Work Bonus

[Hooked]

I get an extra month pay per year as a Christmas bonus.

[Super Friendly Kitty Cat]

This may be a hard question to answer, so ball parks will suffice.

I've been at my job now for going on 3 years, I work as a CAD drafter for an oil and gas company in Alberta. Over the course of my job I've started to take on new responsibilities and gotten lots of "Great work!" emails for the work I do.

One of the benefits that was mentioned when I first started was the opportunity to receive bonuses. Now after my first year I didn't get a bonus, which I wasn't expecting anyways.

Since then I still have yet to receive a bonus. Now I'm only going off feedback from my boss/project manager and the extra responsibilities I've been handed, but I think I'm doing a good job. I've also kept in mind that the recent prices of oil doesn't help my cause, and we've been lucky enough not to have to lay many people off. Work hours have however been reduced a bit for the past few months.

So what I'm wondering is - as this is my first "real" job/career and I've never received a bonus before - what is a reasonable bonus to expect? Does it go based off your yearly income, or is it purely performance based? I make just shy of $35,000 a year.

Every company is different. Some are a flat bonus, meaning if you reach a certain threshold you receive a fixed amount of money, while others have a % base off of revenue over a certain threshold.

Generally, companies that offer bonuses as part of their compensation to their employees will tell you exactly what needs to happen.

Is this a large corporate company, or a small business? With a large corporation you are more likely to have official documentation of bonus rules, where as a small company it could just be at the discretion of the owner, and then you are more than likely not going to get a bonus.

[Milchshake]

Remember, you have to play the money dance. If you really want a 10% raise, you need start by asking for 20%.

I worked previously for Worley-Parsons, started as a drafter and worked my way up to design lead & drafting services manager. Every year I got a budget to spend on raises for my team. IF I came under budget I would get an extra bonus myself. But I had to weigh that versus the agony of potentially losing a quality drafter, and losing time and money on training someone new. Do I want an extra ski vacation at Whistler or keep a dependable worker happy?

Also, I found that drafters were consistently shy about asking for raises/bonuses. Something about the work that seems to attract the quiet types. Yet they're often the backbone for any engineering services group and tend to underestimate their value.

One year a junior drafter came in for his review. Over thousands of pages, he never made any silly mistakes or typos. His pages were a joy to red-line. He was totally ok with the typical 5% increase. Liked his job and didnt want to rock the boat.
I was like, "Ask me for a 19% raise."
Him, "Whu... why 19%?"
Me, "It's enough to get the attention of HR and the boss without making you unaffordable. We'll probably counter at 10-12%."
They countered at 14%, he was super happy and went on to do even better work.

Though its tough being in petroleum these days. My friends and former colleagues in there, are either tightening up their belts or getting parachutes. IE fewer ski vacations at Whistler for the time being.

[Alvito]

It depends on the company, your role in it and the industry you are in. In my experience they have always been performance based, but there were also metrics in place to measure these things and I knew ahead of time what my slice of the bonus pie was. If I were you I would find somebody in the company you could use as a sounding board for things like this. Be it a boss or a more experienced coworker. I have always know what to expect from my bosses because I either spoke to them before hand or other people that were in the loop more then I was. It might not happen overnight but it is an invaluable tool to have a mentor of some sort that will help guide you along with situations you haven't dealt with before, like this. If your company is on the brink of laying people off and you are new, be happy to hold on to your job and don't put a lot of hope in on bonuses.

[Deleted]

I get an extra month pay per year as a Christmas bonus.

Depending on where you live, this can be a standard thing.
I pay my employees both a "13th month" of Salary in December as "Vacation money" (8% of a years salary).

At the OP: If you want a bonus, I would ask for one! People/companies generally aren't just going to give them if you don't Good luck!

[Hooked]

Depending on where you live, this can be a standard thing.
I pay my employees both a "13th month" of Salary in December as "Vacation money" (8% of a years salary).

At the OP: If you want a bonus, I would ask for one! People/companies generally aren't just going to give them if you don't Good luck!

I also get 14 pto days, paid holidays, profit sharing, full medical and dental, a company work van w/gas card, overtime after 8hrs or 5 pm, and double time on weekends or holidays. I work for a non union company. It really depends on what you do and where you do it I guess. People that are responsible for working on expensive projects should get paid better than someone with zero responsibility.

[Deleted]

I also get 14 pto days, paid holidays, profit sharing, full medical and dental, a company work van w/gas card, overtime after 8hrs or 5 pm, and double time on weekends or holidays. I work for a non union company.

