Contract trap · Employment
Discretionary bonus forfeiture
The offer advertises a 'target bonus' or commission but the plan says bonuses are 'discretionary', 'not earned until paid', payable only if 'actively employed on the payment date', subject to chargebacks and changeable at will; the handbook lets the employer fine the worker (lateness, dress code, missed targets), deduct shortages, breakage, equipment or 'lost profits' from wages, and makes every employee fully liable for all damage regardless of role.
- Severity
- Serious
- How often it turns up
- Common
- Holds up?
- Often void
- Clause phrases
- 24
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
In English-language contracts
- bonus is discretionary
- not earned until paid
- must be actively employed on the payment date
- Company reserves the right to modify the commission plan at any time
- chargeback
- forfeited upon termination
- Employee authorizes deductions from wages for
- fines
- cash shortages
- breakage
- Employee shall be liable for all losses
- deducted from final pay
In Russian-language contracts
- премия не является гарантированной частью заработной платы
- выплачивается по усмотрению работодателя
- работник, уволившийся до даты выплаты, права на премию не имеет
- Работодатель вправе в одностороннем порядке изменять систему премирования
- депремирование
- лишение премии за нарушение
- штраф за опоздание
- система штрафов
- удерживается из заработной платы
- договор о полной материальной ответственности
- несет полную материальную ответственность за любой ущерб
- возмещает упущенную выгоду
Check your own contract
Paste a clause, a page or the whole document. Nothing leaves your browser: the matching runs here, on this page, against the phrases above.
Why it bites
Half of the promised compensation is legally optional — sales reps lose commissions on deals closed before resignation and annual bonuses vanish in Q4 layoffs; deductions can wipe out a paycheck; in RU «система штрафов» and 100% «депремирование» are flatly illegal but widespread in retail, delivery and call centres, and full-liability agreements signed outside the legal list are void but used to pressure workers into paying.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
The rules differ sharply: in Germany and France a post-term non-compete is only valid if the employer pays compensation, in England it must go no further than protecting a legitimate interest, and in the US enforceability is state by state.
United States
Truly discretionary bonuses enforceable as written; earned commissions are wages — California Labor Code 2751 requires a signed written plan and forfeiture of earned commissions is often void (CA, NY Labor Law 191-c); 'employed on payment date' conditions upheld if clear; FLSA 'free and clear' rule (29 CFR 531.35) bars deductions for the employer's benefit below minimum wage/overtime; NY Labor Law 193 bans deductions for fines, spoilage, breakage or shortages; California bars deductions for ordinary negligence.
- Cited
- 29 CFR 531.35
- FLSA
European Union
Germany limits Freiwilligkeitsvorbehalt and Stichtag clauses for pay already earned and permits liability only for gross negligence/intent on a graduated basis; France requires objectives to be set and communicated and prohibits fines and pecuniary sanctions (Code du travail L.1331-2).
- Cited
- Code du travail L.1331-2
United Kingdom
Discretion must be exercised rationally and in good faith (implied term); accrued commission normally payable; ERA 1996 s.13: deductions require prior written agreement or statutory basis, retail cash-shortage deductions capped at 10% of gross pay per payday (s.18); fines as disciplinary sanctions are unlawful deductions.
- Cited
- ERA 1996 s.13
Russia
Премия — часть зарплаты, если предусмотрена системой оплаты труда (ст. 129, 135 ТК); КС РФ № 32-П от 15.06.2023: лишение премии за проступок только за период действия взыскания и не более чем на 20% месячного заработка; ст. 192 ТК содержит закрытый перечень взысканий — штрафы незаконны; удержания только по ст. 137, не более 20% (ст. 138); работник возмещает только прямой действительный ущерб (ст. 238) в пределах среднего месячного заработка (ст. 241); полная материальная ответственность — только для должностей из Перечня (Постановление Минтруда № 85 от 31.12.2002).
- Cited
- ст. 129
- ст. 137
- ст. 138
- ст. 192 ТК
- ст. 238
- ст. 241
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- Постановление Конституционного Суда РФ от 15.06.2023 № 32-П
- California Labor Code §2751 (written commission agreements)
- New York Labor Law §193 and 29 CFR §531.35 (FLSA 'free and clear')
- ТК РФ ст. 192, 137-138, 238, 241
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Get the bonus formula and payment dates into the signed contract, define 'earned' at booking/collection with pro-rated payment on termination without cause, and require prospective written notice for plan changes
- Refuse to sign fine schedules — any deduction needs your separate, specific written consent
- Check the legal list for full-liability roles
- Keep payslips and demand itemised deductions
- RU: премия как часть системы оплаты труда в трудовом договоре, а не только в ЛНА
- Report to the labour inspectorate (RU ГИТ/онлайнинспекция.рф
- UK tribunal within 3 months
- US state DOL).
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.