Issue a one-time award

What this achieves

An award is a one-off: a bonus, an equity grant, or a spot award, recorded against an employee with a reason and a date. It is deliberately not a salary change, so it does not compound into every future year.

Required role: Administrator.

Steps

Go to Compensation → Awards.
Select Create Award.
Choose the Employee.
Choose the Type.
Enter the Amount and choose the Currency, or enter Units and the Equity Type for an equity grant.
Enter the Reason.
Set the Effective Date.
Choose a cycle under Link to Cycle (optional), or leave it as No cycle.
Save the award.

Award types

Option	Description
Bonus	A one-off cash bonus.
Equity Grant	A grant of units rather than an amount. Choose the equity type.
Sign-On Bonus	A payment made on joining.
Retention Award	A payment made to retain someone.
Spot Award	A small immediate award, usually for a specific piece of work.
Other	Anything the categories above do not describe. Use the reason to say what it is.

Example: recognising an engineer at HC Corp UK Ltd for shipping a release over a difficult weekend is a Spot Award, not a merit increase — the work was exceptional, the salary is not what changed.

Equity is recorded in units

An equity grant asks for Units and an Equity Type rather than an amount, because a grant is a number of instruments rather than a sum of money. Cash award types ask for an amount and a currency instead.

Award status

Option	Description
Pending	Recorded and awaiting approval.
Approved	Approved and due to be paid.
Paid	Payment has been made.
Cancelled	The award will not be paid.

Pending awards can be approved together using Approve All Pending, which is the usual way to clear a batch recorded across a week.

Linking an award to a cycle

Linking an award to a compensation cycle records that the award came out of that round, which keeps a bonus awarded during the merit cycle readable next to the increase awarded at the same time. It is optional, and an award with no cycle is a normal standalone award.

Why awards are kept separate from salary

A bonus paid once and a salary raised permanently cost very different amounts over time. Recording a one-off as an increase overstates your permanent salary cost in every year that follows, and understates what you actually spent this year on recognition.

Example: £3,000 paid once to an engineer at HC Corp UK Ltd is £3,000. The same £3,000 added to their base salary is £3,000 every year, plus everything that is calculated from base pay.

What happens next

The award appears against the employee and feeds the bonus or equity line of their total rewards statement for the year. It does not change their base salary, so nothing about their band, their compa-ratio, or their next merit recommendation moves because of it.