sales bonus withheld due to leaving the company

[Guest pswanno]

my girlfriend just left her company and they now say they are not going to pay her bonus check for the last quarter '99 since she is no longer with the company. is this legal? it is stated in their employee handbook, but how can a company withhold money she has rightfully earned just because she left before the end of the first quarter '00?

[Guest CLKeown]

pswanno -

A sales bonus is not the same thing as a commission, which is a portion of salary based on a % of sales or billing collections. A bonus is not actually "earned" income or part of a salary automatically due to the employee. It is a bonus. It may be tied to performance or sales, but it is not considered to be part of the employee's salary.

If the policy is clearly set forth in the employee manual, offer letter and/or employement agreement, and states that the bonus will not be paid if you are not actively employed on a certain determining date, it is perfectly legal.

For instance, Company X pays a performance based bonus for 1999 on March 1, 2000, and the employee policy states that you must be an active employee in good standing on the last business day of 1999 (in this case Dec. 30,1999), to receive the bonus. Employee Jane Doe, terminates her employment on December 29, 1999, Company X can legally deny payment of the performance bonus.

Carole