Bonus laws on 90 day probationary period in a job

A bonus can be discretionary or contractual. If you are saying your employer has a contractual obligation to pay you the bonus in question, an attorney must be able to read the contract in order to offer you an opinion. There is no law which requires an employer to pay a bonus, so when one is offered as part of an employee's compensation, the terms and conditions of the employment contract will determine the parties' right and obligations. If there is no mention of a specific term, a reasonable interpretation should apply. When terms tend to be ambiguous, courts may hold the ambiguity against the party that drafted the contract. Hopefully, you won't have to take it that far and can get this matter resolved without having to take the employer to court.

I agree with Mr. Kirschbaum, who has stated the legal considerations clearly and correctly. I write to add that from a practical position, you are in a difficult place. Assume there is a strong basis for your entitlement to the bonus. Are you in a position to file an administrative agency or court claim to recover it? Even if your employer violated the law, there may be many reasons not to do anything about it. Taking action could result in the loss of your job due to employer retaliation. While it is illegal to retaliate against an employee who makes a good faith complaint about unlawful pay practices, all the law does is provide a remedy after the fact; the law cannot prevent your employer from taking retaliatory action in the first place. You may find yourself out of a job in this terrible economy and unable to find a replacement. No law suit, no matter how successful, can ever give you back the lost time and lost peace of mind that are taken from you during any litigation. There is an alternative, though it involves waiting. California law requires an employer to pay an employee all accrued wages, vacation, PTO, and ascertainable commissions AT THE TIME the employer ends the employment relationship. Most bonuses are included in this requirement. If the employee quits without advance notice, the employer has 72 hours to make this payment. If the employer does not pay as required, there is a penalty against the employer and in favor of the employee: the employee’s pay continues as if the employee were still working, every day until the employer pays in full, up to a maximum of 30 days. The employee is entitled to interest at 10 per cent per annum on the unpaid amount. Also, if the employee must go to court to get his or her pay, then the employee is awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of suit. So it appears you pursue this later, when your employment with this employer ends. At that time, you can pursue a wage claim or lawsuit if you are not paid everything as required. Keep track of all the information related to this incident. Write down the details using names, dates, location, witnesses, times of day – as much as you can. Save copies of any documents. Keep all this at home, not at work, to make sure it remains private. IMPORTANT NOTE: The above applies to most bonuses, but not all. Your safest bet is to consult with one or more experienced employment law attorneys regarding the specific details to make sure the particular bonus would be considered wages subject to the waiting time penalties. To find a plaintiffs employment attorney in California, please go to the web site of the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA). CELA is the largest and most influential bar association in the state for attorneys who represent working people. The web site is www.cela.org. Click on "Find a CELA Member" and you can search by location and practice area. I hope you can resolve your situation and wish you the best.

Mr. Kirschbaum and Ms. Spencer have given great answers which should have answered your question. I just wanted to add that there is very little meaning to the concept of a "probationary period" EXCEPT when it comes to employee eligibility for employer benefit programs, if the employer has set up the commencement of its benefit programs with the end of the probationary period. It is not uncommon, for instance, for an employee medical insurance plan to commence after a probationary period. Making a discretionary bonus plan subject to the end of a probationary period is not uncommon either. Good luck to you.