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didn ’ t is even scarier . But that doesn ’ t mean you should keep quiet .
The National Labor Relations Act protects the right of employees to talk about their working conditions — which includes pay — with each other . However , that right is limited to nonmanagement employees . But the California Equal Pay Act expands that right to just about everyone . So , even as a manager , you should be able to discuss pay without fear of retaliation .
What you can do
Those are your rights , but here ’ s what you can do with this .
First , go to your direct manager and ask the question . You can choose to be vague and say , “ I didn ’ t receive a bonus this year . My understanding was that no one did , but then I ’ ve heard through the grapevine that some people did . Can you explain what happened ?”
Or you can be direct : “ Jane got a bonus . I didn ’ t . What ’ s up with that ?”
Keep in mind that your manager may not know . If the CEO just handpicked the favored five to receive bonuses or something , very few people may know what happened .
If your manager doesn ’ t know , you can escalate it . Make it clear that you ’ re looking for information on how Jane qualified for the bonus when you didn ’ t . You should not whine about how it ’ s unfair . It may be fair : Maybe Jane sold $ 10 million worth of product and singlehandedly saved the company .
And if escalating doesn ’ t yield answers , you can go directly to Jane . “ Jane , how did you qualify for that bonus ?”
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a bad thing — it ’ s none of your business . If they said that you were not entitled to a bonus this year , you ’ re not entitled . It doesn ’ t matter that someone else got one , unless the company gave bonuses unfairly . Unfairly only means legally unfair and not ethically unfair . It ’ s legal for the boss to give the bonus to Jane because she ’ s his little sister . Nepotism isn ’ t illegal — just super dumb . But if the company gave women the bonus and not men , or white people and not Black people , or you didn ’ t get one because you were out on Family and Medical Leave Act for six weeks , then that ’ s illegal . And in that case , the company owes you a bonus . |
truth because people won ’ t like it . That may be true , but telling the truth is always better than letting people find out through back channels . Bonuses are difficult to keep secret , so it ’ s best for employers to be upfront about who receives them . Talk to your boss and see if you can find out what ’ s going on . Once you know , you can plan accordingly .
Suzanne Lucas spent 10 years in corporate human resources , where she hired , fired and managed the numbers and double-checked with the lawyers . On Twitter @ RealEvilHRLady . Send questions to evilhrlady @ gmail . com .
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Legally , you can talk about pay
Of course , there ’ s no requirement that anyone has to tell you anything . Legally , you can talk about your pay , but no one is required to discuss their pay or anyone else ’ s pay with you . And plenty of people will not tell you a thing about bonuses that were paid to other people . This isn ’ t
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Talk to your boss
The most likely scenario is that bonuses weren ’ t completely cut off , just limited to a select group of individuals . That ’ s an obvious thing to do in a struggling industry . The communication should have been more transparent , of course , but sometimes people are scared to tell the
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Do you still get a bonus , or has your company stopped giving them ?
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September 2021 | comstocksmag . com 25 |