Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

Re: bonuses instead of pay raise

There is no rule for non-union or non-contract employees that requires the employer to pay any bonus at all. A bonus (without a written contract that specifies what ought to be paid if certain benchmarks are met) is a gratuity, hence the word "bonus." Actually, if you are an at will employee, an employer can even approach you and say, "Listen, if you want to remain here, you have to take a pay cut for future work." That's legal. If they want to cut your bonus with they are not obligated to pay, that is legal too.

What is not legal, is if you can prove that they are treating employees who do the same job differently on account of sex, race, national origin, religious affiliation, or in some cases, sexual orientation. Still, to prevail in that type of action, one must prove the discriminatory intent of the employer, which is really tough to do these days. You may want to repost your query in the employment law section of lawguru or consult a local employment law attorney in your area.

If you have a large employer and there are several people affected, you may be able to convince an employment law firm to take this on contingency.

Re: bonuses instead of pay raise

Mr. Showrai is correct. Unless there is a union contract that calls for pay raises, or unless you have a separate employment contract with them, there is no legal obligation to give pay raises, so long as you are compensated at or above minimum wage.

Nothing in your email suggests that the employer is being illegally discriminatory in the way they are handing out the bonuses. (It is legal for them to discriminate on the basis of performance or attitude. They just cannot discriminate on the basis of your membership in a protected group.) However, if this is the case, this is the one angle that would need further study.

You don't mention what line of work you are in, but if there are competitors nearby and you have a way to find out about rates of pay, you might compare their pay rates with your pay rate including bonuses. It is possible that you will be pleasantly surprised.