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

[Anonymous]

Given the amounts stated...this is very odd. It sounds like teams are around 4ppl, meaning a 1/4 of the leader's bonus is $1.25K in addition to the $1K they would already be getting...or maybe if the split included leader, it would be $1K for each. The employees would get larger bonuses than the leaders!

I would talk to HR. Just because the VP was in the room doesn't mean 1) s/he understands the HR implications or 2) even registered the comment completely. I think this sets up a bizarre precedent, and HR should understand why it will be hard to get people to want to take promotions if the expectation is you need to give up your bonus.

This new lead does sound kind of clueless and immature, though.

[Anonymous]

However you end up handling it this time (which I agree is a really shitty situation to be in), HR needs to discuss this with the other team leader to prevent it from happening again. They need to explain that it puts everyone else in a bad position and kills morale across the board. Team leader's heart was probably in the right place and wanted her team to love her, but didn't think about the bigger picture.

[Anonymous]

Keep taxes in mind. You will be taxed on your full bonus amount at your top rate. So your take home will be about half of the award. If you do share anything with the team make sure you are calculating it on the right basis.

[Anonymous]

An alternative for that team leader would have been to just gift money to her team members for Christmas instead of announcing it to everyone.

[Anonymous]

So your options as a team member under teams A-D seem to be:

Team A - you keep your own bonus, no extra distribution from your team leader
Team B - you get a bit of your leader's bonus
Team C - no bonus at all
Team D - you get your own bonus plus your leader's

Luck of the draw. We're all adults. OP (Team A lead), please keep your bonus. Explain it frankly to your team members, perhaps gift them something nice. You deserve a bonus as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So your options as a team member under teams A-D seem to be:

Team A - you keep your own bonus, no extra distribution from your team leader
Team B - you get a bit of your leader's bonus
Team C - no bonus at all
Team D - you get your own bonus plus your leader's

Luck of the draw. We're all adults. OP (Team A lead), please keep your bonus. Explain it frankly to your team members, perhaps gift them something nice. You deserve a bonus as well.

*GIVE them something nice. SORRY!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Good point.

[Anonymous]

Is this even legal? You are paying taxes on this money and then would be giving subordinates cash? This isn't above board. I don't think you can do that. Then who pays tax on the money? It's not really a gift since you are giving it to subordinates.

[Anonymous]

So the other team leaders gave their employees ALL of their bonus, leaving none for themselves?

How about you split your bonus so that you and your team members all end up having EQUAL bonuses. I don't think anyone is going to hate you if you say "hey guys, I know the other teams got a little more, and I wish I could do the same, but I just can't swing it financially. I think you all did an amazing job though and I couldn't have done it without you, so I'm using my bonus to make sure everyone here gets an equal share since we all worked hard to make this happen."

Assuming the disparity between your bonus and the team members' bonuses isn't massive, you still get most of your bonus plus you will still come out looking almost as good as the other managers, and next year's situation has now gone from a completely understandable "I don't want to be on the team of the stingy boss who was the only one not to share their bonus" to looking petty if they switch for that little bit extra.

[Anonymous]

Is that you Clarke? You might not have enough for the pool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this even legal? You are paying taxes on this money and then would be giving subordinates cash? This isn't above board. I don't think you can do that. Then who pays tax on the money? It's not really a gift since you are giving it to subordinates.

Of course it’s a gift. People can give gifts to subordinates and, in the amounts at issue, there are no tax implications beyond the initial tax on the bonus.

[Anonymous]

Whether he/she was independently wealthy or not, I believe the other manager(s) have put you in an unfair position. I'd be furious if I was depending on that money.

I'd probably be looking for another job, honestly.

And in that case, I'd keep my bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the other team leaders gave their employees ALL of their bonus, leaving none for themselves?

How about you split your bonus so that you and your team members all end up having EQUAL bonuses. I don't think anyone is going to hate you if you say "hey guys, I know the other teams got a little more, and I wish I could do the same, but I just can't swing it financially. I think you all did an amazing job though and I couldn't have done it without you, so I'm using my bonus to make sure everyone here gets an equal share since we all worked hard to make this happen."

Assuming the disparity between your bonus and the team members' bonuses isn't massive, you still get most of your bonus plus you will still come out looking almost as good as the other managers, and next year's situation has now gone from a completely understandable "I don't want to be on the team of the stingy boss who was the only one not to share their bonus" to looking petty if they switch for that little bit extra.

You're kidding, right? There's NO WAY that OP is going to ever look almost as good as the other managers, at this point. Even if she agrees to split her own bonus, everyone will know it was due to the pressure. People will be temporarily happy with the extra money but in the longer term will remember the reality that she had no plans to share it with her team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a department wide meeting where it was announced Teams A, B, and D made their goal. The team leader gets XYZ bonus and each team member gets ABC bonus. These amounts are fixed and we all know the dollar number attached to these incentives. I am the leader of team A. The leader of Team D publicly announced he is splitting his personal bonus among the team to sweeten everyones package. The leader of Team B and myself left the meeting kind of annoyed because now we feel in the hot seat. We both talked in the elevator and both mentioned we needed/wanted our bonuses for Christmas and won't be following Team D leaders idea. Well the next day I learn leader B did indeed split his bonus. He did "count himself in" so it was slightly lower extra amount than team D but still doubles the members bonuses. I now HAVE to do this right? Ive been a team leader for 8 years and gotten the bonus 6 of them and no one has ever done this before this year. Leader D is a new employee and has a high earning spouse and this is her "fun" job and I just dont think take home makes a huge difference to her. Leader B confided in me he felt like he had to follow the office trend or else his team members would try and switch teams in 2018 when a new project permitted. I agree with that sentiment but still feel resentful. Ugh. I know what I have to do but it just kinda stings.

This is so incredibly sexist that I don't think any advice to you would help you with your team or your peers.

Not sexist at all. Stop being sensitive and actually read the entire post. OP's point is meaningful to the situation.

[Anonymous]

This is so unethical. Take out the bonus aspect of it, and it would never fly for a supervisor to give her direct reports a personal gift of $1k plus. Waaay too many liability issues. Take it to HR.