NOVEMBER and December are two months that workers look forward to getting more than their monthly salary.
In one of the two months, workers eagerly wait for the much desired 13th cheque.
Bonus typically guarantees a good Christmas holiday and a less painful start of the new year.
With the 13th cheque in hand, the ‘January disease’ is not usually severe.
The majority of employees, no matter who their employer is, always expect bonus.
Budgets are made taking into account the 13th cheque before it even comes.
The announcement by the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Prisca Mupfumira, that civil servants’ bonuses were not “a question of if, but when they will be paid” brought a sigh of relief to many workers.
But what is a bonus?
There are three common types of bonuses, namely the Christmas bonus or 13th cheque, the performance bonus and the production bonus.
The Christmas bonus is normally classed as a gratuity, a payment of gratitude by the employer to the employee in recognition of a job well done.
However, over the years, most employees now see the 13th cheque as a right.
But in some instances, some employers nowadays have done away with the payment of a 13th cheque and have incorporated the amount into the employees’ basic salary, spreading it over the year so-to-speak.
A performance bonus is normally paid for good performance and should be based on a percentage of the employee’s salary or wages.
A performance bonus can also be paid as a lump-sum to a department and split up in equal amounts among employees in the department.
The production bonus is based, not on performance measured against company standards, but rather on production measured against targets.
Measurement is also based on quality of production.
For instance, if a company has set a target for one particular employee or for that matter, for a particular department to produce 100 widgets per hour, and the employee or department consistently produce 130 widgets per hour, then a production bonus would be justified.
In an interview with The Patriot Tichatonga Mwendamberi (42) said bonus is a right because every employee works hard throughout the year.
“We come to work the whole year and give our all, so workers should be rewarded for that effort,” he said.
According to Muranganwa Charakupa (39) a bonus comes as a relief especially for low income earners.
“Bonus takes away the burden for some of us who have low incomes and helps us achieve some of the things that are typically beyond our reach,” Charakupa said.
For Zack Musana (29), bonus is a motivator.
“Bonus is a motivating tool that fires up the worker,” he said.
“It kick-starts the festive season and remember the unavailability of a bonus demoralises and spoils the festive mood.
“Failure to get a bonus makes workers come back the next calendar year without enthusiasm.”