ANALYSIS OF SCHEMES NOW IN FORCE. 
17 
24548 B 
Determination of Bonus Fund. 
In tlie majority of cases the total amount allotted for distribu 
tion among the employees as bonus is a fixed proportion of the 
profits; hut in a small number of cases( a ) participation stops at a 
certain point, beyond which the claims of the employees cease. 
In some cases( b ) the amount available for the payment of 
bonus is not a proportion of the profits, but a sum contingent 
upon a certain rate of profit being earned by the business: this 
sum is in some cases(°) a fixed percentage on wages (varying in 
one instance (No. 18) according to the amount of profits, and in 
another (No. 116) according to the length of service of the parti 
cipants), and in others( d ) an amount ascending with the rate 
of profit earned. In one instance (No. 122) a sum of money 
sufficient to buy a fixed number of shares in the undertaking is 
apportioned to selected employees. 
With profit-sharing gas companies, the bonus varies with the 
price of gas according to a fixed scale, rising as the price falls, 
and falling as the price rises. These companies are by law 
allowed to increase their dividends beyond a certain point only 
in proportion to a reduction in the price charged by them for gas. 
It follows that a rise of bonus is always accompanied by an 
increase of dividend, and may therefore be regarded as an indica 
tion of increased profits, though it is not based (as in other 
systems) on a direct distribution of profits. 
The Divisible Profits. 
The profits taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining 
the amount available for distribution as bonus are almost in 
variably the profits earned by the undertaking^) to which the 
scheme applies in the year, or in a certain number of cases( f ) the 
half-year, preceding the distribution, which takes place usually 
once a year, but in some cases( s ) half-yearly, or even quarterly^) 
or monthly.^) The profits in the case of No. 16, however, are 
taken from the average results for several years; while firm No. 
35 reserves to itself the right to carry forward an amount of 
undivided bonus with a view “ to average good and bad years.” 
The divisible profits for the purposes of the profit-sharing 
scheme are usually declared to be the clear or net profits—that 
is to say, the gross profits after deduction of rent, taxes, rates, 
wages, salaries, and other working expenses. In joint stock com- 
(*) Nos. 2, 8, 22, 44, 51, 78, 116. 
( b ) Nos. 18, 28, 44, 46, 59, 75, 106, 116, 122, and one anonymous case. 
(°) Nos. 18, 28, 46, 116, and one anonymous case. 
( d ) Nos. 44, 75, 106 ; in the case of No. 106 the amount credited to employees 
as bonus must not exceed the amount represented by a 10 per cent, dividend to 
shareholders. 
(°) the business as a whole ; in one case (No. 35), however, the profits 
taken into account are those of a particular department, while in another 
(No. 60)—confined to working foremen—they are estimated for each job which 
the participant has had charge of. 
(*) Nos. 10, 20, 41, 50, 102, 109, and one anonymous case. 
( B ) Nos. 11, 13, 17, 26, 32, 59, 92, in addition to cases noted under (*) 
( h ) Nos. 23, 45, 92. 
Q For No. 92 distribution may bo monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly, as 
may be found most convenient for different classes of recipients.