Corporate gifts have become a bit of a standard among many companies in terms of employee motivation. Whether it’s a personalized birthday gift or a gift given to everyone over the holidays, it’s definitely a great way to show the employees that their hard work and loyalty to the company have not been ignored.
Unless you’re like these folk on Reddit who themselves, or their friends and family, had to endure getting gifts that leave much—much—to be desired. It does beg the question of whether getting nothing would’ve been a better choice.
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My mom’s boss gave everyone a pen (a really cr*ppy, normal pen) with their names printed on normal white printer paper that was scotch taped down the side of the pen. This sounds made up even to me as I type it, but it’s still in our junk drawer.
Not me, but one year the company my brother works for gave each employee a CD of the owner playing Christmas songs on the harmonica.
A small, nickel-sized, heart-shaped rock sent in the mail. It was supposed to represent their appreciation for the extra work during Covid. All I could think of was Charlie Brown trick or treating, “I got a rock.”
Pro life tip: Start sending your employees random stuff you find in your driveway instead of making them feel appreciated.
It goes without saying that corporate gifts are a good idea, if done right. It was reported that 42% of businesses claim relationship management is their top reason for why they’re gifting things.
Corporate gifts are considered a pretty effective tool for humanizing the company and thus strengthening coworker relationships.
That year the company decided it wasn’t going to provide basic office supplies for the break room. Coffee, tea, eating utensils, napkins, nothing. That year for Christmas we all got a brown paper bags fashioned like lunches. Inside was a metal straw, cloth napkin, a child sized set of plastic cutlery that fit in a travel case, a copy paste printed piece of paper with food puns in relation to our job, and a single fun sized hundred grand candy bar. This Fortune 500 company had over a billion in raw profit that year. Oh, and the cutlery ended up getting recalled due to some terrible forever chemicals in them.
A letter from the CEO telling us how he is going to celebrate Christmas with his family up north to go skiing. That was all.
I had a boss like this - laid off staff due to the business allegedly doing badly then came in to work the next day in a brand new top-spec Jaguar.
Two free tickets to a cinema. The issue was that the closest cinema in that particular chain was about 800 miles away from me.
Besides that, corporate gifts are a meaningful way to express appreciation for the hard work employees do. Not only are the employees happy to be appreciated, the company can benefit from it too with increased business growth.
And it’s not just employees—corporate gifts work just as well with business partners and inter-company relationships too.
An email that only upper management would be getting the end of year bonus (sent to entire company by accident instead of just upper management). Then laid off 2 weeks into the new year.
Found out from a friend in the company a little while later that the board of directors held a vote. They keep their car allowances at the expense of a wave of layoffs, or lose their car allowances and 10-15 people get to keep their jobs. Pretty sure it was unanimous.
No matter how many times a company says you’re family, just remember that it’s the type of family that would gladly cut your throat to make sure the fat cats get to eat.
Jelly of the Month membership instead of my Christmas bonus. I wanted to put a pool in the backyard but nope.
Noise-cancelling Bluetooth headphones. I'm sure they were good and useful to some people, but I'm legally deaf.
Other reasons to use corporate gifts include providing an opportunity to stand out as a company, overcome physical distance barriers (especially in light of remote work and the pandemic), and it allows everyone to focus more on the positive. That last one in turn can foster a more effective relationship if trouble arises.
I worked at a hospital in the billing department. I got a travel thingy of hand sanitizer. Meanwhile, the IT department who shared our building got North Face puffy jackets. Jokes on them though, it was Christmas 2019 and I had hand sanitizer for COVID. 😭
Plot twist - IT were in the basement - with no heating ... Hehe I've spent a lot of time in IT over the years and the departments are usually in the most obscure and miserably cold, windowless locations.
We were told we were receiving our Christmas bonuses soon, and then we were all given a poinsettia. The poinsettia in itself wasn’t so bad, mine is actually still alive years later, but the fact that they had the audacity to call it a bonus was absurd.
So, what’s the best strategy at approaching corporate gifts? Assuming a budget is set and the logistics are all figured out, all that’s really left is to pick out a gift, to make it personal, and then to put the plan into motion.
In terms of what to pick, the short answer is it depends. On what? You have to pick out a gift that your employees will actually like.
Nurses Week 2022 (height of Delta wave COVID). We were given rocks on a keychain. The rock was engraved with the word “Hope”. We might have gotten some chapstick too.
