Boards & Bonuses: Some Holiday Tips

"We recommend one week's salary as a bonus," says Alvin Wasserman of Fairfield Property Services, "unless there are extraordinary circumstances." Steve Greenbaum of Mark Greenberg Real Estate, agrees, noting that "if they performed above and beyond their duties, then one week's pay is the starting point," and that seniority should also play a role.

Michael Wolfe, president of Midboro Management, also suggests one week's salary for building staff, "more or less depending on performance." Superintendents can get two weeks' pay and higher.

"If there was some special project or extraordinary circumstance that year, we often recommend giving the superintendent or appropriate staff member an additional bonus," says Lynn Whiting, director of management at Argo. "Rather than lumping it into one bonus we give them their regular bonus and a separate bonus for their special effort that year. This practice prevents the staff from having the expectation of a higher bonus in the future."

"A number of our buildings give no year-end bonuses to the staff other than the resident manager [super]," observes Don Levy, vice president at Brown Harris Stevens. "The theory is that the residents of these buildings will pay year-end gratuities to the other staff members commensurate with their services."

For the buildings that do give bonuses to all staff members, Levy adds, "one week's gross pay each is the standard. Some buildings use a round amount, close to one week; some give new or part-time employees somewhat less; and some give handymen or other particularly valuable employees somewhat more. Resident managers are treated differently. Some buildings pay relatively little ($1,500-$2,500), some pay considerable amounts, up to $30,000 net so that the co-op or condo pays the taxes, and most [of them are] somewhere in the mid-range. A good number of buildings pay what used to be exclusively year-end bonuses over the course of a year, either quarterly or monthly, to provide the resident managers with income over the year. A few buildings assess all shareholders each December and divide up the proceeds among the staff members as the board and resident manager decide."

When is a bonus too much? Notes Whiting: "It's too much when staff members in the same position are given notably disparate bonuses. There is no way to prevent staff members from talking amongst themselves about their bonuses, and this can cause resentment. The exception is the superintendent or prorating a bonus for a new employee."

Adapted from Habitat December 2007. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>