Try to leave your old job on good terms but make sure you get what you are owed for your work. Photograph: iStock

So you’re quitting your job? You may be jumping ship to better terms but just make sure you aren’t leaving money on the table on your way out. Don’t hand in your notice, and definitely don’t leave the building, before getting a few things straight.

Bonus

Resigning from a job can feel like a divorce. You want to go, they want you to stay, both sides invested in the relationship but now it’s about who gets what in the break-up. You raked in a tonne of sales this year, so they’re definitely going to pay your bonus, right?

Before breathing a word about quitting, dust down your contract and the employee handbook. If there’s a hefty bonus at stake, giving notice at the wrong time can leave you out of pocket by thousands of euro.

“Most bonus schemes would say if you’re gone, you’re gone. You don’t get anything pro-rata for the time you were there,” says Anne Lyne, partner specialising in employment law at Hayes Solicitors.

“But if you are still there on the payment date and the scheme doesn’t disallow payment in the notice period, you could argue, ‘well I’m here and I’m entitled to it’,” she says.

When it comes to planning your exit, read the small print. While a bonus might accrue until December 31st, don’t assume it gets paid in January. Some companies delay payment as a retention strategy. A bonus may not get paid out until March. Pulling the plug at the wrong time may mean you’re gone before payment hits.

On the flip side, be careful to