Work related WWYD?

[isabel]

Some background: I started this job about 6 months ago. We get quarterly bonuses based on meeting our objectives and goals. Our GM determines the bonus amounts and conducts the reviews. There are three managers under him- me (I work breakfast shifts), A (he works the dinner shifts), and K (she helps cover the floor occasionally, but is primarily an event/office coordinator).

I received my bonus this quarter and it about half the possible max amount. This is, in large part, due to not meeting our financial goals (labor and turnover budgets, revenue goals, etc.). No big deal. Sometimes we don't meet these and that's not a problem. FWIW, this applies to both myself and A.

I have heard and confirmed that A has always made a higher bonus than the female managers, despite having the same bonus structure. I was scored very highly in all areas, but my bonus was not higher due to not meeting financial goals. I strongly suspect that A's bonus structure was tampered with to give him a higher bonus than I was.

K is on a completely different bonus structure due to her job role. One of the areas she is scored in is office management (i.e. taking care of payroll, dealing with HR issues, on-boarding new hires, etc.). She can earn a maximum of $100 for this area, but she was given $200 (by accident? I don't know.). I wouldn't really care, except that I literally take care of ALL of her office responsibilities. I have handled every new hire on-boarding, name tag requests, daily payroll checks, scheduling, etc. An employee came to her with a complicated payroll/HR issue. She did nothing about it for over a month. I finally stepped in last week and had the issue 100% resolved in 24 hours.

So, on the one hand, I know I'm not really supposed to know any of this information, so I feel awkward bringing it up. On the other hand, people always say that women don't advocate for themselves and just let themselves get screwed over. Would you bring this up? If so, how would you handle it? My GM takes things *very* personally and does not deal with confrontation well. I am concerned he will either blow me off or get very offended and take it out on me later. I could go to HR, but I feel weird doing that without at least talking to my boss first. Thanks for any insight you ladies can provide!

tl;dr: I am having an issue with the bonus structures at work and want to know if I should say something about it and to whom (my GM or HR).

[Deleted]

I don't think you should be covering for K, unless you are strategic about making sure your GM knows about it and is in on the plan.

You can't really complain about your coworker's bonuses, as you're not really supposed to know. All you can do is advocate for your bonus to appropriately reflect your work. So make sure GM knows what you are doing, and use that as the leverage you need.

[nerdicorn]

Even if it's a written policy, in many states it's illegal to try to enforce such policies due to fair labor laws.

To op, I'm not sure what I'd do but if you're concerned because of a "no discussing salaries and bonuses" policy, you can check to see what state laws say about it to cya.

Edited to add: ok, it is a federal law, the National Labor Relations Act and it makes pay secrecy clauses illegal. Employers take advantage of poor enforcement and people not knowing their rights. Even if you've signed a NDA, it is your protected right to discuss compensation in the workplace.

[isabel]

I honestly have no clue what the policy is on discussing salary/bonus. I should definitely look at our handbook and find out. I guess I am making an assumption that it is not allowed, or at least frowned upon, because these generally are pretty taboo in the American work place.

@missusbee, it's not that I am trying to cover for her. I really don't care one way or another how she performs in her job. But my employees suffer due to her neglect and that makes things challenging. It's hard not to step in because I feel a responsibility for these people.

googled, I really love the idea of bringing it up in a "for next quarter" kind of way. There's no reason I shouldn't know about the office management piece and he is well aware of the fact that I do a lot of this work. I'll consider things from that angle. Thanks!