HOW FAR WILL VICARIOUS LIABILITY EXTEND?
* NEW HIGHLY SKILLED MIGRANT PROGRAMME (HSMP) DISCRETIONARY BONUSES Employers need to be careful if they are planning to award discretionary bonuses and should be aware that this doesn’t give them complete discretion as to the amount (if any) they award. In a case in September last year regarding the non-payment of discretionary bonuses an employer ended up paying out damages of 1.3 million to their employee. The employee’s letter of appointment provided for a discretionary bonus which was dependent upon individual performance. The employee was paid a bonus of over 2m in his first year having made profits of 14m. The employee was dismissed, in February 1997, for misconduct and given three months’ notice, but no bonus despite having earned profits of 6m. The employee brought a successful breach of contract claim. The employers argued that satisfactory performance was merely one factor to be taken into account when exercising its discretion, however the Court disagreed. The Court maintai
