Why not give permanent raises ??????

Bonuses are cheap for a company if they handle them as I have experienced. A big check can make for good press and for a happy employee, but it is not necessarily a good thing for an employee.

I worked at a large corporation where a bonus did not accrue towards any benefit. The most notable would be pension, disability pay, payment for leave and most importantly severance payment.

Some liked the bonus, even when it was pointed out that with no raise it was a salary freeze for next year. These individuals were the ones who never seemed to be able to save.

Every time they handed out bonuses, layoffs occurred within six months. The management told us how great we were being treated and we worried. I got a bonus in May and was gone in August.

Thirty years later, I calculate that those bonuses would have added about 8% to my pension. In seven years they have already saved more than the total amount of my three bonuses.

Raises keep going, year after year. Which imho is a good thing, but a company may not thing it is a good thing

all retirees get the same amount (this year $2000). We used to get a percentage increase in our pension checks every year but we were told this was fairer to those who received a lesser pension (worked fewer years). It also saves our pension fund money because there is no cumulative carry over year after year. Most of our members seem to enjoy the yearly shot of money rather then getting it in small increments.

When I worked for the state in NC, we didn't get a bonus. Sometimes we got a small COLA the following year. When I worked for the 7th day health group, my biggest raise was 13 cents per hour and we always got a giftcard from walmart for (based on years of service) $5, $10, and up to a whole whopping $25.00.

also just raised their rates. Not much, but I'm sure more than enough to cover this bonus. And like the tax cuts, the rate raise is permanent.

$15.00 min wage is already in the making. Oregon and WA. I don't know anyone right now living in Portland OR who makes less than 13.50. Not even dishwashers. Pay here is already above min.. mostly voluntarily.