sign-on bonus

State: CA
I was hired with a comp plan of base salary + commission(when quota is met). They also gave me a sign-on bonus for at least 6 months of employment. I have worked here for 3 months, they changed the comp plan today which lowered my commission at 25%. I quit and they want the sign-on bonus back. Do I have to repay them? They have breached the contract first.
Thanks.
swang

Read your entire contract. They cannot change the terms of compensation or commission unless the right is given to them in the contract. If it is not given and they breached, you can tell them that what they did amounts to fraud and criminal activity in many states. Which means they just forfeited the amount they gave you.

LABOR CODE
SECTION 970-977
970. No person, or agent or officer thereof, directly or
indirectly, shall influence, persuade, or engage any person to change
from one place to another in this State or from any place outside to
any place within the State, or from any place within the State to
any place outside, for the purpose of working in any branch of labor,
through or by means of knowingly false representations, whether
spoken, written, or advertised in printed form, concerning either:
(a) The kind, character, or existence of such work;
(b) The length of time such work will last, or the compensation
therefor;
(c) The sanitary or housing conditions relating to or surrounding
the work;
(d) The existence or nonexistence of any strike, lockout, or other
labor dispute affecting it and pending between the proposed employer
and the persons then or last engaged in the performance of the labor
for which the employee is sought.


http://www.attorneypages.com and contact a labor law attorney if you still have problems.

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I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.