There’s the heatwave bonus, ethics bonus, loyalty bonus, attendance bonus, CRM logging bonus, etc. - are all these bonuses really necessary? While a heatwave bonus makes perfect sense during hot weather, what about the “femininity marathon” bonus designed to reward women for coming to work “wearing a skirt and makeup”? In this article we’ll take a quick look at the merits of some of these bonuses - some of which are more unusual than others!
1) FOOTBALL’S ETHICAL BONUS
At one time, an ethical bonus was paid to footballers at top French club Paris-Saint-Germain: according to media reports, Neymar was paid a bonus of “€375,000 per month to applaud and thank supporters.”
In response to the ensuing controversy, the Paris club specified that this ethical bonus was actually a part of the players’ normal salary: not a true bonus, but presented as a penalty imposed on players who failed to uphold certain behavioural requirements. As such, all PSG players are given an ethical bonus that’s built in to their monthly salary, which may vary (depending on the player’s worth) from €33,000 to over €375,000 for star players. The ethical bonus is therefore “proportional to talent” and “the amounts paid to each player are not the same.”
Nevertheless, the club also specified that it was not just a “fan applause” bonus. In order to receive the full amount of the bonus, players must adhere to twelve strict rules. These include behaviour towards team-mates and opponents, punctuality and presence at training sessions, as well as respecting media commitments.
Clubs won’t hesitate to withhold the ethical bonus and sanction player behaviour.
Our expert view:
The ethical bonus implemented by big football clubs more closely resembles a bonus-penalty system based on how well they uphold their responsibilities as players, rather than a performance bonus. Because French law does not allow employers to withhold salary, the clubs decided to implement this mechanism so that failure to adhere to rules would not affect the club’s image, but would impact the players.
To illustrate how the ethical bonus might work in a company, we might use the example of an employee who uses their phone disruptively during a meeting. This system would enable the employer to withhold a portion of their incentive compensation in order to penalise this behaviour on the part of the employee. This type of system would not be workable, and would in no way constitute a bonus.
That said, the fact that this "bonus” is allocated as a percentage of the player’s salary (with Neymar receiving much more than some of his team-mates) is a good tactic for raising awareness of the issue.
2) THE LOYALTY BONUS FOR RETAINING STAFFs
In order to combat staff shortages, Canadian restaurant chain Shaker Kitchen & Mixology implemented a system of “loyalty bonuses” for its employees. Every 12 months, a cook and a dishwasher would receive a cheque worth anywhere from 1000 - 2000 Canadian dollars. The company was attempting to address its labour shortfall, and hoping to stabilise its workforce using this loyalty bonus system.
This measure, which was offered at the chain’s 14 restaurants and to their 800 staff, would cost between $CAD 250,000 - 400,000 per year. Under the scheme, a chef or sous-chef would gain $CAD 2000 extra per year, in the form of one 1000-dollar cheque every six months to encourage them to stay at the company, rather than checking to see if the grass was greener elsewhere.
In addition, a system of fringe benefits was also implemented alongside the “loyalty bonus” scheme.
Employees could receive clothes, gift cards or electronic devices, and even win holidays, all with the aim of increasing staff loyalty and reducing turnover, which is a major issue in the restaurant and catering sector. According to the chain’s director Mr. Beaumont, “we took this decision in order to reward our current staff and offer competitive conditions for the recruitment of new kitchen staff, which is one of the most essential yet under-valued roles in the restaurant business.”
Our expert view:
There’s no doubt that giving staff loyalty bonuses and fringe benefits will encourage them to stay, and can also help attract new talent, but is this system really effective?
This loyalty bonus is based on a randomised allocation system, making this incentive plan an unfair one. In effect, the staff will each be rewarded in turn for their loyalty rather than their performance level. This solution may be effective in the short term, but should be supported by salary increases in the long term to reward staff for their loyalty and seniority.
3) THE “FEMININITY MARATHON” BONUS INTENDED TO BRING UNITY TO THE WORKPLACE
As part of its “femininity marathon” initiative, Russian firm Tatprof decided to offer bonuses to employees for “coming to work in a skirt and with make-up on.”
According to Anastassia Kirillova, spokesperson for the company specialising in the production of aluminium, the idea behind the marathon was to “brighten up the working day.” “Many women automatically wear trousers to work, which is why we hope that our campaign will raise our ladies' awareness, allowing them to feel their femininity and charm when they make the choice of wearing a skirt or dress”, she explained. This month-long marathon, designed to promote “femininity” among female employees with the goal of “uniting the teams”, sparked a range of reactions both in Russia and throughout Europe.
Under the scheme, from 27 May - 30 June 2019, every employee who came to work “in a skirt and wearing makeup” was eligible for a bonus of 100 roubles a day (around €1.40). The male employees, meanwhile, had the chance to participate in physical challenges, such as pull-up competitions. “Our team is 70% male; this is a great way to unite the team. What the company CEO really wants to maintain the female essence in every female employee of the company, so that young women do not have male haircuts, do not change into trousers, […] and they project all their warmth into raising children,” explained the company’s spokesperson, while reiterating that the company’s female employees would still have the right to wear trousers. This gendered approach to workplace attire imposed on female staff members was decried as sexist, notably on social media where it generated enormous negative buzz.
Our expert view:
By holding this “femininity marathon”, Tatprof was deciding to compensate its staff based on their attire and their gender rather than their job performance. This is structurally unfair, and bears no link whatsoever to the practice of professional activity within the company.
4) THE ATTENDANCE BONUS
As its name suggests, the attendance bonus is awarded by the company to an employee in recognition of their high attendance rate. The French Labour Code does not require employers to award any type of bonus for staff attendance. This bonus, which is designed to reward an employee’s effective presence at the company, can be required by other regulations, such as a unilateral commitment by the employer, the employment contract, or a collective bargaining/labour agreement.
When the employee is absent, the bonus may be reduced or withheld, on the condition that this retention is based on objective criteria and not due to discriminatory motivations. It does not compensate work carried out, and therefore is not included in basic pay.
We may cite the example of regional civil servants or certain rail workers at the SNCF, who receive an attendance bonus for being present at their workstation. In addition to their normal compensation, which is made up of a basic salary and an additional components, the agents can also hope to receive an attendance bonus.
Our expert view:
This bonus is ineffective, and shouldn’t be included in an incentive compensation plan for staff, as it falls within the standard job description: there’s nothing exceptional about coming to work and receiving a salary in exchange. This system is often used to circumvent the application of a penalty for staff members who are often absent.
5) CRM LOGGING BONUS
The CRM logging bonus is given to staff for correctly filling out the sales management (CRM) software. For a sales rep, this involves rewarding them for properly undertaking, and recording, the entirety of their current needs, the content of their market research meetings and their targets, project monitoring, etc.
This system is often implemented by companies in order to require staff to update and monitor this shared database.
Our expert view:
Correctly filling out the CRM should be naturally included in the employee’s job description, and should not be the subject of a specific bonus. Essentially, a sales rep should always be seeking to manage their leads and client portfolio as effectively as possible, and to enter key information regarding each of their calls or their sales meetings into the database. This bonus encourages the sales rep to spend a relatively long time entering information into the CRM, keeping them away from their primary goal: generating as much business as possible.
Furthermore, the task of entering data into the CRM should be viewed as only one of many steps to be taken following a call or a client meeting, and shouldn’t eat into the sales rep’s precious time, as rather than going after bonuses awarded for new sales, they’ll be tempted to concentrate on the bonus for keeping their CRM in order.
