More bonus horrors

This one, from Entrepreneur.com, involves Valerie Bent, who two years ago was working for an L.A.-area investor relations firm she doesn't want to name (shucks, though I have a couple of possibilities in mind). Typical end-of-the-year bonuses were running up to 40 percent of an employee’s salary, based on how much the business had made that year. As at many companies, that was incentive enough to work hard (55- and 60-hour weeks were common) and "run a tight ship," Bent says.

As 2004 came to a close and the company was celebrating its most profitable period ever, Bent and the other employees eagerly awaited their bonuses (Bent was expecting something in the low five-figures). But the partners decided to use the bulk of the company's bonus fund to expand the business by opening up a posh Los Angeles office, and the employees ended up with nothing. That's right—nothing. Bent was furious - more on the principle of the matter - and particularly felt bad for several co-workers who were living paycheck to paycheck and truly needed the money. She took the following week off, and instead of merely relaxing for the holidays, she decided to set up her own corporation. After making a million in revenue last year, she sent her two employees on a vacation to Italy as their holiday bonus. Now, she admits of the Grinch-like bonus she received, "It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me."

Another horror involving millionaire bosses (aren't they the best kind?) is on the jump.