I'm boiling mad. It turns out that the first year I'm eligible for receiving a bonus, my (40+ FEMALE UNMARRIED) boss decided to award me nothing. Apparently, she feels that bonuses should be rewards for exceptional performances, thereby implying that my work performance (which met expectations according to my official appraisal) for the previous year is not sufficient grounds for a bonus to be awarded. Moreover, in order to give me the opportunity to prove that I am capable of being exceptional, she has given me more work.

To add insult to injury, she also stated that my base salary is at industry standards, and therefore, does not "need" a bonus in order to prop it up. Given that the salary increments are handed out on a different date than the bonus, I'm forced to assume that this also means I will not be getting a raise this year.

I've sacrificed a hell of a lot ever since joining my current department. I've been working my ass off, putting in investment-bankeresque hours (which also reduced my hourly wage to being barely higher than that of a burger flipper), and all for what? To receive the same reward than if I had turned in a bad performance? What the f***? She's sending out the wrong message, to put it mildly.

My department will be down several people (temporarily) from February onwards with no replacement headcount coming in and the workload being spread among the rest of us. You would think a wise boss would know when not to f*** around. All I can say is... good luck, man. I'm not intending to stick around.