It's that time of year again: Christmas/Holiday bonuses?

This has to be the most depressing thread ever...a couple of Hams, couple of weeks off here and there and that's it. You all just killed my holiday spirit.

For the record..

my wife gets nothing.

At work we had a holiday dinner at some weird Chinese restaurant with dead fish at the front and pictures of black dead chickens on the menu. Then we had a White Elephant thing where the owner bought maybe $1K of gifts and we all ended up with one. I got a pretty nice 3 Piece luggage set..MSRP maybe $150.

I remember my first real job out of college, was at a commercial printing plant that was ridiculously successful and family owned. The owner used to give everybody who had been there at least 1 year 10% of their salary every xmas as a bonus if you hadn't been written up for anything that year...in cash...handed to them at their desk or printing press. Then on every Friday he'd walk around with 4-5 $100 bills in his pocket and hand them out to people he just thought did a job that week.

Man, things sure have changed in the last 15 years....people are happy with a vacuum packed ham now, depressing...give me some eggnog..

We got TWO mince pies, some were mouldy and out of date. Feeling the love!

My bonus is I work for myself. No more waiting to see if you get a bonus, no more saying to myself ...Damn I made them tons of money this year..and All I get is a damn ham.....and a really cheap one at that. My bonus is being the best boss I ever had. Wife on the other hand rakes it in...a months salary + a really great party.

reply to post by jtma508


I opened a business in the Philippines in September this year. We hired experienced staff at higher salaries than they were previously earning in their respective careers. By law we have to pay an additional 13th month by December 20th as a fixed bonus! This is taxed by the authorities at the prevailing salary rate!

We have 9 staff who demanded to know what bonus they will get on top of the bonus???

We have been open less that 4 month, will be losing money for at least a year before we start making a profit, it will be at least 10 month of operation before our incoming monies will be higher than expenses!

We do plan on giving these staff an extra bonus, which my partner and myself had previously spoken about, but it was meant to be a surprise and we were both taken aback and annoyed at their attitude! Other than that we have been very happy with their performance but just felt this was an unfair example of greed, on their behalf!

You know, I had a rather interesting reaction to this thread. I was thinking about how I didn't feel like I'd gotten much for a Christmas bonus at my job. However, on reflection, I actually got quite a lot. Makes me wonder if maybe we aren't taking some of it for granted. I got a $150 bonus on my paycheque, a $50 gift certificate, and I'll get a week and a half of paid time off (at my pay rate, not quite as good as it sounds, but still pretty darned nice) because we're closed after tomorrow until the day after New Year's. (the first Christmas I was there I hadn't been there long enough to get any of that except a gift certificate, but last year I got pretty similar to that; I think it was $100 last year)

I guess technically it's not required that employers give anything for Xmas. Being shown some appreciation is a nice gesture though. Treating employees the right way all year should be taken into consideration. $100 bonus at Xmas doesn't make up for 364 days of a crappy boss/job.

reply to post by Hoosierdaddy71


That's true. I start these threads each year to get a quick snapshot of how things are changing in the workplace. For those old enough to remember, holiday bonuses (they were ALWAYS called Christmas bonuses) were a fundamental part of the employer/employee relationship. Smaller companies would tend to give a few hundred dollars and larger companies percentage of the person's annual pay. This, of course, in addition to pretty impressive Christmas parties and often a ham, turkey or some other festive food gift. It was a tradition that made the employee feel like a part of the larger company-family and an expression of the company's appreciation for the year's hard work and loyalty.

Of course the employers were also providing health insurance.

reply to post by jtma508


Yes i got a bonus and no it isn't much. In some ways, it would have been less insulting to actually get no bonus!

Mind you, seeing as i spend my working life mainly on ATS and elsewhere (boss works from home rather than office!) i suppose i don't really have any grounds for complaint!

we do annual performance bonuses, paid out usually the first week of February.

My wife and her coworkers all got a small bonus. It was dwarfed by the increase in deductible of the health insurance and the increase in the employee copay of the policy though. We figure she lost her raise and bonus plus maybe about two hundred bucks. The medical industry got a bonus and pay raise

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Yea, most companies have annual performance reviews/raises but this is specifically about the vanishing tradition of Christmas/Holiday bonuses. A separate thing altogether...

reply to post by jtma508


Yup, on this I must agree. What I receive in employer donations to my 401, my health insurance, and roughly 50k in free life insurance, I cannot complain. My employer is very generous, and even though my healthcare went up, it is still highly competitive in relation to the quotes I have seen from the exchange and other posters.

I am grateful to have a job, all of the benefits, and to have gotten a job. They do also give cost of living increases during the year to stay competitve in the field. There is much to be complimentary about.

I was once given an outline of my actual "worth" to the company based on benefits, training, and expenditures, along with my pay, and I was floored by how they valued me. I was worth far more to them than just what my pay reflects, by more than double. This felt really good.

To have them continue, in this econony, to offer competitive raises, and then the healthy retention bonus was surprising and welcomed. I am very secure, and very happy in my job. I work very hard to show that appreciation back. As do many others. We have a really healthy, and a really happy work environment, and our overall turnover rate is surprisingly low.

Though I have not pursued it, they also offer healthy investments in the refunding of education costs, college, and any training that benefits the employee in their job. Many people have furthered their education because of this, getting degrees all the way to phd and doctorates.

I love my job, and I love my employer. That is why I have been there nearly 13 years! I see myself never leaving. There are people that just celebrated their 40+ year anniversaries this month. Easy to see why!

It is a rarity in this day and age.

My bonus is I get to be my own boss. I consider myself lucky to be where I am doing what I do so that in itself is a kind of bonus?

jtma508
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Yea, most companies have annual performance reviews/raises but this is specifically about the vanishing tradition of Christmas/Holiday bonuses. A separate thing altogether...

I have never seen a CHristmas bonus given out to anyone that I have known, personally.

I get mine in March and it is half of last years...

Hongkongphooey
reply to post by jtma508

 

I opened a business in the Philippines in September this year. We hired experienced staff at higher salaries than they were previously earning in their respective careers. By law we have to pay an additional 13th month by December 20th as a fixed bonus! This is taxed by the authorities at the prevailing salary rate!

We have 9 staff who demanded to know what bonus they will get on top of the bonus???

We have been open less that 4 month, will be losing money for at least a year before we start making a profit, it will be at least 10 month of operation before our incoming monies will be higher than expenses!

We do plan on giving these staff an extra bonus, which my partner and myself had previously spoken about, but it was meant to be a surprise and we were both taken aback and annoyed at their attitude! Other than that we have been very happy with their performance but just felt this was an unfair example of greed, on their behalf!

Where is my BALATO!!!!

Our bonus in the military is that we're not being forced into Obamacare. I'll take that any day!



Plus BAH rates go up a smidge in 2014.