Boss witholding bonuses

Are bonuses mentioned in a letter / contract anything like that?

Does your girlfriend usually get a bonus? Do staff usually get bonuses? It also depends on the structure of the bonuses, if they're in the contracts then it'll be a lot easier to fight it.

As far as I'm aware they're totally discretionary. In this case sounds like he's just being a dick and playing a petty mind game to get her to stay?

i think that the main issue here is that he intended giving bonuses - so your friend and her workmate can both probably justify that he has caused them both emotional trauma and/or in the case of your girlfriends workmate he has sexually discriminated against her.

before anything it would be worthwhile trying to determine if any other workers were paid bonuses or are due to receive bonuses.

for both i would suggest starting with each person issueing a data protection act / freedom of information request by recorded delivery to the company human resources dept (with a £10 postal order each) requesting all data held on each of them.

they could also issue a "Sex Discrimination Questionnaire" (SD74) available from http://www.equalities.gov.uk/ the questionnaire is at the bottom of the right column. Employers crap themselves when they have to fill these in because they have to prove that they have not discriminated and there is no upper limit to what they can be sued.

my opinion is don't let this bastard get away with it, you're welcome to pm me or phone edinburgh solfed, maybe i can help further that way

all the best

yes important point. but this employer seems clearly vindictive whether she resists or not, so ed's girlfriend is likely to get a questionable reference just for leaving. the dpa/foi request is probably useful *before* and *after* raising her concerns. she is completely entitled to demand an explanation for his conduct, if he misrepresents her in an appllication for work she makes at a later date, she can make his life far more difficult than he can to her. her pregnant workmate sounds like she has a very strong case against the boss

ok, obviously Weeler's point is important, but particularly if your gf thinks she can win then I it should be ok - because she can agree a form reference as part of the deal with the company. But she should think about what's on her discipline record, who she can put as the referee, how good her evidence is in this case etc. They couldn't give her a malicious one if she won the grievance, that would be actionable to employment tribunal.

Basically, if they want to challenge it, both can slap in a grievance. i.e. write an email/letter to the boss saying something like "I would like to raise a formal grievance on ground that I have suffered detriment (i.e. loss of bonus) on account of my pregnancy/ decision to hand in my notice. I believe this constitutes discrimination."

The former, as has been mentioned, is egregious sex discrimination, and (if she thinks it's worth while considering the available evidence) she can probably even enter an Employment Tribual claim (ET1 form) immediately, as discrimination cases can often go direct to ET, instead of having to go through grievance- though obviously she'll want to think about this in terms of day to day tension at work. The latter just sounds generally unfair, and the point of entering a grievance would be to see how if at all they could set out their justification for it when pressed, and see if they give you any basis to claim discrimination (doesn't have to be on ground of gender etc, could be purely personal). If they're amateurish, they may well do.

The main issue in this is evidence. Boss will probably deny it... can be worth putting these things on the record though, for the next time, though this is limited without a union or similar to store the info from our side. And remember that when entering a grievance you have a right to enter a request for relevant information, which the company should supply. e.g. "bonus policy" or "records showing how bonuses are awarded" or "number of pregant women given bonuses in last 12 months" etc. Though since 3rd April rules for ETs have changed so that there is no automatic award in workers' favour if company breaks own/ACAS policy on grievances (but discrimination may be covered seperately, haven't been able to look into this).

Don't suppose either are in a union, or if there is an active union at work? What type of work is it? They may be best off calling ACAS first to get some basic advice about where they stand...

[/non-pro-advice]

Yes the letter asking for clarification with the threat of a tribunal might certainly make some waves. An examination of the employment contract might also shed some light. Bonus schemes are often vague, they could be sales-related (which means if sales are poor there's no bonus) or to qualify for the bonus the worker in question must be in full employment (i.e working for the full 12 months) in the given financial year (your girlfirend has perhaps left shortly after the begining of the new financial year for example). The company should have something official about the bonus scheme they run for workers.

As for the pregnant lady, the above are less relevant as this is clear cut discrimination and the threat of tribunal should be enough, I would imagine, to rectify the issue.

Even if they aren't, custom and practice may apply if they've been paid out regularly before