[vostok]

> No, because unlike a bonus, tips make up a significant portion of waitstaff's regular income.

Bonus makes up a significant portion of my regular income. I'm sure that's true for many other HN readers.

> It's a completely different situation than bonuses on top of a salary that already covers living expense.

In many cases, salary does not cover living expenses. In some instances bonuses can be 10x annual salary or more. Even if bonus is only 3x annual salary, you wouldn't say that salary covers living expenses as few people live on only 25% of their income.

[niij]

What employers are paying 3x and 10x salary in BONUSES? That's ludicrous.

Also, if you're still working there and looking for fresh CS grad (Scala and Linux admin experience), my email is in my profile ;)

[Spooky23]

Financial services.

New York State's budget situation is good or bad based on how good or bad bonuses are -- we're talking billions of dollars.

[vostok]

I'm including things like annual equity vesting in bonus. This is not uncommon for senior individual contributor positions in high paying tech and finance companies. It's also not uncommon for sales and senior management roles in all industries.

[nommm-nommm]

Is the bonus agreed upon before starting work or do you just work for pennies with the hope your employer is feeling generous at the end of the year?

[vostok]

It depends on what you were able to negotiate. You might have a guaranteed bonus in your first year, but you might rely on your employer's generosity in future years. In some cases, the bonuses may be based on certain targets, but those targets can become impossible to meet if your employer changes certain aspects of your situation.

Even in the very unlikely event that you have an airtight contract, there are instances where the employer simply will not pay you. Legal action might be the only recourse in this situation. Sometimes you are required to go through arbitration and sometimes you have to sue.