Not me but a friend - all staff at the hospital received a kitchen scrubby for Christmas. Not even themed. Just random browns, greens, pinks, and yellows... seems like the boss bought dollar store multi-packs and opened them to give everyone one piece.
New owners this year. Old owner gave us 10% of our salary as a year end bonus. New guys gave us $100 amazon cards that were drained by the time we got them. Everyone was pissed but didn't wanna say anything so I did. He asked everyone and they claimed to be delighted with their cards. Spineless bastards. Lmao.
The general rule is to find gifts that would be both personalized and practical. One of the more popular approaches is choice-based gifting, which commonly takes shape in the form of gift cards.
Alternatively, you can compile a curated collection for employees to choose from.
An ultra-religious self-help book so we could become less miserable, incompetent and immoral.
That's bullying and abuse in the workplace tbh. My passive aggressive self would've used the book to cite examples of their own behaviour back at them whilst saying a boss should lead by example...
Teacher here.
One year, as our Christmas bonus, we got a defective plastic keychain that read "I love teching!" Spelled exactly like that.
Normally, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.. but after the s**t we had been through, with zero support from admin, s**t pay, disrespect, etc. the keychain set us all off. It was adding insult to injury.
Like, not only is our "bonus" a keychain that didn't even work (the hasp had no spring), but the spelling error meant that a) someone didn't even check them when they arrived, and b) someone put them in every teacher mailbox without looking at them.
Admin sent out an email that basically said turn your keychains back in so they could send them back and get corrected ones. So, adding insult to injury.
I appreciated the sentiment, but all of us could've done without that.
A bonus on top of all this gifting would be to make sure that sustainability is taken into account. So, organic and eco-friendly materials is the way to go. Well, that, and also if you do end up getting something that one person absolutely hates and will likely get rid of it, at least the carbon footprint is minimized. But let’s hope that’s not the case.
During the pandemic, my partner’s company sent employees each an envelope through the mail with a sticker in it for some appreciation week I laughed so hard at that. It literally was a sticker that said “happy appreciation week”.
Well, they truly and sincerely expressed how much they appreciated their employees, didn't they?
I was re-gifted a gift basket given to my boss by a client and he forgot to remove the card that was addressed to him.
It helps to add a personal note to the recipient. It doesn’t have to be a long message—heck, it doesn’t even have to be from the boss per se. From management or from the company can suffice, as long as it shows appreciation. Explain why you are sending the gift, make it personal, and sign it.
Expired food.
Every year we got Christmas hams. One year there was a spoilage problem with part of the batch that they bought. Boss came out of his cubby and shouted "Everybody smell your hams!" Production ground to a halt as everyone burst out laughing. Boss got redfaced, went back to his cubby.
Can relate. My last Christmas bonus was a basket of expired candies. 😒
A pack of 10 tissues at the onset of COVID.
But if gift cards don’t sound like the best idea, consider compiling a gift box that might include some of the following items:
Hydro Flask, reusable lunch containers, work essentials for remote work, DoorDash coupons, mug warmers, plants like succulents, personalized alcohol, subscriptions to learning or self-development platforms, wireless chargers, books…
Not me but a coworker at last year's raffle got a Nintendo DS cleaning kit. For a normal Nintendo DS, not even a 3DS. They aren't being made anymore.
I used to work in a record shop in the UK and usually got a bottle of wine as a Christmas bonus. Then the company was bought by Virgin and our Christmas bonus was a copy of Richard Branson's (Virgin's CEO) autobiography.
My last job the company broke all sorts of financial records and gave everyone a very expensive glass thing with a decal of the refinery. Not only did it suck but all employees ended having to pay 75 dollars in taxes on it. So the 'job well done' cost 75 bucks.
… wireless speakers, item tags, noise canceling headphones, beauty and health care packages, eye wear or other accessories, DIY boxes, coffee, tea and anything in between.
And then don’t forget to slap that personal note on top of it and you’re golden. And if not, leave a feedback form and improve upon it.
5 dollar Subway gift card. My boss made me come in on an off day to pick up because, “she did not want me missing the company bonus”. I really wonder if our managers need how much was on the cards? We talked about it for months.
A long sleeve denim shirt with the company logo in the front above one of the front pockets..
