can you get Bonus/pay rise while on sick Leave?

S

Sully11

Registered User
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17
Hi All,

I went off sick for about a year and a half due to stresss/anxiety in 2022 a month before end of year reviews. I missed 2 end of year reviews in that time.

We would normally get a bonus and for the last few years it was a similar amount each year. Do i have any entitlement to get a bonus for the 2 End of year reviews that I missed? should it even be pro rata for the 11 months of the year that I was in the offfice and i just missed the EOY review that year?

On a similar vein, other team members got pay rises of 5% for last 2 pay reviews. My pay has remained the same and another review is due soon. So what is the best way to approach my latest review? colleagues on same team now have gotten 10% pay rise in last 2 reviews to cover cost of inflation.

thanks all.
 
Your companies policies around sick pay, bonuses etc may define this. In addition, were the payrises performance rated or were they collectively applied to everyone across the board? Certainly I'd expect a pushback from a company if you asked for what was a performance related rise when you were not able to perform due to illness
 
SMH. A bonus is generally related to performance so while you may have some case for the year you nearly completed, it's clear your performance of the following year was non-existent. Similar for end of year pay reviews.
 
Sully11 said:
Hi All,

I went off sick for about a year and a half due to stresss/anxiety in 2022 a month before end of year reviews. I missed 2 end of year reviews in that time.

We would normally get a bonus and for the last few years it was a similar amount each year. Do i have any entitlement to get a bonus for the 2 End of year reviews that I missed? should it even be pro rata for the 11 months of the year that I was in the offfice and i just missed the EOY review that year?

On a similar vein, other team members got pay rises of 5% for last 2 pay reviews. My pay has remained the same and another review is due soon. So what is the best way to approach my latest review? colleagues on same team now have gotten 10% pay rise in last 2 reviews to cover cost of inflation.

thanks all.
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It depends on the combination of your contract of employment and the custom and practice of the company for which you work.

If the contract is silent on the circumstances under which bonuses are paid, then custom and practice becomes even more relevant.

If there is no explicit description of how bonuses/pay rises are considered for persons on sick leave, and if it is the case that bonuses are normally paid at a set amount/percentage each year as a matter of course, then the company would have little justification for excluding you for either year but particularly for the first year when you were present for 11 of the 12 months.

I suspect it may be the case that because you weren’t there when the goodies were handed out, you were forgotten about.

You should give the company the opportunity to correct matters retrospectively but if they refuse, I believe you would have a reasonable basis for a discrimination claim to the WRC under the Employment Equality Acts.
 
Salvadore said:
I suspect it may be the case that because you weren’t there when the goodies were handed out, you were forgotten about.
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I doubt this but accept we will never know. Why would any company have a set bonus without any T&C attached, I mean the clue is in the name. As regards the reviews you need to make your case with emphasis on the inflation rather than your performance given that you were not there for such a long time.
 
elcato said:
Why would any company have a set bonus without any T&C attached, I mean the clue is in the name.
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You may be surprised at how often this happens.
elcato said:
As regards the reviews you need to make your case with emphasis on the inflation rather than your performance given that you were not there for such a long time.
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This is effectively an appeal to their better nature. Depending on the contract and/or custom and practice, the OP may well be protected by employment legislation which would put him/her on a much firmer footing when pursuing a solution.
 
Thanks all for the comments, I will see what they say but won't hold out much hope. I don't recall ever seeing a contract but can ask for that too. Doubt there is any mention of bonuses in the contract and probably would always be at managers discretion. I think maternity is covered by legislation but guess sick leave is a separate matter. Seems wrong to be not considered when on sick leave.
 
Sully11 said:
Thanks all for the comments, I will see what they say but won't hold out much hope. I don't recall ever seeing a contract but can ask for that too. Doubt there is any mention of bonuses in the contract and probably would always be at managers discretion. I think maternity is covered by legislation but guess sick leave is a separate matter. Seems wrong to be not considered when on sick leave.
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You’re in a much stronger position than you seem to realise.

Firstly, you’re entitled by law to a contract of employment. This contract should outline how various aspects of the employment relationship should operate e.g. hours and place of work, pay (which includes bonuses) sick pay, etc.

If the company hasn’t given you a contract, they are in breach of the law but perhaps more importantly they have no basis for withholding a bonus or a pay rise which would otherwise be payable.

Bonuses are a form of pay which is provided for legally by the Payment of Wages Act. You could make a reasonable case that your employer has withheld pay ( in the form of both the bonus and the pay rise) for the last two years without any justification.

It wouldn’t be sufficient for a company to say that bonuses and pay rises are at a manager’s discretion unless any such policy was clearly expressed in the contract of employment.

You should confidently approach your employer seeking a resolution and consider a claim to the WRC if you don’t get satisfaction.
 
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