Many companies still paying bonuses despite a year of economic slowdown

[rooster59]

Many companies still paying bonuses despite a year of economic slowdown

BUSINESS REPORTERS
THE NATION

BANGKOK: THIS year’s economic downturn has negatively affected private companies from sector to sector. However, many plan to award bonuses to their employees to provide moral support to them amid difficult times.

Chamnarn Maytaprechakul, executive vice president for marketing at The Mall Group, said the company would this year provide bonuses at the same rate as last year, at about two to four months' salary, depending on the length of employment and the worker's performance.

"We have provided bonuses at this level for more than 10 years. Whether our sales performance is good or bad as affected by economic difficulty, we will continue paying bonuses to our employees at this satisfactory level so as to contribute moral support to our people," he said.

Mayuree Chaipromprasith, senior executive vice president of Siam Piwat Co, operator of the Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery shopping complexes, said the company had not firmed up its bonus amounts yet and would do so after its financial year closed at the end of this month.

"However, I can confirm that there will be a bonus, because it has been a satisfactory year. We saw visitor numbers to our properties jump by 15 per cent from 2014. We were also pleased to achieve a No 6 global ranking as one of the most mentioned locations on Facebook anywhere in the world," she said.

Charun Poopat, vice president of Seacon Development, operator of Seacon Square shopping malls on Srinakarin Road and in Bang Khae district, said that the company this year would give bonuses to its employees worth 3.5 to four months' salary.

He said Seacon paid bonuses twice during the year, in March at 1.5 to two months and in December, which is about two months' pay.

"This year's bonus reflects our greater performance. We achieved the target to grow rental revenue at our shopping complexes by 10-15 per cent this year," Charun said.

Warunee Kitjaroenpoonsin, director of corporate affairs at Big C Supercenter, said the company had prioritised the well-being of all employees.

"We strive to create a positive working environment and improved quality of life for all staff, including handicapped personnel. Thus employee compensation is a key motivational factor that is always in the interest of the human-resources team," she said.

"Regardless of the economic circumstances, employees will still enjoy a wide range of benefits, including provident funds, life-insurance coverage, emergency funds, reasonable vacation leaves and, of course, a year-end bonus.

"These measures of compensation keep our staff in high spirits and in full awareness of their role in the company's ability to achieve milestones in hard times."

Suwat Thongrompo, chief executive officer of SF Corporation, said the company based its bonuses on its profit during the year.

"Our bonus will not swing as much as in other active sectors, such as property," he said.

Meanwhile, in the tourism sector, Airports of Thailand has informed its staff that it will pay annual bonuses at an average of 7.5 months' salary this year. That is up from six months last year. A few years ago, AOT used to pay bonuses of up to 14 months.

Dusit International Group, one of largest hospitality firms, has given an unofficial notice that all employees will get a one-month bonus, similar to last time.

Most hotels and some airlines such as Bangkok Airways said they would pay an annual bonus early next year, perhaps at the end of January or in February, as they have to calculate their performance and revenue after the end of high season.

Leading commercial banks have maintained a fixed bonus for their employees even though their profitability in 2015 has likely been slower than last year. Net profits for the first nine months dropped from the same period last year because of higher loan-loss provisions. In general, the banking sector pays fixed bonuses with special incentives based on the return on assets (ROA) and performance of employees.

Bangkok Bank pays fixed two-month bonuses in June and December. A special incentive of around 1.5 months' salary will be paid by the end of January. In the first nine months, BBL reported net profit of Bt26.50 billion, down by 4 per cent year on year from Bt27.57 billion.

Meanwhile, Kasikornbank will pay a fixed two-month bonus in February, and special incentives based on the bank's ROA will be paid in March. KBank's net profit in the first nine months was Bt33.99 billion, down by 6 per cent year on year.

Siam Commercial Bank pays a fixed two-month bonus in June and December and a special incentive based on employees' performance, which will be paid in February. SCB reported net profit for the first nine months of Bt35.38 billion, down by 14 per cent from Bt41.10 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Krungsri Group will pay a fixed one-month bonus and a special incentive based on its key performance index in March. The bank reported net profit in the first nine months of Bt13.53 billion, up by 32 per cent from Bt10.23 billion in the same period last year.

Media and event businesses this year are expected to pay bonuses to their employees at the same level or less than last year, according to an industry insider, as they rely heavily on economic momentum.

Based on the official economic-growth forecast of 2-4 per cent, the industry's growth forecast for 2015 was originally set at 4-7 per cent. In the first nine months when gross domestic product expanded by only 2.9 per cent, the industry was unable to achieve the original growth target.

In the first 11 months, advertising spending remained in positive territory, increasing by 4.2 per cent from the same period last year.

Amid intense competition in TV broadcasting business this year, new players are still focusing on cost management, so bonuses will be small if any. Market leaders Channel 7 and Channel 3 could not be reached for comment, however.

Despite a slowdown in advertising spending in print media, Matichon Publishing is reportedly paying a bonus of one month's salary. Nation Multimedia Group will pay an average bonus of 80 per cent of monthly salary but it also offers extra for those who demonstrated outstanding performance.

