Bonuses: Do I Need To Be Actively Employed When Bonuses Are Paid Out?

Employment Lawyer Samantha Lucifora explains:
If your employer is attempting to rely on an active employment clause to suggest that you should not get your bonus during the notice period, it should be looked at by a lawyer.
Generally employees should be compensated for their bonus during the notice period, but it does depend on the wording of the contract and whether there actually is language in the contract.
The law generally requires the payout of all bonuses and incentive based payments. This could include cash bonuses, stock options or restricted share units or other types of shares. However, how the law treats those and how an employer is able to get around paying those during the notice period depends on the type of payment it is as well as what the plan says.
Generally speaking, employees who resign are probably not entitled to any bonus or incentive based payments. When an employee is terminated, they can be compensated for a bonus or an incentive based payment in two ways. One for time worked in what we call the step period as well as during the notice period. Similar to bonuses, commissions should also be compensated during the reasonable notice period.
For more information regarding employee rights, contact Monkhouse Law Employment Lawyers at 416-907-9249.