The execs will get hit on their 2020 bonuses (payout April 2021) and bonuses should be ZERO then.
You can’t really retroactively penalize people or change their 2019 goals after the fact. “Oops, we really meant to write a goal for you in January 2019 that you will be prepared for a major pandemic.” Good luck ever recruiting in the future if you do that. I expect there are legally binding performance contracts that spell out the bonus structure. They would are open to huge lawsuits if they changed goals or payouts after-the-fact.
That said, the right thing to do would have been to defer paying out the bonuses. Or perhaps get HR to work with the executive staff and get everybody to agree to voluntary reductions of 50%. Something could have been worked out with the e-staff and line staff.
Yep