will be paid on delivery of the project or by September, whichever is later.

BigT · 12 May 2016 at 16:32

It'll get paid in September and if you leave before then you won't get it.

Standard practice. We have no resignations in our company between October and January as reviews take place in October but policy says any bonus owed as a result is paid in January.

Dunks · 12 May 2016 at 16:45

What do you think a retention bonus is? It's there to help keep you until September

Thekwango · 12 May 2016 at 17:50

m4cc45 said:
How does it read to you guys?

you ain't getting a bonus. irrelevant that the project goes live in a week, the fact it's called a retention bonus indicates that it will only be paid should they retain your services until September 2016. least that's how I would read it

Jokester · 12 May 2016 at 17:57

You need to stay to the end of the project, or September 2016, whichever comes last.

Kenai · 12 May 2016 at 18:53

The clue is in the word retention. They haven't retained you, why would they pay you it?

Mr^B · 12 May 2016 at 20:58

It reads that if you hand in your notice before you have received the retention bonus, then you don't get the retention bonus.

jimjamuk · 13 May 2016 at 10:16

Just because that project goes live in a week doesn't mean the project will be finished - they may have some smaller pieces to complete after the main go live. If money is good then stay, if not leave

Mr Badger · 13 May 2016 at 10:31

Surprised no one has suggested Googling the meaning of the "retention" ☺

jimjamuk · 13 May 2016 at 10:40

The fact you haven't thought in your mind - if I stay til Sept I'm going to be quids in with xxx bonus suggests that its not a decent sum of money. If its just a couple/few hundred pounds but you are looking elsewhere I'd move to a better job / salary than wait for that

muon · 21 May 2016 at 00:33

The bonus doesn't sound discretionary though. The idea of the bonus sounds like it is to ensure the employee stays until project completion.

If it is enough, worth talking to a lawyer?

dowie · 21 May 2016 at 00:47

no one has said it is discretionary, just that they don't think he'll get paid a retention bonus if he's already left before it is supposed to be paid

maybe it is worth talking to a lawyer and getting them to review it properly/establish if the project being completed is sufficient to expect payment of it even after leaving the company - I'd suspect that would be an unusual situation though.

muon · 21 May 2016 at 00:51

dowie said:
no one has said it is discretionary, just that they don't think he'll get paid a retention bonus if he's already left before it is supposed to be paid

maybe it is worth talking to a lawyer and getting them to review it properly/establish if the project being completed is sufficient to expect payment of it even after leaving the company - I'd suspect that would be an unusual situation though.

Most employers put clauses in saying you must be employed and not working under notice as of the payment date.

To me this sounds like a guaranteed bonus to be paid on completion of project, but payment won't happen before September 2016. Nothing mentioned about your employment situation.

Housey · 21 May 2016 at 10:02

Jokester said:
You need to stay to the end of the project, or September 2016, whichever comes last.

Yup

dowie · 21 May 2016 at 10:11

muon said:
Most employers put clauses in saying you must be employed and not working under notice as of the payment date.

To me this sounds like a guaranteed bonus to be paid on completion of project, but payment won't happen before September 2016. Nothing mentioned about your employment situation.

but he's not posted his employment contract so you don't know that there isn't a general clause regarding bonuses in there, he's posted one line re: when payment would be made for this particular bonus and he's referred to it as a retention bonus which certainly suggests that it won't be paid if he leaves

if it was just for the completion of the project then the additional condition of not being paid until September wouldn't be spurious