Incentive Pay

Are departed employees eligible for bonuses?

08/01/2004

Q. Our company pays out bonuses in the year after the work is completed, sometimes late into the first quarter. If an employee resigns prior to the bonus payout date (say in January), do we have to pay that employee the bonus? —A.G., South Carolina

Choose bonus pay method and stick with it

07/01/2004

Q. Our company pays monthly bonuses to hourly employees based on the previous month’s performance. When calculating overtime, should the bonus pay be included only for the weekly payroll that contains those bonuses, or does it change the overtime rate for other weekly pay periods, as well? —A.A., Tennessee

Max out results from your employee-referral program

03/01/2004

Issue: Imaginative cash rewards are the key to successful employee-referral programs. Benefit: Employees hired through employee referrals have higher retention rates. Action: Read below to gauge whether your rewards …

Prevent new-hire no-shows

11/01/2003

As the job market heats up, more applicants will accept jobs and then back out at the last minute, or simply fail to show up on Day 1. Midlevel sales, financial …

5 ways to fight new-hire no-shows

10/01/2003

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Bonus plans don’t erase your overtime obligations

07/01/2003

Q. We plan to roll out an incentive plan for all employees. The incentive would be calculated monthly but paid quarterly in addition to regular pay. As part of the plan, we are eliminating overtime. Can we still have employees punch in to monitor attendance or can that come back to haunt us if they work extra hours to reach the incentive threshold? —J.B., New Jersey

Don’t link vacation bonus to exempt workers’ hours

06/01/2003

Q. Can we give an exempt employee extra vacation days in addition to the standard accrued time off outlined in our employee handbook? —T. L., Maryland

It’s OK to Offer Incentive to Drop Health Coverage

03/01/2003

Q. Due to rising premiums, our company is looking into alternatives to reduce our group health benefit costs. Several employees are on our plan and their spouses’ plan. They are willing to go off our group plan if we compensate them “x” amount of dollars each month. Is it legal to offer the medical insurance benefit or a cash alternative? —S.P., Michigan

Offset bonus pay against weekly overtime with care

02/01/2003

Fabri-Centers gave workers several bonus payments above their base pay, including shift differentials, holiday pay and spot bonuses. But the company calculated employees’…

You can’t shave employee’s bonus just because she took FMLA leave

12/01/2002

When the company Valerie Dierlam worked for was sold, the acquiring firm offered her a bonus of half her salary if she stayed for one year. She did, but the …