Imperial Valley press., 1943-01-04
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

unQer the new wage StaplllIdliO
plan. Year-end bonuses whic
many firms customarily give +
their employees at Christmas O
New Years have never been con
sidered part of the wages paid t
workers, but just the same, you
Uncle Sam has now stepped in :
control the size of those bonuses il
wartime. The reason is that it
considered necessary part of tn
naturalization program = to keel
you from having too much none,
TO spend on non-essential things
the manufacture of which woult
compete with war production. O
to keep your boss from THROWN.
too much money around in an eff
fort to get around government
wage sterilization regulations.
The War Labor Board and the
wage stabilization unit of the
Bureau of Internal Revenue in
the Treasury Department have
therefore stepped in to control
all bonus payments, either at the
end of the wear or as production
bonuses ut any other time of
year.
The War Labor Board, CONTROL
ing all wages and the salaries OF
non-executives and n-profession-
al workers earning less than $4,000
a year. says in its General Order
No. 10 that bonuses, fees, gifts or
commissions which have customar-
lily been paid to employees in the
past may be continued without ask
ing WLB approval, but with two
important restrictions:
/. If the bonus is paid in the
form of a fixed amount-s1, So, a
fin. a sawbuck, a century or a
grand-the bonus given this year
can be no larger than the bonus
paid in previous years for similar
work.
War prosperity double bonuses
are therefore out; or If firm didn't
pay any bonuses at all last year or
in previous years. it can't begin
paying out bonuses now.
2. If the bonus is paid on a per-
centage basis-say per cent of
your annual earnings - that rate
cannot be changed.
MAY BE INCREASED
Under contain conditions, how
ever, the amount of the bonus may
be increased. Surprising your COM
pany paid you 5 per cent annual
bonus last year on your salary of
$4,000. That would be $100 cash.
But you have been promoted to a
new Job during the present year,
and that new job gives you a salary
of $4,000. You are still entitled to
the per cent bonus. however, so
you can be given bonus of $50
stead of the century you got last
year.
These regulations under GER
tain conditions will mean that
employees will get smaller bonus
es than they previously received.
Take the case of ribbon counter
salesperson Susie Gumshoe. who
has custOmarily been paid a l
per cent bonus OH her annual
sales. Suppose she sold $4,000
worth of goods last year, giving
her S109 bonus. This year, be-
cause the grim couldn't get
enough silk ribbon delivered for
Susie to sell, poor little Susie was
able to bring her total sales to
only $4,000. Under the fixed rate
rule, Susie could get only 1 per
cent of $4,000, or $50, and even II
the boss man, who had secret
yen for Susie, wanted to double
the rate to per cent SO as to
give her the hundred, it would be
against regulations.
One important exception that af-
fects men leaving jobs in private
industry to enter the armed Serv-
ices is that any employer may pay
any bonus he likes to any one of
his employees joining the Army
Navy, Marines, Coast Guard.
The cases Of bonC1es gwen TO sal
aried workers receiving pay OF
more than $4,000 a year and to ad-
ministrative, executive and profess
sional employees not represented by
a labor union and receiving pay OF
less than $4,000 q year comes under
the Jurisdiction Of the Bureau OF
Internal Revenue in the Treasury
Department.
According to previous definI-
tons of the Wage and Hour Ad-
ministrati0n, a manor woman
must get $50 or more per week TO
be called an executive, and can't
he rated as an administrative or
professional employee If he gets
less than $500 a month. But for
all strawb0sses above these min
imums, the Treasury regulations
on bonuses are about the same
as for mere wage earners.
The important exception is that a
fixed sum or percentage bonus must
have been paid during the two years
preceding to establish customary
bonus, or an enforceable contract
must have been signed with the
employee prior to October 3, 1912.
For firms which have not paid
bonuses in previous years but un-
der wartime prosperity want to be-
gin paying bonuses now or in the
future, application must be made
to the War Labor Board or the
Treasury Department wage stabili-
cation offices, and government ap-
proval obtained before the bonuses
are paid.