Whoa. I can't believe how many people are saying just talk to your manager. I am a manager and I really disagree with that advice. Talking to your manager may n

Whoa. I can't believe how many people are saying just talk to your manager. I am a manager and I really disagree with that advice. Talking to your manager may need to happen at some point but it should certainly not be the first step. Unfortunately, in the real world, even a completely rational fair question asked to a manager can have negative results for the employee. The risks compound when a new employee might not fully realize they asked a question that the manager thought was stupid or inappropriate and now thinks differently/worse of them. ...To answer your question. Yes of course it's cause for concern A $100 bonus like is most likely one of 3 things: 1. It's a fuck you level intentionally bad bad bonus as you suggested. 2. It was a mistake by HR and there should be two more zeros (at least) that are missing. 3. There's no mistake by HR or bad intention by your boss, the $100 check is correct, but it fails the "people I work for need to have enough common sense that I don't despise them and think they are clueless" test. As for how I might play it. Is there a coworker not your manager who you are friendly enough with and trust to just bring this up casually? You don't have to talk numbers or express disappointment just get a better understanding of what other bonuses looked like. Even if you and your manager are bros and you think you can chat off the record, I still wouldn't do it. Find someone else. If you can't find a coworker to chat with casually then speak to HR, maybe bring it up in a nice way: "Hi HR, just wanted to ask about how our bonuses should be reported for tax purposes, I heard it might be a different tax rate, by the way just a random q too, are $100 dogshit bonuses like this normal"? Either way start networking. Never hurts to start building that network even if this works out ok and you stay a while. Good luck, mate. P.S. If they really did make you stand and queue up, I would quit for that alone.