Here in the Netherlands/Holland, it sometimes seems that unions get all the shitty deals while workers for non-union companies in general get the better ones.
(Union leaders seem to mostly be interested to progress their career and abuse the workers for it)

[Hooked]

Here in the Netherlands/Holland, it sometimes seems that unions get all the shitty deals while workers for non-union companies in general get the better ones.
(Union leaders seem to mostly be interested to progress their career and abuse the workers for it)

Not here, If I do a job in sf for instance I get paid 75 bucks per hour, because the city uses prevailing wage when handing out contracts. The company I work for is a non union sub contractor, so they must pay union wages, which for me is $75 per hour, a janitor even gets paid $50 per hour though on prevailing wage jobsites for city run construction contracts.

[Deleted]

Depends on the company and industry, I work in the financials industry and got a 11.5% bonus last year.
In my years in telecom i never got more then 3.5%.

[Deleted]

So what I'm wondering is - as this is my first "real" job/career and I've never received a bonus before - what is a reasonable bonus to expect?

It'll depend on a number of things, the industry you work as well as what you do there.

When I worked in retail it was virtually non existent, when I worked in travel I think a good bonus was around 6 - 10%, at the moment I work in finance and it seems to be around 20 - 25%+

Does it go based off your yearly income, or is it purely performance based?

Again it'll depend on the place, where I am right now it's based on company as well as personal performance.

So to give you a long winded example:

Two years ago the company did well, so did I and I got around 24%

Last year the company didn't do as well but I had a great year so my performance offset what otherwise would have seen a drop in the bonus and it came in at roughly the same.

Most places will have different schemes / rates for different departments that sit along with the companies performance just so it's at least linked a bit to your performance or something you have an impact on.

Hope this helps, and fingers crossed it works out well for you.

[zenkai]

This may be a hard question to answer, so ball parks will suffice.

I've been at my job now for going on 3 years, I work as a CAD drafter for an oil and gas company in Alberta. Over the course of my job I've started to take on new responsibilities and gotten lots of "Great work!" emails for the work I do.

One of the benefits that was mentioned when I first started was the opportunity to receive bonuses. Now after my first year I didn't get a bonus, which I wasn't expecting anyways.

Since then I still have yet to receive a bonus. Now I'm only going off feedback from my boss/project manager and the extra responsibilities I've been handed, but I think I'm doing a good job. I've also kept in mind that the recent prices of oil doesn't help my cause, and we've been lucky enough not to have to lay many people off. Work hours have however been reduced a bit for the past few months.

So what I'm wondering is - as this is my first "real" job/career and I've never received a bonus before - what is a reasonable bonus to expect? Does it go based off your yearly income, or is it purely performance based? I make just shy of $35,000 a year.

Why not just ask your boss?

Bonuses are usually based on profit too.

[Ghostpanther]

I'm not expecting one right now, but once the prices do stabilize and work picks up I wont be afraid to ask about it and a raise (going on 2 years without a raise).

I'm going to be patient with all this, as my boss is 1 of a kind and I will never find a company who is as flexible as these guys.

Certain people in my company have taken pay cuts, but only those over a specific salary. We are also a small company, probably ~80 in total.

There is a lot more important aspects to a job than just pay and bonus. I took a 15% cut in pay once for a job which offered more vacation days, better sick leave and retirement. One of the best decisions I have made in my life. A pay bonus is nice, but where I worked not everyone got a bonus each year. In fact, only about 5% of the work force did. Everyone did get a cost of living increase however each year.

[ItachiZaku]

We don't really get yearly bonuses where I work (in IT), but we get monthly based on team metrics.

[zenkai]

There is a lot more important aspects to a job than just pay and bonus. I took a 15% cut in pay once for a job which offered more vacation days, better sick leave and retirement. One of the best decisions I have made in my life. A pay bonus is nice, but where I worked not everyone got a bonus each year. In fact, only about 5% of the work force did. Everyone did get a cost of living increase however each year.

Yeah, that's a very good point. I had job that had flex time, I really missed that because on Fridays we could leave at 11am if we had our hours in, and days I didn't feel the best I would come in later or leave early. I only left it because it was a very nice bump in pay and although I liked that job too I am not sure it was worth it.

[chazus]

3-5% is normal in an equilibrium market. However, it's not.

A lot of people are saying jump ship but... consider, do you have a ship to jump to? You can't just go "Give me a raise or I walk" and then twiddle your thumbs at home looking for a new job. If you want to consider that, make sure you have something to go to.

If your manager/supervisor is amicable, point out that you were hired on the basis of offering bonuses/raises when you had other options/offers (did you?). While I wouldn't say anything about 1 year, 3 years is definitely raise territory. If times are tough, that's fine (If you don't have another option). If times are tough and another place would pay better, or the market in general would pay better, mention that as a counterpoint, NOT as leverage. You want to be paid what your worth, not an ultimatum.

