# Merit Bonus



## dcguy86 (Jan 25, 2022)

How long do you have to be in the merit role to get the bonus? I'm leaving my merit role to go back to the floor (pay) and was wondering since I was in the merit role for the minimum if I'll get any of the bonus?


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## ManMythMachine (Jan 25, 2022)

I don't know but I heard they are hiring for ICQA off the street and giving them more starting pay than what you made by going to ICQA so if I were you, going forward, I would ask about being treated like I just got hired into ICQA off the street so you can stay where you are, make more money, and get that 2k new hire bonus as long as it applies to merit role too.

Sorry if this doesn't help because it wasn't meant to, but if it makes you feel any better, I know many people who are leaving ICQA because of the merit pay system and returning to the floor.  You are not alone!


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## Hardlinesmaster (Jan 25, 2022)

Any new bonus rumors?
					

We should get another holiday/covid bonus before the end of the yr right? What do people think?




					www.thebreakroom.org


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## dcguy86 (Jan 26, 2022)

ManMythMachine said:


> I don't know but I heard they are hiring for ICQA off the street and giving them more starting pay than what you made by going to ICQA so if I were you, going forward, I would ask about being treated like I just got hired into ICQA off the street so you can stay where you are, make more money, and get that 2k new hire bonus as long as it applies to merit role too.
> 
> Sorry if this doesn't help because it wasn't meant to, but if it makes you feel any better, I know many people who are leaving ICQA because of the merit pay system and returning to the floor.  You are not alone!


Yeah, that's my main driving force, I did learn a lot in ICQA, but I can't do it with the pay.


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## dcguy86 (Jan 26, 2022)

Hardlinesmaster said:


> Any new bonus rumors?
> 
> 
> We should get another holiday/covid bonus before the end of the yr right? What do people think?
> ...


Yeah, I checked that thread, the only reason I brought it up was the OM I went to work for in ICQA told me the day I signed my offer letter that I'd get the bonus and it would be pro-rated. They were saying on Monday they weren't sure if I'd qualify since they didn't know how long I had to be in the role to get it.


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## whsDCII (Jan 26, 2022)

The file on the SharePoint says it'll be prorated based on your time spent and you'll get it as long as you're still an active TM. 

I was also told on Monday that I may not get it if I leave and I literally spent the entire year in ICQA.


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## UzumakiNaruto (Jan 26, 2022)

dcguy86 said:


> How long do you have to be in the merit role to get the bonus? I'm leaving my merit role to go back to the floor (pay) and was wondering since I was in the merit role for the minimum if I'll get any of the bonus?


If you're talking about STI you had to start the position before quarter 4 (I believe October) and the bonus doesnt reflect on your paycheck until quarter 1 (April) the bonus is prorated for time in role


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## DC Diva (Jan 30, 2022)

If they can find a way not to pay it out, they will.  they may try to justify that by going back into progression, you were given a raise, and you made more while in that role tan your “bonus” would’ve been.


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## Luck (Feb 1, 2022)

Is the pay really that much worse for merit positions? How does switching from warehouse worker to a merit position work pay-wise?


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## UzumakiNaruto (Feb 1, 2022)

Luck said:


> Is the pay really that much worse for merit positions? How does switching from warehouse worker to a merit position work pay-wise?


if you are not capped out on the floor when getting a merit position the floor will outscale your pay because they get a raise every 6 mo and you only get one annually however merit cap is higher than floor cap if you can make it there and some merit positions offer bonus. If you are planning on becoming OM or something its definitely worth it to take a merit role even not capped, you just have to suck it up until you get there (some OMs want to see you do that so that they can say ur in it for the right reasons not just the money)


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## Luck (Feb 1, 2022)

That makes a lot more sense. So if you are at the paycap it is generally better to get a merit role then. But the danger is that if/when warehouse workers get a blanket raise you dont and thus can end up earning less at those times. Correct?


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## ItChecksOut (Feb 1, 2022)

Luck said:


> That makes a lot more sense. So if you are at the paycap it is generally better to get a merit role then. But the danger is that if/when warehouse workers get a blanket raise you dont and thus can end up earning less at those times. Correct?



Typically, it has to be a large enough raise to place merit roles behind warehouse workers.
Since you get yearly raises as a merit TM you typically stay ahead of WH workers, it's just when you have odd years like last year where my DC saw to larger floor raises that things can get a bit tilted.


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## whsDCII (Feb 1, 2022)

Luck said:


> That makes a lot more sense. So if you are at the paycap it is generally better to get a merit role then. But the danger is that if/when warehouse workers get a blanket raise you dont and thus can end up earning less at those times. Correct?


This is correct.

I've been at target for almost 4 years so long enough to be capped out. In ICQA I currently make almost $3/hour less than if I had stayed on the floor and more than $4/hour less than if I stayed and then become a lead instead of taking a merit position.


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## Hal (Feb 1, 2022)

Floor raises have been unprecedented this year. Our building had a 3-4 year stretch where we had no raises and merit roles were coveted because it was the only way to make more money.

