About Bonuses and Indignation

Great indignation in the Belgian press yesterday. Guy Burton, the president of Ethias, a group providing insurance and banking services and Belgium 's second-largest insurer, received for years important bonuses, exceeding € 1 mio.

Nothing extraordinary really, except for the fact that “the bonuses were entirely and solely linked to the increase in turnover.”  Responding to the allegations, the group reluctantly admits that there was indeed an internal agreement, dating from the sixties (!), that linked the bonus of the president entirely to the increase in turnover.

Indignation and disbelief all over.

In most law firms, partner compensation and bonuses are linked to the turnover they produce. They are rarely linked to the contribution they make to the profits of the firm or to the long term added value they have created.

In most law firms, associate compensation and bonuses are solely linked to the billable hours they produce.

You know what is not surprising? Guy Burton is a lawyer by training.

Barend Blondé