Legal Question in Employment Law in Wisconsin

failing to pay all of bonus

I work in a union shop. The company has offered a bonus program for the employees, that is not in the contract. The bonus program has been in place since January 1, 2005. It has been paid out on a scale and has had a max payout of 10% of your quarterly earnings. The last quarter of 2005 it paid out 5.1%. This year 2006 they said that safety would also be considered into our payout, but they did not have any of the details figured out yet. When they did our inspection we scored a 3.5, which is higher than the 3.1 we scored the last quarter of 2005. We also had 3 injuries with a goal of 7. According to the charts they have posted it was all still the same payouts as the payouts in 2005. They also never got back to us about how the injuries would effect the payout. According to the chart they have posted our payout was to be slightly over 6%. The checks were sent from the corporate office on Monday 4/10/2006. Management told the union on Thursday 4/14/2006 that there was a 5% max payout. Also that since there were 3 accidents it dropped it down another 2% for a 3% payout. The posting stating that we were to receive over a 6% payout is still up today 4/18/2006, and no postings about a 5% max payout or loss of percentage


Asked on 4/18/06, 4:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sally Stix Law Offices of Sally A. Stix

Re: failing to pay all of bonus

The union should be doing something about this situation even if the bonus program is not in the contract. Since wages, hours and working conditions are mandatory subjects of bargaining, there is an argument that the bonus program is part of wages. The union should demand to bargain over the "changes" and consider filing an unfair labor practice if the company refuses to bargain. There is not much you can do on your own.

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Answered on 4/19/06, 11:07 am


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