Would you work for free?

[turnipmonster]

I've never had a job where a bonus is anything more than pure gravy, but I understand yearly bonuses are very significant in certain fields. it seems to me like this structure is great for the company, as they can give a large bonus if they have a good year and a small bonus if they have a bad year. is that pretty much correct?

someone once offered me a job at a lower salary than I asked for, and told me they would pay me a big bonus at the end of the year that would make up for it. needless to say I turned them down, it seemed very shady.

--turnipmonster

[elwoodblues]

Bonuses are good for the company for a few reasons:

1) they aren't guaranteed
2) they aren't part of your "salary" which is the base upon which you receive your annual % increase due to performance (so you would get a 5% increase on 50K instead of 60k, for example)
3) there is an incentive to stay in the job until you get your bonus (for example, you are thinking about leaving the job but the bonus doesn't pay for another 4 months)
4) there is an emotional aspect that the employee feels that the company just gave them a "gift"
5) employees feel more a part of the organization when they are incented when the company does well

[IndieMatty]

Someone posted that Salaried professionals are different, and I agree 100%. But check this out.

I worked for a dotcom/Internet Services company in 2000 just as the bubble burst. I quit and went to my current organization, but right after I left this company told all of there employees (who were consultants--the moneymakers) that they would "skip" one paycheck in March. Meaning that, they just didn't pay them. They didn't ask, they just did. If you bitched, they said fine and promptly let you go.

Crazy. They are still in business too.

[ThaSaltCracka]

are your wages even guaranteed at any job?

[SomethingClever]

My take on the whole thing is this:

If I were salaried (as I am), I'd be willing to work until the job is done. Sometimes this means staying late, coming in weekends, etc, but sometimes it also means leaving early.

As it is, I leave early more often than I stay late, because I work quickly.

If I were hourly, there's no way I'd come in on the weekend or stay late.

[IndieMatty]

I don't think they are guaranteed. But I have never heard of a company skipping a paycheck. What they did was GROSSLY overpay these Ivy League cats like 55K starting to LEARN how to do Web design/Coding, and then ship them off to schools. They hired like Religion majors..just because they were super smart. They also took away a 20K bonus they promised them all if they stayed for 2 years.

These Airline workers are in a Union so obviously that can't happen.

[ThaSaltCracka]

what a bunch of clowns running that company.

[IndieMatty]

Agreed. Best part is the owner was sort of a prick (sometimes brilliant and cool) but he could have sold the Company for 60 Million at the height, and he didn't.... I won't say anything else, they actively scan the internet for libel suits.

[ThaSaltCracka]

what a idiot.

ah well.

[Shajen]

You avatar...that the asshat manager from Office Space?

If so, well done sir.