In Florida. Plus we couldn’t wear denim at work so the only time we’d be able to wear the company shirt is on our own time (not happening) or when we’d have dress down day (again not happening).
When a coworker inquired where we could wear this since we can’t wear it to work they listed places (like a BBQ joint, the movies, etc.) and said we should be grateful since most places don’t give their employees gifts.
It was a call center. Could’ve given a blanket (since it was cold in the center), travel mug, anything except a shirt we can’t wear.
At a company Christmas party they would raffle off prizes; one prize for each person. They guy in front of me won a Budweiser mini fridge with LED lights. The guy after me won a LG flat-screen TV. My prize? A Pepsi baseball hat with broken snaps.
I got a nylon T-shirt too small for me with a local rugby team logo on in our Christmas draw. My teammate landed a beautiful $200 piece of chinaware I'd been eyeing up in the shops for months. I'm still mildly envious, especially as he didn't appreciate the item he got.
So, ever got something from your job that made you silently say “what the flip?” Share your experiences and thoughts on anything you’ve read here today in the comment section below!
And if you want more insultingly stupid gifts and perks that companies thought of giving, then look no further than this article.
An email from the boss saying he is donating "on behalf of the company" to a charity he is a chairman of.
A compulsory invitation to the holiday party.
Technically, I wasn't required to attend but it was a career-killer if you didn't. I had to spend money on a dress just for the party since I didn't have anything that was suitable, so not only did it cost *me* money, but I had to spend a precious evening pretending I liked my coworkers.
I had to attend several of these for my husband’s former employer. You were expected to be there, with your spouse. I knew almost no one, had to chit chat with execs that were out of touch with reality, politely decline boozy advances from those who went to the cash bar, and eat sad cold food, because the upper level people were always served first 😫. My poor hubby would be so embarrassed and end up taking me out somewhere nice when we managed to slip away!
A pink slip. And I don't mean lingerie.
TableAssault:
A pink slip (in the US anyway) can be a notice of termination of employment or the title to a vehicle. I’m guessing OP didn’t get a new car as a gift, so… got fired.
A cheap plastic key ring with the company logo on it after working 16-hour days for months to win a massive contract. No overtime paid either.
I remember pulling some stupid hours for months to complete the technical part of a huge tender. The company got the order and the day after I was told in my review that I didn't do enough for the company.
The first company I worked for out of college gave everyone a “free turkey” around the holidays. It wasn’t really a free turkey, it was a $25 gift certificate to a grocery store that was inconvenient for 75% of the people working there. And $25 didn’t cover a turkey, of course. Turns out, the company owners had a stake in the store.
A bottle of our restaurant’s “signature” steak sauce that no one really liked and that we all had free access to all day, every day at work. This was instead of the standard $100 cash bonus we normally got yearly.
I'm surprised that the boss didn't find his car's fuel tank full of steak sauce by the next day.
Worked for FritoLay. Went to the corporate headquarters and in my hotel room was a bag of FritoLay snack, all expired.
Welcome back in office postcard after the pandemic work from home period. We’ve got it minutes after receiving termination letters.
Like I was fully expecting it but still it was in a poor taste.
Nothing. And I work for a giant company. Not surprised though.
The MD of the company bought himself a boat ‘for the company’. We didn’t get a bonus that year.
$50 gift card but only $10 was left.
I had a manager give me a blood pressure monitor once because, in his words, "You're fat, eat unhealthy, drink massive amounts of coffee and seem stressed all the time and the company is afraid you might have a heart attack."
I’m diabetic and my boss knows, but every year he gets me 2 dozen cookies, a tin of caramel popcorn and bag of homemade chocolate turtles.
I would have put them in the staff break room with a note "Help yourself, received as a gift but I am diabetic and this would literally kill me if I ate it"
Invited to a nice restaurant with other employees. Spouses were invited but had to pay their way. We were told to claim our meal on our expense forms. But our boss hadn't cleared it with his boss so all our claims were rejected.
So my wife and I went to a nice restaurant, had to pay for both of our meals and had to hang out with our boss while doing it. This was a twice a year date night type restaurant so we wasted one of our date nights with coworkers.
Edit: I've been thinking that it is possible this manager did this on purpose. The other thing he did is tell a few of us that we had been working so hard and putting in so much unpaid overtime (we were salaried) that he'd take three of us golfing for the afternoon. By the end of the round he said we should all probably use a half day of our holidays on our monthly time sheet.
