Yeah, places I've worked that offered referral bonuses typically deferred the bonus for 3-6 months to make sure the referred employee passes "probation" period.
However referral bonuses are paid only if your proposed candidate works through trial period (e.g. 3 months). You are paid for fish in the net not for fish in the sea.
Most companies give cash bonuses to current employees if they successfully refer someone. I'm sure they'd be happy to have a shot at that money if nothing else.
Most companies I've been at/seen have at least $5k referral bonuses. At one company I knew of one employee who had gotten $25k in one year: definitely nothing to balk at.
That doesn't make sense. A "nice extra that might disappear any second?" That's worth as much as a hole in my pocket. If giving referral bonuses is company policy, nobody would imagine that it might "disappear" retroactively if the management didn't happen to feel like paying you that day.
Regardless of whether it's legal, it's totally unethical to behave that way.
>> The idea of a referral bonus is rewarding someone for /growing/ the team, and if you leave before that term is up, or if you leave before you file for the bonus, it's ridiculous to ask for it later – especially when you've already deflated your good will with a company
What is the "term" that you're referring to in "leaving before the term?" From the blog post, it seems like the author "grew" the team by successfully referring an employee who stayed for minimum of 6 months, which gives him the entitlement of the 10k bonus as per email discussions.
Referral bonuses. The hiring pipeline at my company is tough to get through, but if you get someone through the bonus is very nice. Nice enough to make recruitment my side gig.
Am I the only one that isn't incentivized by referral bonuses? The last thing I want is the blame for a bad hire because I somehow referred someone ended up not being a good fit for whatever reason.
2) It no longer becomes optional once you make the offer to your employees. At this point you have established intent; especially if it is provided in writing. You cannot take it back once the other party involved has upheld their end of the arrangement.
> Financial first: deferring compensation from continuous throughout the year to a lump sum at the end is essentially getting your employees to lend you money.
Also, when the bonus comes in it is paid out in two portions - one immediately, and one six months later. This helps retention, since there is always a carrot for the employee to look forward to every six months.
Having worked somewhere where I had a large deferred bonus, which I had to walk away from after the company turned hostile very quickly, I'd much, MUCH prefer to get my bonus paid out at the end of each year, vs. having it deferred, even if I have to take a hit on overall comp instead.
You just can't estimate how compatible you and your employer will be 4 years in the future.
I think it's fair to waive referral bonuses if someone is referred through the "trusted referral" process. If someone is dying for a bonus, they can still steer the candidate towards the company and let them go through the technical loop normally.
I’m a writer working on a piece on referral bonuses. If you don’t mind, could you email me at shikhar@careerfair.io? I’d be curious to learn more, thanks!!
I agree...to a point. Most referrals like this happen at lower level job descriptions where sub-$1000 bonuses are still a meaningful % of overall compensation. I know one consulting firm where a guy doubled his take home on referral bonuses.
You're talking about something different. The comment I replied to asked what the incentive was to prevent the employee leaving soon after starting the job, such that implementing a policy of only paying out the bonus after 3 - 6 months would curtail such an issue.
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