Bonus payments are intended to increase the motivation and satisfaction of the employees. They serve as recognition for achieved successes and as an incentive for future services. However, the legal framework must be observed.
Part of the remuneration
Bonus payments are money or benefits in kind, which the employee will be paid out in addition to the regular fee or basic salary. Employees are entitled to bonus payments, if they have been contractually agreed, have an operational exercise or violations of the general equal treatment law.
Ulrike Kolb is a specialist lawyer for labor law in Berlin and, according to “N-TV”, said that the employer can also be asked to pay if nothing was previously set in writing. Because if bonus payments are at least three times, at an unchanged amount and without reservation to the employee, the employer can be obliged to pay in certain cases. However, this does not apply if the bonus in the salary sheet or a accompanying letter was previously declared a one -off and voluntary payment.
Termination and resignation during the year
Starting day clauses that make the bonus claim to the existence of the employment relationship at a certain point in time are often ineffective, lawyer Joshua Mauritz writes in a contribution to lawyer.de. The Federal Labor Court has decided that such clauses can represent an inappropriate disadvantage, especially if they exclude the entitlement to bonuses that have already been developed.
A bonus entitlement does not automatically expire with the termination or the resignation from the company during the year. The contractual agreements and the services already provided are crucial. Portable bonus claims can also exist if you notice your own notice or exemption.
Target agreements and compensation obligations
In the case of bonus payments that are linked to target agreements, the employer is obliged to clearly define these goals and to agree with the employee. If the employer does not comply with this obligation, the employee can still be entitled to the bonus. However, the employee must also actively participate in the target agreement and to remind you in good time of the target agreements, “otherwise a fault can be understood,” emphasizes lawyer Joshua Mauritz on Anwalt.de.
Employees should assert their bonus claims in good time and observe the contractual and legal deadlines. In the event of ambiguities or disputes, it is advisable to claim legal assistance in order to enforce the claims.
Editor finance.net
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