My peer spilt his personal bonus among his team and now i feel pressured to do so

[Anonymous]

OP - how about you give people $500 each, so at least they're getting something extra.

[Anonymous]

Bwahahaha this thread is bringing out the best in everyone. It’s almost as if the team lead decided to share his bonus as a little social experiment.

[Anonymous]

I would talk to HR and get their position on this.
Instead of handing the out cash, you could take your team out to lunch. It would probably be cheaper and be more ethical.

[Anonymous]

It’s a terrible policy and HR should not allow it. Imagine you worked in a non profit and one department head had a ton of personal wealth. She decides to supplement everyone’s salary by 10% every year. How is that fair to everyone else in the organization? Presumably some thought was given to a salary scale to ensure that all employees were treated equitably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Our VP was in the room when the first leader said he's splitting his. He literally went "I'm cashing this baby today and bringing everyone 1/4th of it tomorrow". Vp didn't say anything other than "congrats to all, you all are hard workers and deserving" etc etc. This isn't a super high amount btw. Leader bonus is under 5k and teammate bonus is under 1k.

Didn't you initially say leader D was a woman, and this was her "fun job"?

And what company hands our paper checks you can cash? Every bonus I’ve ever received was through the payroll system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - how about you give people $500 each, so at least they're getting something extra.

(not OP) because they're already getting the bonus for THEIR position - why do they need extra??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Our VP was in the room when the first leader said he's splitting his. He literally went "I'm cashing this baby today and bringing everyone 1/4th of it tomorrow". Vp didn't say anything other than "congrats to all, you all are hard workers and deserving" etc etc. This isn't a super high amount btw. Leader bonus is under 5k and teammate bonus is under 1k.

Didn't you initially say leader D was a woman, and this was her "fun job"?

It doesn't really matter, right?

....so this entire scenario is a lie that you made up?

Either she is a woman with a rich spouse and this is her fun job, OR

he is a man and in the meeting he said "I'm cashing this baby today and bringing everyone 1/4th of it tomorrow."

Those are two very distinct (and detailed) scenarios, so all I can conclude is that this is an entirely fictitious hypothetical that you've completely made up for...some reason. Either way, makes sense why you're brushing off everyone who says to talk to the boss / HR

I do not see how the gender makes a difference. The scenario is clearly a combination of both of the ones you posted above.

Team Leader D could be a man or a woman, but he/she has a rich spouse and so this is a "fun" job. He/she also said in a meeting "I'm cashing this baby today and bringing everyone 1/4th of it tomorrow."

I suspect what you're implying is that men are unlikely to be the ones with higher-paid spouses and "fun" jobs, in which case, pot, meet kettle.

Hahaha uh...no. What I'm implying is that this entire post is fake, because there are so many obvious inconsistencies. But, um, nice try?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - how about you give people $500 each, so at least they're getting something extra.

I like this as a compromise - maybe share 50% of your bonus with the group and keep the other 50%. But you also have to consider what the people on your team are like. Are you a close team? Do you have a good rapport with them? Have you all worked together for many years, or do you shuffle frequently?

Unfortunately I do think you'll have to pony up at least a portion of the bonus. The flip side of the coin is that all your team members are probably making less salary than you and less bonus than you. Yes, you need the extra cash, but they probably need it just as much.

[Anonymous]

Fuck that.

I’d seriously report this to HR. It creates a problem for the company and for you.

I also wouldn’t give up my bonus for my staff. It just isn’t how the world works.

[Anonymous]

I feel terribly for you. I'd take it to HR, for sure. And I'd pull aside the Team Leader who made the public proclamation and explain why what he or she did is unprofessional, and sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would check with HR on this. Basically this lead is paying people an extra bonus out of her pocket on top of what the company is paying. That’s not ok.

This. Is what she’s doing even allowed?

Yeah this seems questionable. I'd check with HR.

I think her heart is in the right place and she's trying to build morale with her team. However, it might be iffy and might not be able to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I don't find this sexist, but very wrong.
You reward the employee for their work... if they are a high performer, they should get compensated appropriately. Not based on what other financial factors they have.
What if they were independently wealthy? Does that mean that they should work for free?
What if it were you? No bonus because you had money... but others get it.

Wow, y'all are misinterpreting what OP is saying. FTR, I'm a DW of a very high-earning DH. I also earn a high salary, but it's about half of DH's. We could easily afford our lifestyle on his salary alone with no compromises at this point. I guess I wouldn't like someone calling my career "fun", but it's definitely true that I have financial flexibility to forego income that my colleagues (most of whom are sole breadwinners) don't.

[Anonymous]

I would take them out to a very, very nice lunch.

[Anonymous]

Retain an attorney to approach HR seeking to overturn this. Threaten legal action if you must. Be sure the attorney doesn't identify you, saying that the client does not want to face retaliation for this effort.

Meanwhile, announce publicly and loudly that you are going to redistribute your bonus once you get the tax implications worked out. Then wait and see if the bonus gets overturned.

If overturned, then you get out of it without paying a dime, AND you get the good karma that you WOULD have redistributed the bonus. You could even give an "on the spot" gift card to Starbucks or someplace to lock in that karma.

Since you are an anonymous complainant to HR, you could even publicly eviscerate HR for stepping in and being Scrooge.

If HR says the bonus redistribution is fine, then OK, redistribute. But hold back a decent chunk and blame it on the accountant saying you'd be double-taxed or something given your personal situation. You can't get away with not paying at all, but if you handle this right you can minimize the damage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Retain an attorney to approach HR seeking to overturn this. Threaten legal action if you must. Be sure the attorney doesn't identify you, saying that the client does not want to face retaliation for this effort.

Meanwhile, announce publicly and loudly that you are going to redistribute your bonus once you get the tax implications worked out. Then wait and see if the bonus gets overturned.

If overturned, then you get out of it without paying a dime, AND you get the good karma that you WOULD have redistributed the bonus. You could even give an "on the spot" gift card to Starbucks or someplace to lock in that karma.

Since you are an anonymous complainant to HR, you could even publicly eviscerate HR for stepping in and being Scrooge.

If HR says the bonus redistribution is fine, then OK, redistribute. But hold back a decent chunk and blame it on the accountant saying you'd be double-taxed or something given your personal situation. You can't get away with not paying at all, but if you handle this right you can minimize the damage.

Donald Trump, is that you?