Discrimatory?

judy matt

Good morning! My question today reflects on recruiting individuals through advertisement in a local newspaper. If we offer a certain managment position a bonus, do we have to give that bonus to everyone that signs on, whether at that level or not? Situation: I hired a manager with a promise that the individual would receive a sign-on bonus, as was advertised in the paper. The problem now is the Administrator refuses to approve the promised bonus because he said we would have to give the same bonus to everyone we hire. I found out that the bonus was not advertised properly (I did not place the ad nor do I work for the complaining Administrator, but I am with the Corporate Office Human Resources Department). The ad mentioned a certain dollar amount but when someone inquired about it, it was half for bonus and the other half for tuition reimbursement. I was not told this when I called their HR person, only that a bonus was in fact offered. Now, I am looking foolish and got a rather nasty call from the Administrator about my offering the person a bonus. What to do?

Bizee1

Put it back in the lap of whomever placed the ad. You had nothing to do with placing the ad, you were just following through with what the ad said. Also, just because a sign-on was promised for this particular opening doesn't mean you have to offer a sign-on (or bonus) for any subsequent openings.

Don D

Communication is the key. If you have any role at all in carrying out the process which involves an ad, you must have a clear understanding of what the ad says and what it means. If you don't have it going in, seek it before proceeding. I know from experience that there is almost nothing worse than trying to handle the recruitment process after someone else has written the ad.

No, it is not discriminatory to offer a bonus in one situation and not another. In fact, if you choose to, you can offer bonuses for people hired on Tuesday but not on Wednesday. As long as your bonus program does not result in disparate impact upon a protected group, such as all those receiving the bonus last year were black females and those excluded were white males.