ivorystraws
Registered User
- Messages
- 480
Hi,
I work in a role that pays out incentives in the form of a bonus and/or commission which is dependent on performance against certain targets. At the beginning of each year, we review and sign two documents, an admin guidelines document and a separate document detailing the plan for the year along with targets etc.
In the admin guidelines document, it states that my employer "...reserves the right to revise, suspend, revoke, replace and/or change all or part(s) of the Plan provisions and objectives at any time as necessary in its sole and absolute discretion, to the extent permitted by applicable law, and for any reason, including but not limited to reflect its business requirements and equitable compensation. <Employer> may make such changes without prior communication to Plan participants, and without providing any compensation or replacement to any Plan participants."
So basically, our business unit was making losses last year and business strategies weren't successful. Management changed the structure of the bonus/commission model for Q3 and Q4 in October of 2022 i.e. after Q3. This meant that bonuses/commissions were no longer based on individual performance but dependent on the performance of the business unit. This effectively meant that they had to pay out much less on bonuses/commissions. Individual overachievement against target became irrelevant.
My question is whether there's any case to challenge my employer to pay out on my individual performance against target for Q3 and Q4? It seems unlikely but maybe there's someone with more expertise on this specific topic or can at least point me in the right direction.
In Hewlett Packard Pty Ltd v Subasic [2021] ACTCA 3, the ACT’s Supreme Court, Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeal by Hewlett Packard Australia (HP) to set aside judgment in favour of their former employee, Melinda Subasic.
Employer cannot make changes with retrospective effect to sales plan
The next question the court had to consider was whether it was permissible for HP to make changes to Ms Subasic’s sales plan that have retrospective effect.
The court concluded that:
Whilst there is clearly provision to make changes to a Sales Plan for the purpose of addressing unforeseen market conditions… the detailed documents contemplate that the changes are to be made during the measure period, that the changes are to be communicated to the employee during the measure period and that the changes are to operate prospectively for the remainder of the measure period.
I'd be interested in getting people's feedback on whether there's any grounds to challenge the fact that my employer didn't pay out the bonus/commission for Q3 and Q4 inline with what I signed and agreed to at the beginning of 2022. I didn't agree or sign any subsequent plans.
I work in a role that pays out incentives in the form of a bonus and/or commission which is dependent on performance against certain targets. At the beginning of each year, we review and sign two documents, an admin guidelines document and a separate document detailing the plan for the year along with targets etc.
In the admin guidelines document, it states that my employer "...reserves the right to revise, suspend, revoke, replace and/or change all or part(s) of the Plan provisions and objectives at any time as necessary in its sole and absolute discretion, to the extent permitted by applicable law, and for any reason, including but not limited to reflect its business requirements and equitable compensation. <Employer> may make such changes without prior communication to Plan participants, and without providing any compensation or replacement to any Plan participants."
So basically, our business unit was making losses last year and business strategies weren't successful. Management changed the structure of the bonus/commission model for Q3 and Q4 in October of 2022 i.e. after Q3. This meant that bonuses/commissions were no longer based on individual performance but dependent on the performance of the business unit. This effectively meant that they had to pay out much less on bonuses/commissions. Individual overachievement against target became irrelevant.
My question is whether there's any case to challenge my employer to pay out on my individual performance against target for Q3 and Q4? It seems unlikely but maybe there's someone with more expertise on this specific topic or can at least point me in the right direction.
In Hewlett Packard Pty Ltd v Subasic [2021] ACTCA 3, the ACT’s Supreme Court, Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeal by Hewlett Packard Australia (HP) to set aside judgment in favour of their former employee, Melinda Subasic.
Employer cannot make changes with retrospective effect to sales plan
The next question the court had to consider was whether it was permissible for HP to make changes to Ms Subasic’s sales plan that have retrospective effect.
The court concluded that:
Whilst there is clearly provision to make changes to a Sales Plan for the purpose of addressing unforeseen market conditions… the detailed documents contemplate that the changes are to be made during the measure period, that the changes are to be communicated to the employee during the measure period and that the changes are to operate prospectively for the remainder of the measure period.
I'd be interested in getting people's feedback on whether there's any grounds to challenge the fact that my employer didn't pay out the bonus/commission for Q3 and Q4 inline with what I signed and agreed to at the beginning of 2022. I didn't agree or sign any subsequent plans.