Work bonus-thoughts?

[laliwalden]

I hope this is okay and in the right place, but I need to hear other peoples thoughts!! If you need additional info, just ask and I will try and clear up any confusion!!

I am currently traveling for work. I drive to a city about 1 1/2 hours away from where I live on Monday and then go home on Friday. My company pays for my hotel, food, gas (I also have a rental car). I also get paid for my travel time.

Now, originally when I came here, it was for 4 weeks. It has been extended for 8 weeks. I spoke with my Regional Manager and she has requested I stay for 6 mths!!

(sidenote- we get a bonus once a year in Jan/Feb and I will still get this based on my "home" center numbers)

So, with me staying the 6 mths, at the end I would get a bonus. She is talking with HR and will get back to me by the end of the week. Now she said to me today "I kinda have her over a barrel" which leads me to believe, I have some wiggle room for the bonus. So, how much would you expect? What do you think is a fair amount?

 

[Grandmax3]

The only piece of advise I can give is do not request a certain amount for the bonus. Let them tell you what they are willing to give. My DH when he hired on asked if a bonus was okay and they said how much do you want? He said a thousand dollars and got it. Turns out the standard hiring bonus at the time was 10 thousand dollars. He never volunteered an amount again. It was A HARD LESSON TO LEARN.

 

[dallastxcpa]

Not to be mean.... but you should be grateful you have a job and are getting a bonus. There are alot of people who have no job or who have taken salary decreases.

 

[disykat]

Negotiating a reasonable bonus does not mean you are unsympathetic to those who are unemployed or underemployed! I'm unemployed right now, but that's not your problem!

I agree with not mentioning an amount, but I think it's fair to let them know that you hope to be compensated for the sacrifices you are making for the company. While it sounds like you are being well taken care of, very few people would be excited about living away from their family for eight weeks. Many would incur extra expenses on the home front (babysitting, pet sitting, household help, whatever they need to keep their household running) by doing so.

 

[laliwalden]

Not to be mean.... but you should be grateful you have a job and are getting a bonus. There are alot of people who have no job or who have taken salary decreases.

Wow, Really? Did I say anywhere that I was not grateful for my job? I am very grateful for my job. I LOVE my job and I worked very hard for many years to get a job like this.

The bonus was my regional managers suggestion. She has kids and understands what it is like to be away from them (she travels alot for her job).

I am not some CEO, getting a bonus while others are laid off, or refusing to give up my private jet while the govt bails my company out. I have a hard working regular employee that was asked to be away from my family for 6 mths. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask to be compensated for that.

 

[laliwalden]

I agree with not mentioning an amount, but I think it's fair to let them know that you hope to be compensated for the sacrifices you are making for the company.

She will be sending me a quote by the end of the week. I guess if it's not what I think is fair, we can negotiate then. I did not tell her a number, I wanted to see what they came up with first!!

I am hoping its enough I can pay off my Disney trip and maybe pay for my ILs way too!! They are soooo good to us and have really been helping us out while I travel. It would be the least I could do, seeing they both lost their jobs this year. How ironic?

 

[kydisneyfans]

With the worksite only an hour and a half away, I would go home every night. There are thousands of us on the Disboards with daily commutes longer than that. My wife is driving 87 miles each way to work for an assignment, and sleeps in her own bed at night. I just spent 9 days going 110 miles each way for an assignment, and never missed coaching my son's baseball team. We have normal lives, but are just on the road longer than many others.

I might expect a $25 restaurant gift card as a thank you, but in no way would expect a compensation bonus.

 

[RitaE]

I don't understand what everybody is grumping about? They have OFFERED a bonus. She didn't demand it, they have offered it as part of her compensation because they obviously feel she has done a duty to the business in excess of what her normal job description might describe so management thinks she should be paid more. Do people really think she morally obligated to turn it down in solidarity to all the unemployed people out there?

