Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey
As part of my employment contract my position is subject to a quarterly MBO bonus (10% of my salary, spread equally across 4 quarters). Since I started on in the middle of the first quarter I was ineligible. For the second quarter, I was never assigned MBO goals. I had multiple conversations with my HR manager and was told that it is the Presidents responsibility to initiate and assign the goals, and that she had spoken to him and he told her that he was not assigning goals to me. She informed me that he never assigned goals to my predecessor and always awarded the full MBO amount to her, and as I was new and he declined to assign goals, it would be the same.
I was just informed yesterday by my HR manager, that the President informed her to only pay out 1/3 of the eligible bonus to me and provided no reasons. I have had no negative performance reviews or any such information brought to my attention which would impact my eligibility for the bonus.
However, as I was not assigned MBO goals, am I still legally entitled to receive the bonus? If so, must reasons be provided as to why I am not receiving the full bonus, and if so, what may those reasons include and how must they be supported? Do I have any legal standing to file a claim to receive the full bonus amount if insufficient evidence is provided for withholding any amount?
Additionally, I was again not provided MBO goals for the third quarter and I would like to avoid this from happening again, as I feel this is a decent portion of my salary.
1 Answer from Attorneys
In absence of an enforceable promise/contract to the contrary, an employer is generally free to change compensation at any time, with or without reason, whether or not the employee received negative performance reports. So, the first step is to determine whether there is an enforceable promise/contract. If there is one, the "reason" for not giving it you is immaterial unless the "reason" rises to the level of a legal defense---for example, a failed condition. If you are entitled to the compensation, you have standing to file a lawsuit as well as a complaint with the Department of Labor-Division of Wage & Hour. Please contact me ASAP so that we may explore your options and protect your legal rights. 973-921-0600.
Kindly note and remember that my response is merely a general comment on the law related to your question, and NOT legal advice or opinion. Also, your question and my response does NOT create an attorney-client relationship between us. You cannot rely upon what I have written, because I do not have all of the information that I need to advise you or render an opinion. Even simple facts you have not shared can completely change my answer. For me to give you legal advice or opinion, you would need to hire me to be your lawyer, and then we would need to discuss this in detail and go over the documents.
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