Bonus Disputes
Bonus disputes can be deeply stressful, especially when a significant part of your income is withheld, reduced, or altered without a clear explanation. Uncertainty over what you are owed can affect both your financial stability and your confidence at work.
Bonus claims arise when employees believe they have not been paid the full amount due under their bonus scheme or incentive plan. Many claims concern contractual bonuses, which are payable if certain conditions are met, and discretionary bonuses, for which employers still remain under a duty to act fairly and reasonably.
Problems frequently arise when bonus criteria are vague, performance assessments appear unfair, scheme rules change unexpectedly, or targets are applied inconsistently.
Employees are also often denied bonuses after they resign, leave or are fired, even though they have worked hard to earn such bonuses in the usual way.
Bonuses are an essential and meaty component of compensation for many senior-level employees and other commission-based employees. The consequences can be significant when such payments are unexpectedly reduced, delayed or denied. Getting proper advice from a specialist early on will help you understand your rights and any potential claims you may have.
What Is a Bonus Dispute?
Disagreement over bonuses typically occurs when an employee feels their bonus has been wrongly withheld, reduced, or miscalculated. Some bonuses are contractual or guaranteed and must be paid if KPIs are hit. Others are discretionary, but employers must exercise that discretion fairly and consistently and may not do so for discriminatory or bad-faith reasons.
Typical issues include ambiguous performance parameters, unfair or inconsistent appraisals, sudden changes to scheme rules, and bonuses withheld on departure or not paid at all. These disputes frequently arise when employees leave a business through resignation, redundancy, or dismissal. Often, such bonuses constitute a significant proportion of annual earnings.
Payment of bonuses is also often an important factor in the negotiation of any settlement agreement. It is vital to know exactly what your contract and bonus scheme rules state and mean legally.
These disputes often centre around the following issues:
Contractual bonus terms
Discretionary bonus terms
Target or KPI disputes
Changing scheme rules
Bonus withheld on notice, dismissal and exit
Unfair or inconsistent decision-making
How Can David Help as Your Bonus Dispute Lawyer?
David has extensive experience in assisting senior executives and employees with disputes over bonuses, commissions, and other incentive payments.
David has extensive experience in assisting senior executives and employees with disputes over bonuses, commissions, and other incentive payments. He also examines employment contracts, bonus schemes and remuneration plans to find out precisely what you’re entitled to and whether your employer has fairly applied the rules of the scheme. In discretionary bonus cases, he considers whether the employer’s decision-making was reasonable.
He helps employees who have not received bonuses following performance reviews, after being dismissed or resigning, or during the redundancy process, and he highlights concerns where targets or KPIs may not have been applied fairly. David can also offer an opinion on your position regarding a withheld bonus as a breach of contract or an unlawful deduction of wages, to clarify your legal position.
Where appropriate, he seeks to secure you a bonus as part of settlement negotiations or an exit package to protect your financial rights.
Employees frequently encounter several recurring bonus issues, such as:
Withheld payments
Unfair assessments
Scheme rule changes
If your bonus is cut, withheld, or you do not receive payment at the level you were expecting, you should not accept the decision of your employer without first understanding your rights. Getting early advice can make a meaningful difference. For professional and straightforward guidance, speak with David today.
Why Choose David as Your Bonus Disputes Lawyer
With over 35 years’ experience in resolving high-value bonus and pay disputes, David is a trusted adviser to employees and senior executives in bonus-driven roles. He understands the complexity of incentive schemes across all sectors, including sales.
David is skilled at challenging unfair or inconsistent decision-making and negotiating enhanced bonus outcomes or exit packages that accurately reflect your performance and entitlements. Clients value his clarity, strategic insight, and ability to make complex scheme rules easy to understand.