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23 Recruitment referral scheme

22 Nov, 2017 09:15

We used to have a referral scheme that it was paying a bonus of 3K gross to employees after 4 months of the referral start date.

One employee refereed a candidate who started the 24th July. The employee handed in his notice and left the 17th November.

The bonus should have been paid in December so we din't pay him the bonus.

We received a letter from him yesterday date 15th November making a formal grievance and asking to be paid the bonus, also because this was verbally confirmed by one senior manager.

Can somebody advise please?

Thanks in advance!

Valentina

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Keith | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 09:23

On the face of it they don't qualify so the grievance is bound to fail (if the rules are as clear as you say)

Have you confirmed what conversation the Senior manager is reputed to have had and why? If they had the authority / status to agree an exception to the rules and committed to it then you may be better to pay....
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Laura Fazackarley | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 09:25

Hi Valentina,

Really quick question to clarify - you said 'used to' in your first sentence. Does this mean the referral scheme was changed and if so, when/to what?

Also, the employee you mention that left - is this the referrer or the candidate?

Providing this will no doubt help with the answers.

Many thanks,
Laura
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 09:35

In reply to Laura Fazackarley:
The scheme has been changed a couple of months ago saying that we will pay after 3 months of employement (but toi be honest this has not been really communicated, it's more for me to know when I need to process the payments). The employeee was the referrer.
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 12:54

In reply to Keith:
He mentioned we might have paid it. But then the recruitment manager confirmed we wouldn't paid as he was leaving. If he left in the same month he was due to this bonus, should we had paid or not?
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 13:37

A quick update: the Recruitment manager confirmed in an email that the bonus would have been paid after 3 months of employment, so due in November. He handed in his notice on the 16th November and left the 17th November. The candidate is referred started the 24th July. We have decided not to pay because he was leaving. Is this correct? Sorry for alll these questions, but we currently don't have a Head of HR so I need some support!
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Keith | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 13:40

In reply to Valentina:
O so it was the employee who referred the candidate who left not the candidate themselves?

Its down entirely to your rules around if people need to be employed when bonus is paid (for most employers they would need to be)
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 13:43

In reply to Keith:
Thanks for your reply Keith. Yes the employeed who referred the canddate left and we received yesterday a grievance claiming the bonus. It is not specified in Referral scheme if the employee needs to be still employed. We should have been paid in November and he left in November. What would you advise?
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 13:48

In reply to Valentina:
He resigned before the candidate completed the three months agreed.
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Ray | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 13:54
In reply to Valentina:

Hi Valentina,

I see three separate questions here.
1. Let's not forget that the complainant is now an ex-employee. Only employees are entitled to the grievance procedure. End of grievance.
2. Should you make a payment? Normally, rules of this type of scheme would be pretty black and white about who needs to still be employed after the initial period. If you have no clear written rules, you could IMHO legitimately argue that when the rules are unclear the plan's operation is at the discretion of the management, and the management has decided that no payment will be made since the person was no longer employed on the 4 month anniversary.
3. You decision on question 2 will probably be communicated by your ex-employee to ex-colleagues. Their reaction to this decision may (or may not) be a problem for the company, and you need to consider what reactions it will provoke.
Whatever you decide, try to tighten up the intention of how the plan is supposed to work, and draft some simple unambiguous wording for the future.
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Nina Waters | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 14:06

If the rules of the scheme are that you pay after three months of service, then it was due on 24 October, well before the employee resigned. The fact that you didn't process the payment within that time doesn't seem like a good reason to withhold it, if the employee understood it was going to be paid to them and relied on that commitment. Or am I missing something?
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 14:10

In reply to Ray:
Hi Ray

Please see my response to your questions below:

1. His letter is dated 15th November and his last day was the 17th. Is it still not a grievance, right?

2. Finally the recruitment manager has handed me some guide lines that says: "If a referral candidate is successfully offered the role, the Referral Bounty is £3,000 (gross). Referral Bounties will be confirmed when a Referral candidate is offered the role and paid after 3 months after the Referral’s start date. Should a referral resign or leave the business prior to this point the Referral Bounty will not be paid". He resigned the 16th October, the candidate started the 24th July. He resigned then before the three months.
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 14:11

In reply to Nina Waters:
Yes but he resigned the 16th, before the three months.
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Laura Fazackarley | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 14:15

In reply to Valentina:
Hold on Valentina;

The referral candidate didn't resign did they - they are still working for you?

It is the employee who referred them who has resigned.

They gave notice on the 16th October, and their resignation became effective 17th November? Some of your dates contradict each other...
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Valentina | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 14:17

In reply to Laura Fazackarley:
Yes he resigned the 16th and our guidelines say : If a referral candidate is successfully offered the role, the Referral Bounty is £3,000 (gross). Referral Bounties will be confirmed when a Referral candidate is offered the role and paid after 4 months after the Referral’s start date. Should a referral resign or leave the business prior to this point the Referral Bounty will not be paid.
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Laura Fazackarley | 0 Posts

22 Nov, 2017 14:27

In reply to Valentina:
The referral candidate has not left the business.

The referrer has left.

Therefore, the referrer is under the impression they are due the bounty (I don't blame them, that guideline is not worded well).

It is not explicitly specified that the referrer has to be in employment with the company to receive the bounty.

Working through a timeline:
- 24th July Referral candidate starts
- You are claiming the bounty would be due at 4 months, so (roughly) 24th November
- On the 16th October the Referrer handed in their notice.
- The referrer left the business with effect 17th November.

Because they are not in employment when the payment is due on the 24th November you are stating you will not pay.

Is this correct?

Now which is accurate - the 4 months or the 3 months because your guidelines replies say different?
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