Staff dinners are always such fun. I don't like hanging out with these people all day but let's spend a dinner together. At least for us it was paid for. Of course one year they gave us assigned seats so we could talk with cow-orkers we did not know instead of the one person in the office we like. Left tat firm after 20 years. Only stuck around to get my 20 year bonus. My check was literally thrown at me.
A 10 year anniversary memory book with my name spelled wrong on every page.
A pencil. And it was just some generic pencil, like from a Dollar Store. Thanks BNYMellon.
Choosing Happy! for me would be using the CEO's ear as my pencil sharpener.
As an airline pilot, I worked Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day this year. On Thanksgiving Day, I walk into the cockpit to find one of those $0.75 (silver dollar size) pecan pies in the little cardboard box (the ones you get at the gas station checkout line). On Christmas Day, I found an iced sugar cookie.
Boss gave me a mug, I quipped “a mug from a mug.” HR took the mug off me, made me apologise, then gave me the mug back.
A penny.
Specifically, a 1935 penny - representing the year the company was incorporated.
$20 in company credit lol. Not only is it such a small amount for something that literally goes back into the company, but this was supposed to be the replacement for the end of year bonus that got cancelled, of which I was told has never happened (I joined this year).
After five years, they changed my badge color from white to blue.
My wife got a check for $10. After taxes it was eight and change.
A card from my CEO with a picture of him and his wife. Ripped up and thrown away. idc dude give me a bonus. you’re a $70m a year company.
For Christmas in 2021, McDonald's gave me a $5 gift card to McDonald's. I ate more free McDonald's every single day I worked than that card would've bought, so I ended up just giving it away.
My company is owned by a holdings company so it's a bunch of different unrelated stuff.
They keep giving us these vouchers to spend at their store.
So I did a tour of the campus, and they brought us to the store. And it's literally elderly medical care stuff, like the things you would attach to your toilet and bathtubs to have bars to hold onto. They also have those super big chairs with all the gadgets and whistles. They're like 4 grand.
So thanks for the 5 dollar voucher lol
I seriously have no idea what anyone was thinking when they came up with this reward system.
They gave you a gift. Not their fault if you don't redeem it, and they don't lose any money.
Questionable Christmas Ham, circa 2017-ish.
In general, Christmas Ham + canned goods and assorted sweets were commonly given by Philippine corporate to employees in December, sort of to boost the Noche Buena feast on the eve of Christmas. The ham in question did not look very appetizing (think giant block of pale Spam). One of my co-workers tried offering a bite to her dog; the dog refused.
Edit: it might be earlier than 2017. I must have been so horrified with the questionable ham, I blocked out the exact year.
If the dog won't eat it it's very VERY bad. That, or it's actual dog food, and the dog is like mine, who hates dog food...
I got an email congratulating me on 5 years of service.
That was nice 😐
I got an A5 certificate signed by the top boss in a plastic frame from the dollar shop as my 'bonus' after 25 years in the office.
One year I got a jacket with the company name on it. It was a nice enough jacket but everyone got the same size - a men’s large. I’m a 5’1” woman so that didn’t work. I donated it, at least it will keep someone warm.
I was given an air tire pressure guage to promote safety. The guage was manufactured in China and promptly exploded when connected to a tire valve.
I worked for Enterprise Rent A Car back when their main business was insurance replacement, in the early 90’s.
One year they gave us a print of a kid sitting in an old pedal car, daydreaming. We joked it was the company founder thinking about renting his car out to neighborhood kids.
I worked for one of the largest retailers once. This one Year the store manager decided for gifts for the associates he would just wrap up claims merchandise and give one to each person. Mine was a Picture frame without the glass that had baby on it. This was a done as a Christmas present from the store.
A pewter die-cast holiday ornament of the dead boss's bust. In a velvet lined box.
A coupon for 15% off Panera Bread catering. I forwarded the email to abuse. They said it was real.
After my 32¢ raise and 23¢ merit raise they gave me a used, cheap company pen with a laser pointer. After that I did my 10 hours of work at the beginning of the day and spent the rest of my day looking for another job in my cubicle.
Christmas gift. It was an advent calendar... Delivered on the 15th of December.
For 15 years of service, I received a hand bell with my name on it.
