Update discretionary bonus copy

##### Discretionary Bonuses

Recognition can also be realized in the form of [Discretionary Bonuses](/handbook/total-rewards/incentives/#discretionary-bonuses). This is an amazing incentive and benefit that GitLab provides for those team members that are going above and beyond. Once you as a manager receive the nomination in Slack via the Nominator app, make sure you approve or deny based on the [Approval Criteria](/handbook/total-rewards/incentives/#valid-and-invalid-criteria-for-discretionary-bonuses). You will also have an option to update the nomination text at this step. After you approved, there are two more approvals from the 2nd Level Manager and People Team. When your team member is approved for a bonus it is up to you to make the announcement in the #thanks Slack channel. Again, when doing so, please ensure you add the `@sa_leaders` Slack group as part of the message. As a regular part of your meetings with the RDs you support, ensure that they and their teams know how to log a discretionary bonus should one be warranted.

Recognition can also be realized in the form of [Discretionary Bonuses](/handbook/total-rewards/incentives/#discretionary-bonuses). This is an amazing incentive and benefit that GitLab provides for those team members that are going above and beyond. Once you as a manager receive the nomination in Slack via the Nominator app, make sure you approve or deny based on the [Approval Criteria](/handbook/total-rewards/incentives/#valid-nomination-examples). You will also have an option to update the nomination text at this step. After you approved, there are two more approvals from the 2nd Level Manager and People Team. When your team member is approved for a bonus it is up to you to make the announcement in the #thanks Slack channel. Again, when doing so, please ensure you add the `@sa_leaders` Slack group as part of the message. As a regular part of your meetings with the RDs you support, ensure that they and their teams know how to log a discretionary bonus should one be warranted.

---

title: "Incentives at GitLab"

description: "The page contains information about incentives available for GitLab team members."

date: 2026-02-18

date: 2026-03-06

---

Can't find what you're looking for? Try the main [People Operations page](/handbook/people-group/).

### Discretionary Bonuses for Individuals

1. Every now and then, individual GitLab team members really shine as they live our [values](/handbook/values/).  We especially like to celebrate the special moments that exemplify the behavior we want to see in all GitLab team members.

1. We recognize this through the `#thanks` channel, and sometimes also through a discretionary bonus which is also celebrated in `#thanks`.

1. Any GitLab team member can recommend a discretionary bonus for another GitLab team member to the GitLab team member's manager using the [Nominator Bot](#nominator-bot-process) for a $1,000 at [the exchange rate](/handbook/total-rewards/compensation/#exchange-rates). The exception is that direct reports cannot nominate their manager or anyone in their management chain for a discretionary bonus.

1. Only [GitLab team members](/handbook/people-group/employment-solutions/#team-member-types-at-gitlab) are eligible to receive a discretionary bonus / working group bonus or nominate other GitLab team members. Hence, `Temporary Contractors` (Not included in GitLab Team Member Types) are not eligible to receive or nominate discretionary bonus / working group bonus. Any such nominations for the temporary contractors will not be approved by the People Operations team.

1. We are fixing this amount at $1,000 thoughtfully and purposefully. We want the focus to be on the value and the behavior, not on the perceived monetary impact to GitLab. This is about recognition.

1. A general guideline is that 1 in 10 team members might receive a discretionary bonus each month. This can vary greatly as we don't give out bonuses just to hit a quota, nor would we hold one back because a certain number had already been awarded.

1. There is no limit to the frequency with which someone can receive a bonus. If someone deserves a bonus a day after being nominated for one we should do a second one.

   * *Note: If you received the same nomination twice (for the same person and the same reason), you must reject one. See more details in section for [multiple discretionary bonuses](#multiple-discretionary-bonuses)*

1. As with other bonuses, only active GitLab team members can be nominated and can nominate other GitLab team members to receive discretionary bonuses.

  Should a nominated team member leave GitLab, they will not receive a discretionary bonus.

  It's at the discretion of the manager if they still want to publicly recognize the team member's behavior for the nomination.

1. Only individuals in good standing with the company are eligible for discretionary bonuses (I.E. not currently undergoing [underperformance remediation](/handbook/leadership/underperformance/)). If a team member receives a discretionary bonus nomination during a period of underperformance remediation, managers should wait until the underperformance remediation period concludes successfully before determining whether to admit the discretionary bonus request.

1. Any bonus that sits idle for 90 days will be automatically canceled. At GitLab, only 90 days of Slack is retained and therefore any history of this request has also been deleted for the approver.

#### Purpose

### Valid and Invalid criteria for discretionary bonuses

Discretionary bonuses are **peer-to-peer** recognition awards for exceptional work that goes **above and beyond role expectations** while exemplifying GitLab's [CREDIT](/handbook/values/#credit) values: :handshake: Collaboration, 📈 Results for Customers, :stopwatch: Efficiency, :globe_with_meridians: Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, :footprints: Iteration, and :eye: Transparency.

