Can an employer take part of an employee’s bonus?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can an employer take part of an employee’s bonus?
Inside Sales Rep paid Salary + commisions. Cash Incentives paid by third-party vendors. Incentives are paid through company pay roll Employer takes 20% off top.
Asked on October 19, 2010 under Employment Labor Law, Kentucky
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
The incentive is paid by the third-party vendors? Then it's not necessarily subject to the wages and hours laws, which would limit the ability of your employer to take any. Probably the answer will turn on how the incentive is paid and structured. For example, if a vendor pays, say $1,000 to the employer, the employer doesn't actually have any obligation to turn any of it over to the employees. They could therefore put in place a program whereby they keep 20% and turn the other 80% over to the staff. If checks were made out to employees, but then sent to the attention or care of the employer, they could NOT cash them on your behalf (whether or not they intended to turn 100% over), but with payments made to the company, the company would have significant discretion on whether, how, and how much to turn over to its staff.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.