A company cannot stop paying an “exceptional” bonus that has been paid for several years without meeting certain conditions
Published on :
20/04/2026
20
April
Apr
04
2026
An employee is claiming payment of an exceptional bonus that had been paid to staff for several years. The employer disputes the existence of an established practice, citing the suspension of payments due to the company’s economic situation. However, as the employer failed to establish that it had suspended payment to all staff, the established practice was recognized. The bonus was therefore due to the employee. This is the ruling recently handed down by the Court of Cassation.
Cass. soc., 11 February 2026, No. 24-18.719
Where a practice observed within the company is at once general, consistent and fixed, that practice is classified as a custom and becomes binding on the employer. This is the case with a bonus paid regularly, to all employees (or to a category thereof), and on a consistent basis.
If these conditions are met, the employee may claim the bonus granted as a customary practice, a bonus which is not “exceptional”.
Conversely, if the three conditions are not met, the benefit granted is a mere gratuity falling within the employer’s discretion.
In this case, the bonus had been paid for several years (12 years), in April, its amount had become fixed and it applied to all staff.
In April 2020, in view of its financial difficulties and the uncertainties surrounding the future in the context of Covid-19, the management decided not to pay the exceptional bonus to any of the company’s employees.
The Court of Cassation upheld the existence of an established practice and approved the payment of the bonus to the employee. Indeed, the employer never denied that this bonus was universal within the company and did not justify its decision to withhold payment of this bonus across the board in April 2020.
Practical implications of the ruling
If a bonus is paid annually, generally in a fixed amount, the employer cannot cease payment without following a mandatory formal procedure:- inform, or even consult, staff representatives in advance,
- officially inform all employees in advance,
- in good time to allow for negotiations with staff representatives to be initiated in an attempt to find an alternative solution.
To avoid such risks, it is necessary to clearly formalize the rules governing bonuses (in a contract or internal policy) and to avoid unregulated “automatic” payments. Finally, the procedure for terminating the practice must be followed.