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The Intern Demanded Equal Year-End Bonuses, So I Handed Out Zero
NovelShort
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The New Year was almost here, so I'd worked out everyone's year-end bonus based on their position and contribution to the company. Once I'd double-checked the figures and was about to send them out, Muriel Fox, our new intern, came to find me and said, "Ms. Coleman, I really admire how you've always treated everyone in the company like family. And if we're family, then everyone should be treated the same. So whether someone's a longtime employee or a new hire, the year-end bonus should be exactly the same for all of us."
Chapters (4)
第1章
With the holidays coming up, I set the year-end bonuses according to each person's rank and contribution to the company.
Once I'd double-checked everything and was about to send it out, our new intern, Muriel Fox, came to my office and said,
"Ms. Coleman, I really admire how you've always treated everyone here like family. And if we're family, then everyone should be treated the same. So whether someone's a veteran or brand new, the year-end bonus should be identical for all of us."
I took it as a joke and turned her down.
I didn't expect that, just before quitting time, Muriel would come back with the managers of HR, Sales, and Accounting, laying a petition signed by nearly every employee in the company on my desk and demanding I agree to her request.
I stayed quiet for a moment, then asked the three managers.
"So you're all demanding equal year-end bonuses too? Even if that means zero, same as an intern?"
The three managers' faces changed on the spot.
The office went silent for a beat before the HR manager spoke up first. "Ms. Coleman, I handle personnel, and in my view, whether a company can grow and thrive comes down to one key thing: how united the staff is. Equal year-end bonuses are the best way to strengthen that unity."
Then the sales manager put on a serious face. "Ms. Coleman, you built this company from nothing, one step at a time, which means you've done the sales grind yourself. You know how hard it is. The interns are part of this company too. Some of them have brought in more profit than the veterans. If we don't give them a year-end bonus, won't that break their hearts?"
The accounting manager followed right behind. "Business has been very good this year. Veterans and new interns alike have all contributed. It's just one year's bonus, Ms. Coleman. Why cling so hard to company policy? I say we treat everyone equally this year, and next year we work out a reasonable system together."
I said nothing.
Muriel slapped the petition hard against the desk and stared me down. "Ms. Coleman, what are you still hesitating about? Do you really want to go against every single employee in this company?"
I looked at her and gripped the pen in my hand.
Straight out of college, I threw myself into building this business.
Ten full years, more blood and effort than I can count, and only now has the company finally found its footing.
I treated every employee like family and gave them the best benefits I could.
Two days off a week, holidays, an afternoon coffee break, birthday parties, a gym, a rec room.
Whatever other companies had, I had. Whatever they didn't have, I had that too.
But it never once crossed my mind that the very people who'd walked through wind and rain beside me would let an intern like Muriel march them and their signatures in here to force my hand.
It hurt.
A full five minutes passed before I loosened my grip on the pen, lifted my head, and looked Muriel dead in the eye. I tapped a finger on the petition and asked, my face blank,
"And if I say no, you'll all walk out together?"
Muriel's expression shifted. She clearly hadn't expected me not to cave.
The three managers beside her panicked and rushed to speak.
"Ms. Coleman, you've got it wrong, we'd never threaten to quit."
"Right, right, we only want to build up staff unity so the company does better down the road."
"Ms. Coleman, we've been with you for years now. How could we ever be here to force your hand?"
No? Then what exactly are you doing right now?
I pulled at the corner of my mouth, picked up the petition, and headed for the door.
"Since this is what all the staff want, let's gather everyone before the day ends and talk it out."
I did say this company was a home for all its employees, that every one of them was family to me.
But now they're the ones who don't want this home, who no longer see me as family.
And when a home gets infested, you clear out the pests.
第2章
Half an hour later, every employee in the company had been gathered in the first-floor lobby.
Muriel Fox stood in front of me like she owned the place and said, :
“Just now, three managers and I asked Ms. Coleman to give everyone the same year-end bonus, and she called it a mutiny. Now, whatever any of you want to say, say it. Let Ms. Coleman hear whether we're staging a mutiny or looking out for the company.”
The moment she finished, a voice went up from the crowd.
“Ms. Coleman, how could you think that? I joined this company straight out of school, and I've been here seven years now. Every single one of them I brought in over a million in profit. I really am looking out for the company.”
Once the first one spoke up, the rest fell in line.