Also, if they can't give you a raise, be open to some kind of IN WRITING performance review that gets down on paper that a raise/bonus is imminent at X time or profit. That's sort of the key there. People will say "Great Job" all day but that doesn't bring in money.

If they can't promise anything at all, look into benefits. More time off. Some kind of bonus addition. Training (that might lead to a raise) or paying for new certifications. Companies LOVE (Or -should-) people who want to improve themselves, especially in the spirit of boosting the company itself.

Happy workers are efficient and innovative workers. Remind them that.

[belfpala]

Bonuses should be considered just that. Bonuses. Don't rely on them. Ask what criteria are used. For example, my salaried employees get bonuses if they keep labor and product cost to a certain level.

[dethmourne]

Never stop looking for a new job - it's what I've learned recently.

[judgementofantonidas]

This may be a hard question to answer, so ball parks will suffice.

I've been at my job now for going on 3 years, I work as a CAD drafter for an oil and gas company in Alberta. Over the course of my job I've started to take on new responsibilities and gotten lots of "Great work!" emails for the work I do.

One of the benefits that was mentioned when I first started was the opportunity to receive bonuses. Now after my first year I didn't get a bonus, which I wasn't expecting anyways.

Since then I still have yet to receive a bonus. Now I'm only going off feedback from my boss/project manager and the extra responsibilities I've been handed, but I think I'm doing a good job. I've also kept in mind that the recent prices of oil doesn't help my cause, and we've been lucky enough not to have to lay many people off. Work hours have however been reduced a bit for the past few months.

So what I'm wondering is - as this is my first "real" job/career and I've never received a bonus before - what is a reasonable bonus to expect? Does it go based off your yearly income, or is it purely performance based? I make just shy of $35,000 a year.

the reality of the situation is that employers like to wave bonuses that never materialize around at people as part of their pay calculations to inflate the amount the person thinks they may make in order to gain them as an employee.

[Tyrianth]

This may be a hard question to answer, so ball parks will suffice.

I've been at my job now for going on 3 years, I work as a CAD drafter for an oil and gas company in Alberta. Over the course of my job I've started to take on new responsibilities and gotten lots of "Great work!" emails for the work I do.

One of the benefits that was mentioned when I first started was the opportunity to receive bonuses. Now after my first year I didn't get a bonus, which I wasn't expecting anyways.

Since then I still have yet to receive a bonus. Now I'm only going off feedback from my boss/project manager and the extra responsibilities I've been handed, but I think I'm doing a good job. I've also kept in mind that the recent prices of oil doesn't help my cause, and we've been lucky enough not to have to lay many people off. Work hours have however been reduced a bit for the past few months.

So what I'm wondering is - as this is my first "real" job/career and I've never received a bonus before - what is a reasonable bonus to expect? Does it go based off your yearly income, or is it purely performance based? I make just shy of $35,000 a year.

You only make 35k as a CAD drafter? Have you received a raise in the 3 years you've been there? If you haven't received a raise or a bonus then I wouldn't even bother talking to your boss. Update your resume and start looking for a new job, especially if it's your first job.

First job posting I found for a junior AutoCAD drafter starts at 45k.

https://suezna-openhire.silkroad.com...obBoardId=1112

Staying at your first job for too long does more harm than good. Employers like experience, but not experience all from one job.

[Rasulis]

Not here, If I do a job in sf for instance I get paid 75 bucks per hour, because the city uses prevailing wage when handing out contracts. The company I work for is a non union sub contractor, so they must pay union wages, which for me is $75 per hour, a janitor even gets paid $50 per hour though on prevailing wage jobsites for city run construction contracts.

Out of curiosity, if the company pay you $75, how much do they charge the client which is ultimately the City of SF. A mom & pop operation can maintain a 70% to 100% overhead, but your company does not sound like one. With all the benefits plus profit sharing, I would say your company has at least 150% overhead, if not higher. Agencies generally allow 7.75 to 10% profit margin, so you are looking at a minimum $200 to $ 210 per hour.

It sounds like your company pays you the health/welfare/pension/vacation/training portion of the prevailing wage as cash. Not unusual. We used to do that. However, since you are already receiving those benefits as part of your regular employment package, they are actually paying you the benefits portion twice. With a few exception (such as divers which receive $91.17 per hour base pay), all the other crafts base pay range between low 30s and high 40s.

At $75 per hour, I would guess you are an elevator mechanic. At $61.86 per hour, plus the difference between the Prevailing Wage health and benefit vs. what your company actually fund, you could get $75 per hour.