Discretionary bonuses are to celebrate team members that live by our values. To make sure we are recognizing the right behaviors, below are some criteria to help you decide if a bonus meets the requirements for approval. Also in the nomination you are asked to elaborate on how this nomination is meeting the criteria.

Good and great work is our baseline — bonuses celebrate truly exceptional contributions that stand out even by that high standard.

*Valid bonus criteria*

**Award Amount:** $1,000 USD (fixed, at [current exchange rate](/handbook/total-rewards/compensation/#exchange-rates))

* Going above and beyond what is expected in regard to the team member's role description.

* Truly exceptional work.  Good and great is already expected in a team member's work and performance.

* Providing additional coverage or project load for other team members.

* Team member's work results in higher productivity or improved processes that create efficiencies and results. This may also result in identifying cost saving initiatives.

#### Eligibility

*Invalid bonus criteria*

##### Who Can Nominate

* Supplement to income

* For being nice, helpful and friendly

* Doing a project or task that is core to their role

* For help onboarding a new GitLab team member

* Hitting sales target or quota

* Providing customer insight

* Partnering or collaborating with other groups within GitLab

* Working long hours or on weekends

Any GitLab [team member](/handbook/people-group/employment-solutions/#team-member-types-at-gitlab) in good standing may nominate anyone — including people outside their own team. Self-nominations are not permitted.

**Examples of a valid discretionary bonus**

##### Who Can Be Nominated

* The reason for the bonus is that this person (X, a Technical Writer) has single-handedly stepped in to act as a part-time documentation engineer in the absence of a full-time engineer.

The person's history of contributions is plain to see here: (Nominator included links to boards, issues or merge requests)

In particular, X's implementation of a Global Navigation and GitLab iconography for documentation are real highlights of X's impact for end-users. For developers, they have modernized the codebase and continue to work toward making `gitlab-docs` just like any other GitLab project for developers. X's dedication to the Technical Writing team over a long period of time motivates me to do more than just thank X in `#thanks` channel. X has specifically: Been active to see the Technical Writing team to [succeed](/handbook/values/#see-others-succeed). X delivers for the team in lots of [MVCs](/handbook/values/#minimal-valuable-change-mvc), so we can get early value. For example, making iconography available using Markdown first, and planning to deliver other implementations later. X solutions are [boring](/handbook/values/#boring-solutions), in that X aims to reuse as much GitLab code as possible, and raising instances where that isn't the case as technical debt. For example, docs icons are the same library as icons in the product.

* I'd like to nominate X for a discretionary bonus for exhibiting the values for results, efficiency, and collaboration. While the whole backend engineers in the X team were OOO, despite it wasn't his team, X stepped in and handled a problem (link) that was blocking a deploy. X was able to debug the problem, not an easy one by the way, communicate it to the different counterparts, and also fix it. X also spotted that it could affect other features and provide a way to fix them as well.

* I am nominating X for the values efficiency and results for the Nominator Bot. This bot assists us to nominate a team member for Discretionary Bonus without logging into Workday. This new bot speeds up the process probably by half the time it took to get approvals (for both me that administers the process and managers for approval) and directly now impacts our PI to increase discretionary bonuses. X is managing all the debugging and going above and beyond to solve any problems, without anyone asking X or having to follow up and this is out of scope of "just building a nominator" bot.

You can read more about the process in [our handbook](#nominator-bot-process)

Any GitLab team member **except**:

**Examples of invalid discretionary bonus**

* Direct managers or anyone in your management chain

* Temporary contractors

* Team members currently in underperformance remediation

* Team members who are not in good standing or who have left GitLab

* "X has been an integral part to my onboarding experience, working tirelessly to help me get access and answers questions.  X truly embodies GitLab's value of efficiency, collaboration and results"

* "X has continually met or exceeding their sales quota for 3 months"

* "X is always willing to jump in even at the last moments to help out a team member"

* "X has helped to update handbook pages, keeping the handbook alive"

* "I find the team member is doing very inspiring work and easy to collaborate with"

#### What Qualifies

**What does 'going above and beyond' mean?**

A valid nomination must satisfy **all three** of the following:

> To do more or better than would usually be expected of you

1. **Outside normal role scope** — Would this work typically be done by someone at a higher level or in a different function?

1. **Exceptional execution** — Does it stand out even against a baseline of great work?

1. **Demonstrates CREDIT values** — Which specific values, and how?

What do we normally expect of a GitLab team member? As an example, a senior Frontend developer is [expected to solve technical problems of high scope and complexity](/job-description-library/engineering/development/frontend/#senior-frontend-engineer). Going above and beyond involves taking on work that is outside the scope of their job responsibility, and executing it to a high level.

