A Florida social-services organization paid more than $220,000 in employee bonuses just before merging with another nonprofit group, the St. Petersburg Times reports.

Family Service Centers made the payments to about 100 staff members on November 30, the day before it united with Suncoast Center, which provides mental-health and other support to clients. Suncoast gave out much smaller bonuses, amounting to $30,000 for approximately 200 employees.

Officials with the Pinellas County Juvenile Welfare Board, which approved the merger and will give the newly combined organization $5-million this fiscal year, criticized the payout by Family Service Centers.

In other compensation-related news, many charities in the Austin, Tex., area are forgoing annual bonuses this year, as well as cutting executive pay and freezing staff salaries, says the Austin American-Statesman.