Can an employer deduct money from my bonus check because I failed a mystery shopping report?

Do you have in writing somewhere that you will earn a specific bonus amount for every lease, without exceptions or provisos? Does that same writing exclude any mention of that bonus being lessened for failure to meet standards or anything else? Unless both of those answers are "yes", your employer can do any damn thing he wants with your "bonus" check, including not give it to you at all.

Actually, I was the top sales producer in my region during the month I was shopped. I even got an award to hang on my wall. I guess I paid $200 for it! Thanks for answering so fast.

Well, nothing shakes you up father than losing $200! You might have been judged on helpfulness or some other quality and the shopper failed you.

That should read "nothing shakes you up FASTER than losing $200."

That's a good one! You're funny! :)

My offer letter only states my hourly wage. I didn't know we received commission on leases until I started. I was told verbally I would receive a specific, set amount for each lease. I wasn't told at all about shops until I got shopped and they wanted to deduct money. I was shocked to say the least. Plus the shopping reports are 13 pages long with all the questions they are required to ask us. I've been told by co-workers that rarely has anyone passed. I guess I need to sign up for their "Telling Isn't Selling" class!!! Thanks for your answer!!!

If the only thing in writing is your hourly wage, that's all they have to pay you.

Bonuses are different than salary or hourly rates. You get paid for working hours. But bonuses are paid for doing an exceptional job and are discretionary. They are usually contingent on performance. It sounds like you are paid a bonus for signing up leases. It is paid as an incentive for you to do a great job. But if you didn't meet their selling standards, then the penalty was to reduce your bonus. The company hires the mystery shopper to make certain their sales people are using appropriate sales tactics. They do not want their agents to sell leases using unethical sales strategies because that will cause them legal problems and expenses. Your company is smart to be so watchful. It protects them and their agents. Evidentially, your sales tactics were deemed to be less than acceptable. It maybe because of sale pressure to make a decision. It could be a problem with full disclosure. It maybe you did not full explain the terms of the contract. It could be one issue or several things you did. Judging that the penalty was only $200, it sounds like whatever they thought was wrong, was not very significant. So, I would find out what they did not like and make sure you don't do it in the future. You may not even have known you did it. That way, you will be seen as a trustworthy employee and you won't lose your bonuses in the future.

Because it's a *bonus*, they can add to it or take away as they see fit. It doesn't matter what good you've done. If you don't meet ALL of their qualifications for a bonus, you can lose it. I'd ask someone I trusted specifically what the mystery shoppers are looking for. I remember working retail and several of my coworkers were getting shopped, passing, but not getting full marks. I asked my favorite manager what was up with that. It turned out that the shoppers were wanting us to introduce ourselves by our first name and if we took a special order or got the customer's name in any way, we were refer to the customer as "Mr. or Mrs. Last name". We had excellent service all around but nobody was actually going that far. I started doing it with every customer and got perfect scores when shopped. I never got more than a 10 dollar credit to my store account though. Ahh well.