##### Examples by Value

Some tips for knowing if someone is going above and beyond:

| **Value** | **What "Above and Beyond" Looks Like** |

|---|---|

| :handshake: Collaboration | Stepping into another function to unblock a critical deliverable |

| 📈 Results for Customers | Solving a critical customer issue entirely outside your role |

| :stopwatch: Efficiency | Implementing a solution that dramatically improves processes across teams |

| :globe_with_meridians: DIB | Creating an initiative that measurably improves belonging org-wide |

| :footprints: Iteration | Shipping incremental value when others would wait for perfection |

| :eye: Transparency | Making information accessible and visible across the organization |

* Look at other successfully approved bonuses in that person's stage. Is this work similar?

* Look at the level above the person's current job responsibilities. Do their actions exceed their current role?

* Look at the impact of the person's work across the wider organization. Does the work have a large-scale impact outside of their team or stage?

##### ✗ Invalid Criteria

Any bonus submitted that does not include clear and valid reasons for submission may be denied and the nominator / manager will be asked to provide further content and details.

* Routine job responsibilities or core projects

* Meeting sales targets (covered by sales compensation)

* Working long hours (we measure impact, not hours)

* Partnering with other teams (expected collaboration)

* Doing "great" work (that's our baseline, not the bar for a bonus)

### Multiple Discretionary Bonuses

#### Nomination Process

If you received the same nomination twice (for the same person and the same reason), you may reject one. When you do this, please reach out to the team member who submitted the nomination to explain, and include the other nominator's name in the `#thanks` Slack channel announcement.

Submit with [Nominator Bot](/handbook/total-rewards/incentives/#nominator-bot-process) with:

**For example:**

* Which CREDIT values were demonstrated — with concrete examples

* How the work went beyond their normal role

* Specific links or artifacts showing the work

* Measurable impact on the broader organization

* Person A submits a valid nomination for Project X on 2021-01-01

* Manager approves and it progresses in the approval process

* Person B submits a valid nomination for Project X (same project) on 2021-01-02

* Manager copies the nomination (because Nominator Bot may not save the message), reaches out to let Person B know, and rejects Person B's nomination.

* Person A's nomination is fully approved

* Manager shares in `#thanks` Slack channel, mentioning nomination by both Person A and Person B and with the descriptions from both

**Review Steps:**

1. **Manager** — Confirms values are articulated, work is truly exceptional and outside normal role, and bonuses are being distributed thoughtfully across the team

1. **Compensation** — Review and approval

1. **People Operations** — Final review and approval; processes payment

1. **Recognition** — Shared in #thanks highlighting the values demonstrated

Nominations idle for 90+ days are automatically canceled.

### Distribution Guidance

A rough guideline: ~1 in 10 team members may receive a bonus in a given month — but this is not a quota. Bonuses should be spread thoughtfully across the team, not concentrated on the same individuals repeatedly.

#### Valid Nomination Examples

**Technical Writer as Documenation Engineer**

"X acted as a part-time documentation engineer during a critical vacancy — well beyond their writer role. They implemented Global Navigation, modernized the codebase with MVCs, and collaborated across teams for organization-wide impact." (_Values: Results, Efficiency, Collaboration_)

**Cross-Team Critical Support**

"When the backend team was unavailable, X — from a different team — stepped in to unblock a critical deploy, debugged complex issues blocking customer access, and proactively identified similar problems across other features." (_Values: Results, Efficiency, Collaboration_)

**Building Org-Wide Tooling**

"X built Nominator Bot, cutting approval time in half, managing ongoing improvements proactively, and making the entire process visible to the organization." (_Values: Efficiency, Transparency_)

#### Invalid Nomination Examples

❌ _"X helped with my onboarding and answered all my questions."_ — Expected collaboration; not exceptional or outside their role.

❌ _"X met their sales quota for three months."_ — Core to their role and covered by sales compensation.

❌ _"X always helps teammates at the last moment."_ — Expected collaboration with no specific exceptional contribution.

Questions? Reach out to People Operations or post in **#people-connect**.

### Process for Recommending a Team Member for a Discretionary Bonus

**Any GitLab team-member**

1. Write a description of how the working group has demonstrated a specific GitLab value in their work.

1. Email that sentence to the managers of the individuals, suggesting a Working Group Bonus, and set-up a 15 minute Zoom meeting with all the managers to discuss your proposal. *Note: The alignment with managers can also be done asynchronously in a private Slack channel.*

1. Email that sentence to the managers of the individuals, suggesting a Working Group Bonus, and set-up a 15 minute Zoom meeting with all the managers to discuss your proposal. **Note: The alignment with managers can also be done asynchronously in a private Slack channel.**

1. Remember that the manager(s) may or may not agree and they have full discretion (with approval of their manager) on whether their reports get a bonus.  Don't forget that you can also use the `#thanks` channel to recognize people, as well.

**Sales Development Focus Bonus (Sales Development specific working bonus)**