Each of our employees who has been with our firm for a period of six months or more receives a Christmas bonus. Since you became a member of our sales department on August 1st， you will not be receiving a bonus this year.

　　I wanted to be sure that you understood this company policy prior to our disbursement¹ of the holiday paychecks to avoid any misunderstanding or disappointment on your part.

　　We are very pleased with your work and while we would like to bend the rules， this would be unfair to all of our other personnel².