Location: I work as a full time salaried employee in Washington State, my employer is located in Missouri.
I earned a bonus based on performance in the 2025 year that was to be paid out in March of 2026 according to the bonus program outline. My direct manager (VP of sales and marketing) notified me and my peers in mid March the bonus would be pushed to May for cash flow purposes in mid March.
Mid May I received notification from my VP (email) the bonus would be paid on 05/29/26. I personally received a text directly from the VP three days prior stating “Your bonus is confirmed for payment on Friday, March 29, $XX,XXX.XX” I was set to go on company paid paternity leave soon after on 06/02/26 as that was the expected due date for my child. My son was born early on 05/14/26 and I officially began company paid paternity leave on 05/18/26. I am set to move from company paid paternity leave to WA FMLA on 06/15/26 and return to work on 09/11/26.
The company has since elected to withhold my bonus until I return because the program outline states an employee must be “full-time active employee in good standing.” This is the same document that states the payout would be in March of 2026 while I still fit that description in every way.
I’ve tried to reason with both my HR representative and the head of HR and have been informed they are going to continue to withhold the bonus despite their election to move the bonus payout.
Furthermore, this one could just be bothering me because of the prior situation. As a salaried employee I am never paid for Holidays, my paystubs reflect 40 hours worked and no holiday pay. For Memorial Day 2026 the company paid me 32 hours paternity leave and no holiday pay stating those on leave are not eligible for holiday pay. Should I not be paid my salary just as I always am?
Please let me know if this seams reasonable to bring to an employment lawyer in my state as I’ve started requesting free consultations and have not heard back from anyone and I see paid consultation are not inexpensive.
I thank you for your time and thoughts.