Submitted by SudoPoke t3_zsl5wc in personalfinance
Joined company in May, my expected compensation package included 33% retention bonus paid out in Nov for all eligible employees that started on or before May that year.
In June the the retention bonus policy was updated to pay out half ,or 16%, twice a year in May and Nov. The cut off for the Nov payout schedule is now updated to 1 day before I started.
Because of the policy update I did not receive the 33% this year I expected and I also missed the cut off by 1 day I did not receive the retention bonus of 16% this year despite working 6 months. I was also not informed of this change since the email only went out to eligible employees which I was no longer one after the policy updated. On top of that the next retention bonus pay out in May 2023 will not be prorated to my start date despite my offer letter saying "Your first bonus may be prorated to your start date"
HR simply stated contract says bonus payout policy is subject to changed at anytime.
Is this wage theft? Washington State.
EDIT: A lot of people asked me what exactly my employment letter says so I'll just quote it here.
> You will also be eligible to receive an annual retention RSU grant. Retention grants will be awarded in November of each year to equity-eligible employees. To be eligible, you must be in an eligible role and in good standing and meeting performance expectations. Retention grants will be set to 33% of the grant a new hire into your role would receive at the time of the grant. The new hire target for your role is currently $xxx,xxx.xx. If this new hire target remains the same, your retention target would be $xx,xxx.xx. Your first retention grant may be prorated, based on your actual start date. On the one-year anniversary of the retention grant RSUs’ vesting commencement date, 25% of the RSUs will vest, subject to your continued employment through such anniversary. The remaining retention grant RSUs will vest in 12 equal amounts on a quarterly basis over the three years following such anniversary.