Bonus to an employee means

Bonus is the workers' share in the surplus profits of the establishment, paid over and above wages; in Muir Mills Co. Ltd. v. Suti Mills Mazdoor Union (1955) the Supreme Court held that bonus is neither a gratuitous payment nor a deferred wage. Under the Code on Wages, 2019 (which replaced the repealed Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 from November 2025), statutory bonus payable under law is likewise excluded from the definition of 'wages' under Section 2(y)(a) and governed separately under Chapter IV, so bonus is an extra payment out of surplus profit rather than part of salary, commercial profit, or a penalty.