Are “Discretionary” Bonuses Really Discretionary?
Published by James Peters August 7th, 2008 in Wages : OtherOver the past couple of months I have been dealing with a case against a major national bank on behalf of one of its former employees. The case involves his “discretionary” annual bonus, which most employers would say is just that-discretionary. However, the term discretionary is misleading because except in some very limited circumstances a [...]
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Our Gobbledygood vs. Their Gobbledygook
Published by James Peters January 23rd, 2008 in Employment Contracts, Policy : OpinionWell, my post about the Los Angeles Times article on their new employee handbook seems to have set off (or at least contributed to) a firestorm throughout the web. Some of the reaction seems off-the-mark, though.
Comments: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
The overwhelming majority of mail I received is in agreement with my comments on the handbook, but I also received the most hate mail for any…
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“Mind-Numbing Lawyer Gobbledygook” Overrated?
Published by James Peters January 19th, 2008 in Discrimination, Employment Contracts, Harassment, Medical Leaves, Policy : OpinionAn article in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times discusses their own parent company, Tribune Co.’s new employee handbook that was introduced by their CEO, Sam Zell, via a recent e-mail to employees.
This caught my eye because it is not every day that a company publicly releases or discusses their employee handbook. In fact, many handbooks actually state that its pages are the employer’s property and must be returned…
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Mandatory Arbitration “Trick” Risky for All and Good for None
Published by James Peters January 14th, 2007 in Employment Contracts, Policy : OpinionJay Shepherd over at the Gruntled Employees blawg has an interesting post from the employer’s attorney perspective about why he believes mandatory arbitration clauses are a stupid employer trick” and actually “not good for employers”.
I never understood why many employers force their employees to sign mandatory arbitration clauses, so this is refreshing to hear from a management-side employment law attorney…
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Q&A: Annual Bonus Not Necessarily Lost When Terminated
Published by James Peters December 31st, 2006 in Employment Contracts, Q&A, Wages : Other, Wrongful TerminationMy employer terminated me today (December 31, 2006). I was supposed to receive a $10,000 performance bonus for 2006, but one of the terms of my bonus agreement says that I have to be employed on January 1, 2007 to get my bonus. The company is not doing very well and I think I was actually terminated so that they did not have to pay me…
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