The Bonus page of a compensation cycle setup allows admins to include bonus target adjustments, bonus plan payouts, and one-time bonus payouts in the cycle.
Before you start
Only employees who are listed as Eligible in the Employees page of the Compensation cycle setup can receive a Bonus target adjustment, a Bonus plan payout, or a One-time bonus. Hidden employees are not eligible for any bonus adjustments or payouts.
Turn off the Adjust Bonus Target option if employee bonus targets will not be updated in the cycle. Bonus targets are assigned to employees in the Employee Pay table.
The budget for Bonus plan payouts and One-time bonuses is managed separately from the budget for merit and promotion raises set on the Budget page.
For an employee to be eligible to receive a Bonus plan payout, they must first have a Bonus target assigned on the Employee Pay page.
Bonus target adjustment and payouts must be configured during cycle setup. Once configured, admins can modify the following during an active cycle:
Bonus target adjustments via CSV upload
Bonus plan payout guidance via CSV upload
One-time bonus budget and payout ranges
One-time bonus eligibility status via CSV upload
Bonus
There are three ways Bonus can be included in a compensation cycle. Depending on how the increase budget is allocated, bonus payouts and targets are configured in either the Target increases and bonuses or Increase guidance and bonuses page of the Budget setup:
Bonus plan payout: Pay out bonuses in the compensation cycle. Only employees with a bonus target assigned in the Employee Pay table are eligible for bonus plan payouts.
One-time bonus payout: Allow managers to award one-time discretionary bonuses in the compensation cycle.
Adjust bonus targets: Update bonus targets for employees on a bonus plan. These adjustments are forward-looking and will not impact the payout of any existing bonus plans.
Bonus plan payout, One-time bonus, and Bonus target adjustments can all be done directly via CSV upload by clicking Upload via CSV.
Bonus plan payout
Admins can choose to pay out an existing bonus plan as part of the compensation cycle. Eligibility for a bonus plan payout depends on whether an employee has an assigned bonus target. You can review existing bonus targets via the Employee Pay table under the column Bonus target.
Note: Bonus targets should be defined for employees before the compensation cycle begins. To define missing bonus targets, navigate to the Employee Pay table and update the Bonus target. Return to the compensation cycle and navigate to the Data Check page before returning to the Bonus page.
To configure bonus plan payouts:
Under the Bonus section, next to 'Set a bonus plan payout', click Add.
Select a Format option to payout Bonus plans as a:
% of bonus target: Eligible employees are paid out based on their assigned Bonus target.
% of base pay: Eligible employees are paid out based on their Base pay amount.
flat amount: Eligible employees are paid out on a flat amount per employee.
Next to Set by select how Bonuses should be paid out:
Single Value: Eligible employees are paid the same amount.
Input the Payout per employee (% of bonus target, % of base pay, flat amount), and the Target spend will automatically update.
Performance Rating: Eligible employees are paid out based on their performance rating.
For each available Performance rating, input the Payout value, and the Target spend will automatically update.
(Optional) Toggle on Provide guidance as a:
Single Value (managers will be guided to give a specific Bonus payout recommendation).
Range of values (managers will be guided to give a Bonus payout recommendation within the defined range).
(Optional) Check to include additional instructions that will be displayed to managers.
(Optional) Toggle on Apply proration:
Select the proration method:
Employee start date.
Last compensation change date.
Select a date range.
Select proration cadence.
Save the Bonus plan payout setup.
Bonus plan payouts can also be configured directly via CSV by using the Upload via CSV option in the Target increases and bonuses or Increase guidance and bonuses pages:
Select Upload via CSV.
Select Bonus plan payout.
Download the Bonus plan payout CSV template.
Update the Target payout and the Guidance minimum columns, and optionally the Guidance maximum column, with numbers only, no symbols. If there is only a single guidance value, input it into the Guidance minimum column, and leave the Guidance maximum blank.
Note: All other columns in the file are present for reference only. Any changes made to other columns will not impact the values assigned to each employee.
Save and upload the updated CSV.
Select Save.
One-time bonus payout
Select this option to pay out one-time bonuses, also known as ad hoc or discretionary bonuses, as part of a compensation cycle.
To configure one-time bonus payouts:
Under the Bonus section, next to 'Set a one-time bonus', click Add.
Select a Format option to pay out One-time bonuses as a:
flat amount: Eligible employees are paid out on a flat amount per employee.
% of bonus target: Eligible employees are paid out based on their assigned Bonus target.
% of base pay: Eligible employees are paid out based on their Base pay amount.
Under Applicable employees, choose one of the following options:
All eligible employees.
Select employees.
Filter to select eligible employees
Next to Set by select how One-time bonuses should be paid out:
Single Value: Eligible employees are paid the same amount.
Input the Payout per employee (% of bonus target, % of base pay, flat amount), and the Target spend will automatically update.
Performance Rating: Eligible employees are paid out based on their performance rating.
For each available Performance rating, input the Payout value, and the Target spend will automatically update.
(Optional) Toggle on Provide guidance as a:
Single Value (managers will be guided to give a specific One-time bonus payout).
Range of values (managers will be guided to give a One-time bonus payout within the defined range).
(Optional) Check to include additional instructions that will be displayed to managers.
(Optional) Toggle on Apply proration:
Select the proration method:
Employee start date.
Last compensation change date.
Select a date range.
Select proration cadence.
Save the One-time bonus setup.
One-time bonuses can also be configured directly via CSV by using the Upload via CSV option in the Target increases and bonuses or Increase guidance and bonuses pages:
Select Upload via CSV.
Select One-time bonus.
Download the One-time bonus CSV template.
Update the Target payout and the Guidance minimum columns, and optionally the Guidance maximum column, with numbers only, no symbols. If there is only a single guidance value, input it into the Guidance minimum column, and leave the Guidance maximum blank.
Note: All other columns in the file are present for reference only. Any changes made to other columns will not impact the values assigned to each employee.
Save and upload the updated CSV.
Select Save.
Adjust bonus targets
Toggling this option on allows you to adjust an employee's bonus target in a compensation cycle to reflect a role change, promotion, or a refresh of an existing bonus plan.
A bonus target is the amount that an employee is eligible to earn through their company's bonus plan. This may be expressed as a percent of their base pay (a 10% bonus calculated based on $100,000 in base pay) or as a flat monetary value ($10,000).
Bonus targets adjusted during a compensation cycle are treated as part of their forward-looking cash compensation package and are not considered payouts. Payouts of existing bonus targets are handled separately through bonus plan payouts.
To adjust bonus targets:
At the top-right of the Target increases and bonuses or Increase guidance and bonuses pages, select Upload via CSV. Or, scroll down to the Bonus target adjustments section, next to 'Set bonus target adjustments', select Upload via CSV.
Download the bonus target adjustment template.
In the CSV template, update the New annualized bonus target column with a target bonus percent or a target bonus amount. If the target is a percent of the employee's base pay, include the percent symbol (%). If the target is a dollar amount, include no symbol.
Note: All other columns in the file are present for reference only. Any changes made to columns other than New Bonus Target will not impact the values assigned to each employee.
Save and upload the updated CSV.
Select Save.
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