It started to corrode within a week in normal conditions.
My "hazard pay" during covid for being an essential worker was a one time gift card to a local grocery store. Forgot to add that it was one time $10 gift card.
Damn. That probably got you one egg. A small egg. Or maybe 3 sheets of 1 ply toilet paper. :(
A dead plant.
Instead of the usual holiday turkey we received a winter hat with the company logo. Practically every person threw it in their desks garbage can. Following year turkeys were back on the menu.
A silver pin with the company's logo on it. It was a gift for working 5 years there.
I have been there for 6 years....7 next month. I got it 2 weeks ago.
A loaf of bread. The temps that we were working for us all got a $200 check from their temp agency. I will admit that the bread tasted good (it was one of those cinnamon and brown sugar desert loaves),and but man. Worst part was that we were all paid so poorly that we *needed* that bread; it supplemented my food budge for a week.
A deck of playing cards with coworkers' faces on every card.
A major hospital system in several US states, their response to rising medical staff burnout was to send clergy staff around to the departments with a box of gifts and call it “mental health awareness week”
Gifts included:
A “stress-relief” vanilla scented votive candle without a jar.
Laminated paper bookmark with a prayer on one side and the other side was a how-to for taking a deep breath.
A tiny travel sized packet of tissues.
Lip balm.
There was also a smoothie food truck parked outside of the hospital on one of the days but my department is ridiculously short-staffed so not only was I unable to partake in said smoothie-day but also I didn’t get to take a lunch break.
A $500 bonus instead of the standard $50 that everyone else got, then an explanation email that they obviously typo'd the check, don't cash it, a replacement and correct $50 is on the way. The correct check never came.
Cash the check, and give them back the $450. When they come and ask for it.
I got a raise once. It was a whole nickel. For my 5 year anniversary, I was given a glass paperweight that weighs 5 lbs. I keep it by my bed in case anyone breaks .
Worked for a largest local bank. There were 3 people between me and the president of the bank. My 7th annual was $36/mo. I quit shortly after that, took a minimum wage job ($3.35hr best I remember). After 90 days the boss comes around and tells me they're giving me a 25 cent/hr raise and apologized it couldn't be more but it was after all, a MW job. I told him how much the bank gave me and that he just gave me a $40/mo raise after 90 days, I thanked him with a smile and we went about our business, both better from the encounter.
Self-published biography of the company’s founder written by the official company’s staff historian.
Shrink wrapped tennis balls with the company’s logo on it, but they were so cheap they didn’t really bounce and when you opened the package it smelled like toxic waste.
Here’s an umbrella. Seriously and it broke three weeks later on a summer rain storm.
The myriad plaques, trophies, signed certificates lauding my best, greatest, most efficient, most improved whatever, all of which I left in my cubicle when I was made redundant after 20+ years of service with 30 minutes of notice. They weren't worth the soybeans they were made of.
My enjoyment always came when they decided some snot nosed kid right out of school could do my job for less. Never mind my years of experience. So I moved to the competition and 75% of my customers followed me. Imagine how well it went over when the old employer lost roughly 40% of the entire store sales (75% of my departments sales) in one fell swoop because he wanted to cut payroll by a few hundred bucks a month. He didn't remain a DM long after that. That was 15 years ago, they still havn't recovered the loss.
Probably doesn't qualify but I was offered 2 tacos from Taco Bell for my birthday once. Co-workers started laughing maniacally, but I was hungry so I said "Sure!" Hey it's still two free Tacos!
An apron. They gave us all aprons one year. Then they got mad if we didn’t wear the aprons at work. But the aprons were super thin linen, and the dyes and chemicals we worked with soaked right through them, so I wanted to use the apron at home & just keep using my normal coveralls at work. The CEO literally said we had to wear the aprons bc she wanted to take photos of us working to put on the blog, and she wanted us to look like artists and not mechanics. But we worked in a leather goods factory… i ended up wearing the stupid apron over my coveralls 🙄
In 2020 I was granted a large retention bonus, enough cash that we were going to use it to buy a bigger house. On the day that we were all sent home to work remotely due to COVID, I was given a red plastic tumbler that said "Merry Christmas you filthy animal" on the side. In March. 3 weeks later (4 days before my bonus was to be paid), I was laid off alongside 1200 of my coworkers.
Now about once a year I enjoy a stiff drink out of my $270k plastic tumbler.