“Ms. Coleman, you've really hurt me.”
“Ms. Coleman, you say you treat us like family. Is this how you suspect your own family?”
“Ms. Coleman, you've got this so wrong.”
……
I said nothing. I looked from one face to the next.
Some were people who had been with me for years. Others were interns who'd come in the same batch as Muriel.
The interns I understood. They wanted the bonus, so they'd thrown in with Muriel.
But the old-timers, why? I had never once treated them unfairly.
The voices didn't stop.
“Ms. Coleman, we're not pressuring you. We really are doing this for the company.”
“That's right. Think about it. If everyone's year-end bonus is the same, there's nothing to compare, no one gets jealous, and we all become one real family.”
“Ms. Coleman, whether it's us old hands or the new interns, we all work ourselves to the bone for you. You can't break everyone's heart like this.”
“……”
I looked at Muriel. The corner of her mouth curled up, her eyes full of challenge.
“You hear that, Ms. Coleman? You can't go against the will of the people!”
The three department managers beside her nodded along.
“The country has its laws, a company has its rules, but neither can go against the will of the people. Just agree to it, Ms. Coleman.”
“Ms. Coleman, forgive me for putting it bluntly, but if you don't agree today, these people may not quit, but their morale will drop for sure. And in the end, that hurts the company's bottom line.”
“Ms. Coleman, it took you ten hard years to build this company. Are you really willing to hurt it over something this small?”
I pressed my lips together hard, and just as I was about to speak, a voice cut in from below.
“Ms. Coleman, I don't agree with making the year-end bonus the same for everyone!”
I turned toward the voice. The one who'd spoken had joined the company only a year ago. His name was Carter Finch, and because he was so good at his job, in just one year he'd been promoted to department supervisor.
Muriel snapped, “Carter, I'm fighting to get benefits for every employee, and that includes you. What do you mean you don't agree? Do you want to stand against every single person here?”
Carter's face was full of contempt.
“Muriel, I've got two hands, two feet, and a brain. I can earn my own money. I don't need you fighting for anything on my behalf.”
Muriel's expression turned ugly.
Carter turned to me. “Ms. Coleman, I've always believed you do the work, you get the pay. What isn't yours to take, you don't take. If you give in this time, next time they'll be making demands about their monthly salary. That's the road to ruin.”
Hearing that gave me some comfort. There was at least one person here who got it.
But Carter had turned the whole room against him, and in an instant every employee was tearing into him.
Muriel said to me, “Ms. Coleman, I suggest you fire Carter right now. An employee who can't unite with his coworkers has no place in this company.”
Before I could say a word, she went on, “And I propose the company set up a new department to handle year-end bonuses, with me as its manager.”
I laughed. She couldn't help showing her true colors now.
“Quiet!”
I clapped my hands, and facing every pair of eyes on me, I said calmly, “Since you all agree the year-end bonus should be the same for everyone, then starting this year, your bonuses will be exactly the same as Muriel's.”
“Because Muriel is an intern, she gets no year-end bonus. So neither do you.”
“Oh, except Carter!”
The moment the words left my mouth, every face in the room but Carter's went pale.
第3章
Two seconds passed before Muriel spoke.
"Ms. Coleman, are you threatening us?"
I looked at her, puzzled. "Threatening? Where's that coming from? You people wanted the year-end bonus handed out the same to everyone. I agreed."
Her face soured. She stared at me. "If it isn't a threat, then why not the top-tier bonus for everyone? Why nothing at all?"
"Ha." I laughed twice. "Muriel, are you the boss, or am I? I've already agreed to your request. The year-end bonus is the same for everyone. Don't push your luck."
"Yes, you agreed. But what we're demanding is that the bonus be paid at the highest tier. Everyone gets the top bonus."
There was such righteous confidence in her voice that it actually made me laugh out of pure anger.
A year-end bonus, and the same for everyone, and at the highest tier on top of that.
Did they think I was a money printer?
There is no deal that sweet in this world.
I gave them respect. That didn't mean they got to climb onto my head.
I'm the boss. They're the employees.
I'd heard of employees reading the boss's face. I'd never once heard of a boss reading the employees'.
I looked at the crowd of them in front of me and said coldly, "Is this what you all think too?"
They looked at me, then looked at Muriel, and one by one they lowered their heads, guilty.