Then last year happened and blew the merit TMs out of the water. 

Really the only advantage to merit roles is the cap for merit positions is higher than progression and you're guaranteed a raise but the trade off is your raise is based on your individual performance. I knew a couple when I was in merit who only got 1-2% raises.


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## DC Diva (Mar 23, 2022)

Hal said:


> Really the only advantage to merit roles is the cap for merit positions is higher than progression and you're guaranteed a raise but the trade off is your raise is based on your individual performance. I knew a couple when I was in merit who only got 1-2% raises.


the longer you stay in a merit role, and the closer you are to the cap, the worse your raises are.  performance doesnt even factor in. thats the target way!


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## Hal (Mar 23, 2022)

DC Diva said:


> the longer you stay in a merit role, and the closer you are to the cap, the worse your raises are.  performance doesnt even factor in. thats the target way!


Not true. I have merit TMs. The one closest to cap got the best raise because they're my best performer.

And you can get raises past cap. It's OM and SOM discretion. 

If an OM is telling you otherwise it's so they can easily dodge explaining your performance.


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## DC Diva (Mar 23, 2022)

That’s an interesting point of view, but it doesn’t explain this scenario:
two long time merits on the same team both received good reviews, using  the old scoring system ratings would have been exceptional, but not outstanding.  Basing this assessment on previous years scores, allowing similar circumstances.  Another merit, same team, was placed on performance ca (was very vocal about the unfairness, but calling in often becomes very obvious to the rest of the team very quickly, so not a lot of sympathy given), so assumption using the old scoring system that  review should have been a needs improvement due to the ca.  This year, no ratings, and raises being subjective to the om, guess who not only received the bigger raise, but also almost 2% more for their performance bonus?  Ding Ding Ding, the tm with less time in the merit role, that recently went on ca.  Not supposed to talk about it?  The long time tm are good friends, and often use each other as a sounding board when something isnt right, while the blabbermouth was actually vocal that they thought their % were too low, not realizing how unfair things really were to the rest of the team.  and Im not even part of this, I am just another long time Tm that is another sounding board, and now that @Hal says it is always performance related, it sounds like our building either has unethical Oms not giving accurate performance reviews, or they are showing blatant favoritism when assigning increase and bonus %.


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## Hal (Mar 24, 2022)

DC Diva said:


> That’s an interesting point of view, but it doesn’t explain this scenario:
> two long time merits on the same team both received good reviews, using  the old scoring system ratings would have been exceptional, but not outstanding.  Basing this assessment on previous years scores, allowing similar circumstances.  Another merit, same team, was placed on performance ca (was very vocal about the unfairness, but calling in often becomes very obvious to the rest of the team very quickly, so not a lot of sympathy given), so assumption using the old scoring system that  review should have been a needs improvement due to the ca.  This year, no ratings, and raises being subjective to the om, guess who not only received the bigger raise, but also almost 2% more for their performance bonus?  Ding Ding Ding, the tm with less time in the merit role, that recently went on ca.  Not supposed to talk about it?  The long time tm are good friends, and often use each other as a sounding board when something isnt right, while the blabbermouth was actually vocal that they thought their % were too low, not realizing how unfair things really were to the rest of the team.  and Im not even part of this, I am just another long time Tm that is another sounding board, and now that @Hal says it is always performance related, it sounds like our building either has unethical Oms not giving accurate performance reviews, or they are showing blatant favoritism when assigning increase and bonus %.


A) Merit Reviews 100% have ratings. OMs have to actually write the reviews unlike normal progression. They just keep changing the damn names every year instead of just staying the same. This year they do what's called a nine box. Looks like a tic tac toe grid. The higher and further right means a higher performer you are.

2) Ah performance bonus. That one confused me too when I had to do it for my team members. My top team member had the highest percentage bonus, but one of my other team members bonus was considerably higher. Turns out the bonus percentage isn't based on your base salary but your total salary including hours worked. So if you're someone who does a ton of overtime your percentage may be smaller but your bonus will be bigger.

3) Also with all the raises the floor got last year merit is lagging behind. That team member may also have gotten a bigger bump NOT because of any undue bias but because that TM was so low on the scale they may have been out of threshold with the actual pay scale. So legally they have to bump them up.

Also, you just said you're receiving all this info second potentially third hand. Unless I hear it straight from the horses' mouth, I've learned you can't trust everything. There may be (usually there is) a lot more going on than people realize.

When I was a merit team member, a lot of things I worked on were not things that impacted things on the floor level so the average team member had no idea. Other things I rolled out to the OM team who rolled it to their teams so my name wasn't necessarily attached.

Yeah that TM may be on a performance CA, but do you know why? Or how long? Maybe they got it early on and turned it around and are a rock star? Or maybe they got it but reviews and raises had already been decided so its too late. I think there's a lot more to this story that you may not be aware of or hasn't been shared.


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