OP, I just can't even begin to come up with a number for you because bonuses come in all shapes and sizes. If you insisted that I make a ballpark guess I'd probably say start with your base salary and work a percentage off of that in the 5 to 10% range. For instance, my husband's employment contract states that if he meets certain goals over the year he will receive a bonus of 8% of his base salary..... but again, I think you'll see numbers all over the place in these kinds of situations.

 

[JamesMom]

I am curious, too, why you don't come home every night? My husband commutes about 1 hour each way and has had previous assignmens where he was 1.5 hours each way. We sucked it up. I think you are very lucky to be considered 'traveling' when so close to home.

Do you get a per diem on top of hotel? Maybe negociate a higher per diem rate and drive home. That should be a tidy bonus right there. My old job gave me a $50 domestic and $75 international per diem on top of hotel when I traveled. When I was working in Cyprus for 5 weeks, I saved up enough per diem money to pay for a weeks vacation in London & Paris before I flew back home (back in 2001).

 

[msmayor]

As others have said, drive home every night. Explain to your boss that by doing so, you're SAVING the company the money for a hotel and meals...all the more reason for a bonus.

 

[RadioFanatic]

Good grief, the op asks a question and all of a sudden she/he is getting bombarded with be grateful comments and how dare you work away from home. - STAY FOCUSED PEOPLE!!!! It sounds like OP works hard, hard enough that OP'S EMPLOYERS want to give a bonus - so OP deserves it, not that it's anyone else's business! And if OP decides that staying away is how the job works -that's their business.

Now back to the question. I agree with others not to have a set amount to give to them; however, I would outline my hardship because of the work, including your time, money, etc.

Good luck!

 

[mom2travel]

commuting 3 hours a day may work for some of you, but that doesn't mean that it would work for the OP. We don't know what hours she is expected to work. Also don't know how old her child is, so she could commute and still not see her child during the workweek. Since the arrangement her company set up was for her to stay at this particular location, there is probably a reason for it.

OP - imo you are doing the right thing waiting to see what they offer. Extending what was supposed to be a 4 week assignment to 6 months deserves some sort of bonus compensation. I can't even imagine how much juggling and asking for help that involves. I don't know if I could do it, with my DH's work schedule and our kids' schedules

 

[ICF]

commuting 3 hours a day may work for some of you, but that doesn't mean that it would work for the OP.

That's what I was going to post....for all you know she may work 10 - 11 hour days everyday. If she's working something like 7am - 6pm she may not want to leave home at 5:30 in the morning and get home at 7:30 at night.

Just because some of you do it, doesnt mean that everyone would want to.

If it were me, I'd say that driving 3 hours a day would become a PITA very quickly and is not something I would do for 6-8 weeks much less for 6 months.

If I had a family thing to be home for on occasion, I might do it and just stay at home but otherwise probably not...and especially not if the company were going to put me up each night.

As for a bonus...too much info is missing from your post to make an educated judgement. When they tell you the amount....if it makes you happy then go with it. If your 1st response is 'that's it' and you can justify why it should be higher then ask for more and tell them why.

 

[ljcraw555]

I don't usually post anything while reading unsolicited, opinionated and down-right mean posts, but enough is enough. Posters need to keep their harsh and unsolicited "advice" and opinions to themselves and stick to the actual topics that OPs ask about. If you have advice or an opinion about something pertinent to the original question, GREAT! If not, please just stop being mean, it benefits no one.

Okay, now to the OP's question....

I agree with other people, do not set an amount. Negotiate if what they bring to the table isn't good enough. Good luck and congratulations on the great job and hard work that you must be doing for your company since they are willing to reward you for it.

 

[crisi]

Its really hard to say...

My husband and I get different types of bonuses.

When either of us finish a project or do something out of the way, we are often rewarded with "little bonuses" - Gift cards that might be $5 or might be $100 - that sort of thing.

I got a bonus in cash for $1000 for doing something pretty incredible.

