Practice of Issuing Bonus Did Not Create Contractual Obligation
“Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.”
Pearl S. Buck, Noble novelist (1892-1973)
Practice of Issuing Bonus Did Not Create Contractual Obligation
A Connecticut Appellate Court case released July 8, 2014, stands for the proposition that unless an employer promises an employee a bonus, it is not legally obligated to pay it, even if there was a pattern that the employee received such bonus in the past. Bryan Burns v. RBS Securities, Inc., 151 Conn. App. 451 (2014).
In Burns, the plaintiff had received sizable bonuses in 2005, 2006 and 2008 in his job as a supervisor for a global financial services firm. However, due to financial difficulties in 2008, the firm changed its bonus program to offer a “deferral program” whereby the firm would defer bonus payments by issuing bonds that would vest over a three-year period. The program provided that if an employee left employment before the bonus vested, the bonus would be forfeited.
The plaintiff resigned in 2009 before the first vesting date in June, 2010, and the defendant claimed that he had forfeited his right to a bonus. The plaintiff sued, claiming breach of contract, promissory estoppel and wrongful withholding of wages in violation of Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-72.
The trial court denied his claims, finding there was never a contractual agreement to which the plaintiff was guaranteed a bonus each and every year.
Upon appeal, the Appellate Court found that the plaintiff was never guaranteed a bonus but was merely eligible for a bonus and that the past practice of receiving a bonus did not establish a contractual obligation.
2014 General Assembly Employment Legislation
Some of the important legislation affecting the workplace wages:
-
State Minimum Wage to Increase:
Effective January 1, 2015, the state’s minimum hourly wage will increase from $8.70 to $9.15.
Effective January 1, 2016, it increases to $9.60.
Effective January 1, 2017, it increases to $10.10.
For wait staff, the minimum increases from $5.69 to $5.78 in 2015.
In 2016, it increases to $6.07.
In 2017, it increases to $6.38For bartenders, the increases are as follows: $7.46 in 2015, $7.82 in 2016 and $8.23 in 2017.
As An Employee
"The Top 5 Things You Should Know As An Employee"
As An Employer
"The Top 5 Things You Should Know As An Employer"
As A Union
"The Top 5 things You Should Know As A Union"