My voice went colder. "A lot of you have been with me six, seven years. You know exactly how I've treated you. Wages, bonuses, when did I ever shortchange a single one of you? You want a bigger year-end bonus, I understand that. But listening to some intern? Say that out loud and people will laugh themselves sick."
At that, a lot of heads dropped lower, and more than a few faces went red with shame.
I'd been too good to them, clearly. It had made them think I had no temper, that they could step on my face and keep climbing.
"Ms. Coleman, don't change the subject." Muriel's voice came, sharp with grievance. "I'm an intern, but an intern is still part of the company. As long as it's for the company's good, I have the right to raise my opinion."
I gave her a long look.
"You're only an intern here. You're not yet a real member of this family that is the company. So no, you have no right to raise any opinion at all."
Then I turned my eyes back to the staff.
"I'll say this once. If you keep insisting the year-end bonus be the same for everyone, then not one cent. If you change your mind, come find me before ten tonight and I'll hand you your bonus in person."
Nobody spoke. But hesitation sat on every face.
I didn't wait around for them. I turned and left.
I'd given them the chance. If they couldn't grab it, they had no right to blame me for being cold and heartless.
But I truly never expected that not a single person would come.
No. Carter came.
He pulled out his phone and hit play on a recording.
Muriel's voice came out of it.
"Don't let her scare you. I don't believe she'd actually dare to fire every last one of us."
第4章
The recording was a mess of noise. I could picture just how lively the floor had gotten after I left.
"Easy for you to say. What if she actually goes through with it? Are you going to cover our losses?"
"Right, are you paying for it?"
"Muriel, we're doing this to help you. I don't care about anyone else, but my year-end bonus is probably around twenty thousand. If Ms. Coleman doesn't pay me, you're paying me instead."
"Mine too."
"And mine."
"…"
"Come on, you people…" Muriel's voice went shrill with frustration. "Where's your backbone? One sentence out of her and you're all scared stiff."
"Hmph. Then what do you suggest?"
"Yeah, tell us what to do."
"Simple. Tomorrow when she comes in to work, we wait for her right at the front door and quit on her one by one. I bet she won't dare sign off on it."
"But what if—"
"There's no what if. Not unless she's ready to lose this whole company."
The recording ended. Carter looked at me.
"Ms. Coleman, I hope you won't give in. If you cave once, there'll be a second time. They won't be grateful. They'll just decide you're soft and easy to push around."
I smiled and asked, "You think I'd give in?"
Carter said nothing.
I knew what he was thinking.
It was true. I'd poured ten years of my life into this company, and I wouldn't let anything harm it. Never mind every employee but Carter walking out. Even half of them leaving would hit the company hard.
But Muriel, and the rest of them, they weren't the pillars holding this place up anymore. They were pests eating away at it from the inside.
Keep them, and the company would rot from within, bit by bit.
Cut them out, and yes, the company would take a hit. But only for a while.
A moment of pain always beat pain that dragged on forever.
The next day, I'd barely stepped out of the car when I saw Muriel waiting outside the front door with a whole crowd behind her.
Before I even reached them, they started up, one after another.
"Ms. Coleman, I'm resigning."
"Ms. Coleman, I'm really sorry. Something's come up at home. I've already printed my resignation letter. Please sign it."
"Ms. Coleman, I'm grateful you gave me the chance to work here, but I've realized this company just isn't right for me."
"…"
Muriel watched me with a smile, her eyes full of satisfaction.
"Ms. Coleman, I already tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn't listen."
I smiled too, and asked her, "You're not resigning?"
Her expression flickered, and when she saw everyone turn to look at her, she rushed to say, "Of course I'm resigning too. But I don't think it has to come to this. Every problem has a solution. Isn't that right, Ms. Coleman?"
Before I could answer, she went on, "Ms. Coleman, if we all leave, the company won't be able to keep running. Can you really bear to watch this company you've given ten years of your life to end up like that?"
I nodded. "No, I can't."
Her face had just brightened when my next words came out. "But since it's what you're all asking for, I have no choice but to agree."
Muriel froze where she stood. It took her a long moment before she managed, "Ms.… Ms. Coleman, what do you mean?"
"Nothing much. Just granting your wish."
I walked into the company as I spoke.
"Follow me. Come into my office one at a time, and I'll sign each of your resignation letters, one by one."