He was up for one was worth six figures divided by the team - the team is three people. Didn't win it. Its given to one team each year in a Fortune 100 company - so its a pretty rare bonus.

He got one that was an all expense paid trip for me and him.

I get some sort of high contributor bonus some years if the company does very well and I excel. That can be as much as 20% of my pay - but fewer than 10% of the rank and file employees will get it in any given year. I got it once in ten years. I don't think I'll ever see that sort of thing again.

He's on short and long term incentive programs tied to company performances. Those are 0-50% of his pay depending how he and the company does.

None of these are negotiable. We both work for large companies where compensation is rubric based.

 

[richmond282]

I, too, agree that you should have a "fair" number in mind, but not quote it until you hear what the company offers. I also think that a percentage of your salary would be a good place to start.

OP, I'm sorry for all the people on this board that can't just answer the question that's asked. I don't have a problem at all with you getting a bonus. I'ts not like if you turn it down, your company is going to give it to someone else who is now unemployed.

 

[NeedaVacation03]

OP I understand completely. My DH is currently in the same spot with his company. He is only out of town for half the week though. He works on commission but is on a different pay scale out of town. You should be paid a bonus if that is the direction the company wants to take. I would let them make an offer and see how close that is to what you had in mind.
My DH's drive is 2 hrs each way. We are very thankful that they let him stay over instead of drive home each night. He has a sleeping disorder that would be a disaster if he had to drive 2 hrs each morning and then 2 hours home each night. There are lots of reasons why companies let you stay over. If this arrangement is working for you and your family dont let the people on here make you feel bad for doing what works for you.

 

[mster425]

Does that mean your Jan/Feb bonus will be lower, since it's based on "home" numbers and you haven't been there?

If so, I would use your bonus from the last few years as a starting point.

For me, being away for 6 months I would want a 10% bonus- plus the bonus I usually receive in Jan/Feb

When I woke up from THAT daydream, I'd at least keep that # in mind during negotiations!

 

[mickeyfan1]

Not to be mean.... but you should be grateful you have a job and are getting a bonus. There are alot of people who have no job or who have taken salary decreases.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the OPs question. Shouyld she give up her job or refuse an offered bounus to make you feel better?

With the worksite only an hour and a half away, I would go home every night. There are thousands of us on the Disboards with daily commutes longer than that. My wife is driving 87 miles each way to work for an assignment, and sleeps in her own bed at night. I just spent 9 days going 110 miles each way for an assignment, and never missed coaching my son's baseball team. We have normal lives, but are just on the road longer than many others.

I might expect a $25 restaurant gift card as a thank you, but in no way would expect a compensation bonus.

She isn't expecting it, they offered. Just because you and your spouse are able to do the long distant commute and still meet all your at home commitments doesn't mean the OP can. There are probably not thousands on the DIS that drive 1.5 hours one way to work daily. There may be some, but not thousands. You have to do a lot of cost comparisons to have that work out. 180 miles a day is a lot of gasoline cost and vehicle maintenance cost. I would only do it if my net was double of my vehicle costs.

And if the company that OP works for already provides a car and hotel for her, I doubt very much that a $25 restaurant gift card is the type of bonus they are thinking about.

 

[declansdad]

As others have said, drive home every night. Explain to your boss that by doing so, you're SAVING the company the money for a hotel and meals...all the more reason for a bonus.

No you're not. If they are paying for 3 hours of travel time each day, you have lost work hours, a tired employee, and the chance of something happening on the commute. This sounds as if it is a temporary assignment that has been extended by the company. The OP is obviously saving the company money by being able to perform this job; the company doesn't need to go to a temp agency or through the time and money of recruiting a new employee.

OP, I think that you need to rely on your own judgment as to what is a fair bonus. You know the company and the bonus history; use that as the start of your negotiation.

To those of you who feel that she should simply be thankful for having a job; what does that even have to do with the issue. The company has offered this bonus and I doubt that any of you would turn it down either.