In the property sector, Prasert Taedullayasatit, managing director for condominiums at Pruksa Real Estate, said the condominium department showed strong financial performance this year. As a result, the department will pay bonuses of 12-20 months to its employees. The rate will depend on the performance of individual staff.

However, the company's average bonus this year will be close to last year's, according to chief operating officer Lersak Chuladesa.

Pruksa Real Estate announced bonuses averaging 7.5 months last year.

Other property firms have committed to paying bonuses at the same level as last year, averaging three to six months, depending on the business' performance. Most of them will pay their bonuses in January or February.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Many-companies-still-paying-bonuses-despite-a-year-30275705.html

-- The Nation 2015-12-26

[Pattaya28]

Well at least "bonuses" are not in a "brown envelop".

[Pib]

And many companies do not pay any bonus even during good years. Whether a company pays a bonus or not depends on their salary structure, type of job, how they attempt to minimize employee turnover, etc. I don't expect many folks in the fishing industry will be getting any bonus (nor a day off).

[torpedo1970]

Not paying out bonuses would be to admit failure

And we all know how good a Thai is to do that...

a major loss of face = it never happened....

Thainess

[NiwPix]

I am curious, is there a statistic of the going rate for bonuses in different departments are with their current salaries etc?

When I read that bonuses are paid up to 14 months worth of salary, I wonder WHO are the employees that get this type of bonus and what is their current salary? Is it the lawful minimum wage or are they paid 5k a month with the promise of a 14 month salary bonus? Or is it only one or two top managers that get that salary so the company can claim they paid some of their employees big time bonuses?

I am really surprised by these figures. I can't imagine paying my 20 employees a years worth of salary as a bonus...or even more than a month for that fact...

[elgordo38]

I am curious, is there a statistic of the going rate for bonuses in different departments are with their current salaries etc?

When I read that bonuses are paid up to 14 months worth of salary, I wonder WHO are the employees that get this type of bonus and what is their current salary? Is it the lawful minimum wage or are they paid 5k a month with the promise of a 14 month salary bonus? Or is it only one or two top managers that get that salary so the company can claim they paid some of their employees big time bonuses?

I am really surprised by these figures. I can't imagine paying my 20 employees a years worth of salary as a bonus...or even more than a month for that fact...

Sounds like you have a dim view of your workers productivity. Maybe time to do a little pruning.

[NiwPix]

I have no issues or "dim view" of my workers or productivity. Sorry if for some reason my previous post / question about who the employees are and what their wages are gave you that impression that I have some problem with my employees overall performance.

[gandalf12]

The only bonus I have ever had was confirmation I still had a job. These bonuses in Thailand are far too much. 4 moths salary for what? For turning up. A bonus if fine but not several months salary it is ridiculous when they are being paid to do a job. Increase the salaries if they are doing a good job

[blackcab]

The employees in the business I manage all got a bonus of 1 month's salary payable on the 30th of this month. They got it because I was very happy with their performance (or if I don't manage them their manager was very happy). I asked the company directors to consider my request and they agreed with me.

Business has been good, and the staff have worked well and have been reliable.

The bonuses are in the range of 10k (security guard) to 20k (junior manager). This bonus was on top of their salary and does not form any part of their regular remuneration.

Regular staff also got a 5% pay rise for 2016. Managers got 6%.

[CaptHaddock]

The reported bonus levels surprised me as well. Would be interesting to know what the salary levels are.

Blackcab, thanks for the detailed info. May I ask what industry your business is in?

[Don Mega]

The reported bonus levels surprised me as well. Would be interesting to know what the salary levels are.

Last year i got 4.5 months bonus, my salary is north of 200k per month.

[blackcab]

The reported bonus levels surprised me as well. Would be interesting to know what the salary levels are.

Blackcab, thanks for the detailed info. May I ask what industry your business is in?

Real estate. Edited December 27, 2015 by blackcab

[CaptHaddock]

The reported bonus levels surprised me as well. Would be interesting to know what the salary levels are.

Last year i got 4.5 months bonus, my salary is north of 200k per month.

And what is your industry, if I may ask?

[CaptHaddock]

The reported bonus levels surprised me as well. Would be interesting to know what the salary levels are.

Blackcab, thanks for the detailed info. May I ask what industry your business is in?

Real estate.

So, are we talking about commissioned sales people? Did the salaried employees do as well?

[blackcab]

The reported bonus levels surprised me as well. Would be interesting to know what the salary levels are.

Blackcab, thanks for the detailed info. May I ask what industry your business is in?

Real estate.

So, are we talking about commissioned sales people? Did the salaried employees do as well?

The staff are all salaried. None of them receive commission payments. We don't employ salespeople.

Examples would be security guards, maintenance workers, and junior managers.

Edited December 27, 2015 by blackcab

[Don Mega]

The reported bonus levels surprised me as well. Would be interesting to know what the salary levels are.

Last year i got 4.5 months bonus, my salary is north of 200k per month.

And what is your industry, if I may ask?

export