In the provisions of the Polish labor law, we have many concepts related to rewarding employees. Clients of our PRWT accounting office ask which forms of reward should they use? Which of them are claimied for pay and which are not?

Bonus:

The bonus is the most frequently used motivator by employers. However, there are a few rules that are very important in the case of a bonus.

The right to a bonus is related to the reliable performance of duties by an employee in a specific accounting period. The bonus may be a  bonus included in internal regulations (this is a claim bonus, which means that the employee acquires the right to it after meeting the requirements set out in the regulations). The bonus may also be discretionary (its granting does not depend on the fulfillment of any specific criteria by the employee, but depends solely on the employer’s decision in terms of both its granting and its amount). However, it should be remembered that the nature of the bonus (regulamin / discretionary) is not determined by its name but its actual functioning. As a consequence, there may be a situation where, as a result of imprecise provisions in internal regulations, an employee may acquire the right to a bonus, despite being called a discretionary bonus.

Honorable Mention and Prize:

Honorable Mention and prizes also serve as a motivator. However, the legislator provided for the conditions for an employee to receive an Honorable Mention or prize. These premises include:

– exemplary fulfillment of duties,

– showing initiative at work,

– increasing the quality and efficiency of work,

– special contribution to the performance of tasks

The main distinction between an honorable Mention and prizes  is that the prize is of a monetary nature and  the honorable mention  is of a praise in the form of e.g. a diploma. On the other hand, the difference between the award and the (regulamin ) bonus is that the prize is not of a claim nature – the employee acquires claims for the payment of the prize only after the employer expresses its will to award it to the employee. Here it is necessary to pay attention to a very important point. The design of the prize is very similar to the discretionary bonus. However, the award may be granted if the employee meets the above-mentioned conditions which do not apply to the possibility of granting a discretionary bonus.

The notification of awarding the honorable Mention and prizes should be made in duplicate, because one of them is entered in the employee’s personal file (part B).