Rewarding Loyalty. Formalisation Processes of Seniority Bonuses in Companies in Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Württemberg

Abstract

The article deals with seniority bonuses in the context of corporate social policy and thus as an aspect of industrial labour relations. For companies, this type of bonus was one of many measures to retain the core workforce, but its symbolism was also intended to set expectations regarding employees’ work ethic, loyalty to the company and desired political behaviour. This article analyses the seniority bonus as the subject of an internal process of the production of normativity within companies. Using case studies from three Württemberg metalworking companies, it shows how gifts of money to long-serving employees became an established part of corporate culture. This was not primarily the result of active regulation by the management, but rather the outcome of the stabilisation of a practice that initially does not appear to have followed any fixed rules. Therefore, habit and stable expectations, including on the part of employees, functioned as specific normative resources. As companies grew in size, the requirements for seniority bonuses as well as the amounts paid often became formalised. The article argues that this represented a process of »juridification« at company level, as seemingly generally applicable and binding rules were established that provided both employees and employers with a framework of expectations and actions. Even though no legal entitlement to seniority bonuses was ever established, they became part of a detailed system of corporate regulations.