Bonus not guaranteed?

[jdm95ls2000]

I need some advice about a situation that I'm in. I currently work for a podiatry group (6 total, including myself) as an associate for the past 3 years. This year I was told that due to low surgery center (we have our own) numbers we may not have enough money for everyone to receive full bonuses. We receive two bonuses a year, one in december and the second in June. My bonus check for this December (10k) was less than last year's bonus for december (14k). My contract stipulates that my salary is base + 22.5% collections (after 3x base). I was shocked to find out that all of the nursing staff and admins received bonuses this year (most are hourly employees). I feel cheated of my full bonus that perhaps went to ancillary staff/admins when I'm contractually owed 22.5% of my collections. Am I wrong? My company is taking out a loan to pay into the employee's profit sharing plan. Should they have taken out a loan to also pay for my 22.5% of collections? Thanks

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[PeaJay]

As far as I am concerned, if your contract states 22.5% collections then they owe the full amount. The only way they could get out is if there was some unjust clause in your contract. As an associate it is not your concern if they lose money fulfilling your contract. That is for the owners of the practice to sort out.

 

[heybrother]

Read your contract very carefully. The whole point of "base or % of collections" is that you aren't supposed to be exposed to the bullcrap vagaries of the finances of the practice. They already essentially got to keep 66% and 78% of your money (and yes they paid necessary things out of that). You bring in collections and you get paid a percentage of them. The partners and owners are the one's who are supposed to bring money to the table when times are bad because they are the ones who pull the profits off the table when times are good.

I've told this story before - a friend of mine was looking for a job and asked for 30%. They said - oh, well we'll pay you a base and then out of your collections number we'll subtract a whole bunch of different things, expenses and this and that, metrics and reflections of the health of the practice, blah blah and then ultimately we'll multiple whatever is leftover by 30%. Consider in this example that they could pay a base and then subtract your collections all the way down to nothing and then multiply it by 30%.

We need to stop using the word bonus to describe things that aren't a bonus.

I have a higher of base or collections structure without tiers. At the end of the year I received a cash bonus because my boss felt the practice had been doing well. This was not stipulated in any way in my contract and I did not expect it or know I would receive it. That's a bonus.

My base is very low and I rapidly switched to the collections portion of my contract. My boss pulled me aside and said to me - hey, you are already on collections. That's not a bonus, that's being paid what you are owed. I could understand it if he'd waited to a specific time interval to dole it out to ensure that my collections stayed consistent, but he did not.

If you have a contract that states - base or collections and at the end of the year we'll pay you an additional 0-5% based on the health of the practice or profit share beyond "safe harbor" into your 401k - that's a bonus.

I'll even concede that if you have higher paying tiers that increase as your collections go up - those could be called bonus tiers.

But I don't think you are getting a bonus based on how you describe it and the use of the word bonus in our minds could fool people into believing its ok for this money to be taken away from them. "We just didn't get our bonus." No, that was your contract obligated collections. You deserve that money. That said, you also don't deserve to take a paycut when you break 3x your base. You are being paid 33% on the beginning of your salary and 22% as your collections increase. That's already exploitation there. Hopefully that's buying you an overpriced partnership or something or you have awesome benefits and a 10% 401k match (...I doubt it...). Good luck.

 

[deleted480308]

You aren’t describing a bonus. $x plus y% of collections is not a bonus structure. It’s just a slightly more complicated pay structure, they owe you $x plus y%, full stop

 

[ExperiencedDPM]

Their financial problems aren’t your financial problems. They have all the risk and that’s why when things are good, they reap the benefits.

As stated, your “bonus” isn’t a bonus, it’s your pay structure. A bonus means the practice thrived and the partners were generous and distributed money from the profits.

This is NOT the case in this instance. It’s simply money they OWE you, per the terms of the contract. It is 100% ILLEGAL to not pay you the amount owed in full.

There are laws that protect you and these are wage claim laws. States don’t take it well when an employee isn’t paid as per contractural agreement. There are LARGE financial or penalties to an employer who holds wages.

Speak with one of the partners about this issue and recommend he speak with the accountant and/or attorney to prove it’s illegal.

If you get nowhere, you will need an attorney who is experienced in wage claim cases. If this happens, you WILL win and the law states the employer must pay back wages, a percentage penalty AND your attorney fees.

 

[dtrack22]

I currently work for a podiatry group

I found your problem

 

[JewOnThis]

Sucks to be in that situation, but the reality is that you still have a job as of now. Be very careful on how you approach things. If you go the attorney route, you will be let go for sure. Are you financially able to go for some time without a job? If so, find an attorney. If not, I would just suck it up and take the loss.

 

[JewOnThis]

Also, welcome to the real world of podiatry

 

[G0dFather]

You have 3 years of practice under your belt, if you kept your eyes open just 12 months of that time i would suggest to go out on your own ... preferably buying out someone that is reasonable if you have some business sense ... its the only way out of this and making up for lost time

 

[ExperiencedDPM]

Sucks to be in that situation, but the reality is that you still have a job as of now. Be very careful on how you approach things. If you go the attorney route, you will be let go for sure. Are you financially able to go for some time without a job? If so, find an attorney. If not, I would just suck it up and take the loss.

I don’t believe the OP should ignore theft. As per my prior post, the money owed is part of his salary structure and not truly a bonus. It is 100% illegal to with hold wages.

Also as per my prior post, I recommended meeting with the partners to discuss concerns. I would urge the partners to check the legality of withholding wages with their attorney and accountant.

They may be ignorant of the laws or think you are ignorant of the laws.

Retaliation by firing an employee for seeking legal counsel will open up a bigger bag of worms for them. I would not recommend letting them get away with it since that’s an act of intimidation.

I would call their bluff and let them know you are aware of wage claim laws. Then they may decide to suddenly “find” enough to pay you.

It’s theft.

 

[dtrack22]

Yeah I agree with experienced DPM. If what you’re calling your “bonus” is in fact the % of collections they contractually owed you, then you need to bring it up to them. If they don’t pay you what you feel is written in your contract, you need to get an attorney. If they fire you, you need to consult an attorney again, only this time about wrongful termination. Good luck.

 

[JewOnThis]

if It’s a small amount say less than 30-40k, it may not be worth it . An attorney will most likely say the same due to time and fees. It doesn’t hurt if it’s a free consultation though!

 

[ExperiencedDPM]

if It’s a small amount say less than 30-40k, it may not be worth it . An attorney will most likely say the same due to time and fees. It doesn’t hurt if it’s a free consultation though!

I disagree. Again, since this is based on a contractural agreement regarding remuneration and not a bonus issue, this is a slam dunk case.

There are very strict wage claim laws that are designed to protect the employee and this is a perfect example. In many states, winning a wage claim lawsuit results in the employer having to:

1) pay the past wages

2) pay for the employee’s attorney fees

3) pay a penalty in the range of an additional 25% penalty on top of the wage amount.

I am not an attorney, even though I play one on tv. The OP needs to address this with the employer as a first line. The employee needs to recommend the employer ask his or her attorney and accountant about the legality of withholding wages. And if all fails the employee needs to contact an attorney experienced with wage claims.