$25 gift certificate to Honey Baked Hams. A half ham was $45. A pie was $18.
The company had no alternate gift for Jewish, Muslim, or vegetarian employees. They literally told them they could take it a or get nothing.
The casino I worked for had also recently announced they had record revenue for that property also.
Well before Covid teachers would get laid off. My first year I got laid off, but I also had to attend a mandatory meeting with the superintendent - a “thanks” for staying.
I got a rigid plastic coffee mug and the handle broke off almost immediately.
Ooooh I have a great one. Ten year anniversary, got to pick out of a catalogue, mostly stuff under like 30-40 bucks tops. Slow cookers, blah blah. None of the stuff was appealing so I didn't spend much time and chose a kitchen thermometer because I'm always breaking them or melting them.
Nope, what I got was a kitchen thermometer probe. Just the probe and the cord and a cord carrying gadget.
Gift certificate to Tim Hortons. I had a job for ten years that would start at 5am and my lunch would be at 9am. It was so remote that the only place to buy breakfast before 5am or anything resembling lunch at 9am was Tim Hortons and by year ten I was sick of it. So of course they give a gift certificate to there.
A prepaid Petrocan gas card - since I was the founder of the office Bicycle Users Group and didn't have a car.
End of the year gift was a basketball with a note that said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Now let’s shoot for more commissions in 2015”. Everyone in the sales department got this including the manager.
The worst one was probably the ominous combination of a branded coffee mug and a stress ball. It's like they were saying, 'Here, have something to drink your sorrows away, and if that fails, squeeze this stress ball.' A dubious duo that left me questioning both my caffeine intake and stress levels. But hey, at least it made for a good conversation starter during awkward office parties!
iPads one year for exceeding company revenwue goals.
Sister company complained because they didn't get iPads because of their c**p year.
Next year we exceeded goals again, but we got towels with the company logo that didn't absorb water for s**t.
Sister company also got towels.
I was a minor working closing shift at a McDonald's on Xmas Eve. I had no transportation and had to walk over a mile home (American NE). They game me a f*****g frozen turkey. Like, first of all,what can you possibly do with a frozen bird on Xmas Eve?? Second, I was 17. What was a 17yo going to do with a frozen bird on Xmas Eve? I walked with if for a few blocks and abandoned it on some random person's row home front porch.
We used to get 3 scratch tickets, each worth like 2 euros, for christmas every year.. about 150 employees, everyone got 3 tickets. Nobody ever won anything.
I say "used to" because in 2022, we sent the scratch tickets, unused, back to our boss. almost all of us.. we didn't get one in 2023.. we also didn't get a christmas party as we used to, instead the boss invited everyone to drive with him to the next big city to "party".. while the rest had to work on their day off to cover the shifts of people going to said party.
Bottle of water, the mini hand sanitizer that you can connect with a bag, and a flavored powder thing for the water. Hahah. It was pitiful. Teacher appreciation by management.
GameStop gave me a 256mb flash drive for working there for 5 years.
This really depends on when this happened. When they had just come out, a 256mb flash drive would have been a pricey item.
It was a manual radio that you had to crank for like 20 mins to get 5 mins of power. He said it was a survival radio for when the world loses all power or you go camping. He was always getting ready for the end of the world.
5 years was a silver Cross company engraved pen/pencil set. Got that set 2002, and it's never been used to this day. 10 years we got a nice gold company logo'd ring. Boldly displaying the company logo. Was a very nice ring. At 15 years they took the ring, and added a diamond chip. Same at 25 years. I was there 27 years before retiring. I proudly wore it for 17 years. Took off the ring, well because I didn't work there anymore. Let's head to the local gold jeweler and sell it. She weighed it, took into account the diamond chips, and had a sad look on her face as she said it was worth $358. Huh? This thing was solid gold, heavy, nice. Are you sure? $358? I'll pass. Next jeweler offered me $325. C**p. Went back to the original offer, and she wrote me a check for $358. Guess it was a cr*ppy gold, though it looked expensive. Don't know if it's the worst, but it was the worst feeling when I was told it's value.
I'm so happy I live in a European country where it is normal that as good as every employee receives a thirteenth month pay at the end of the year. Thanks to our unions. I'm sure all these happened in the USA. The 'you are not better than slaves'-vibe is strong in these stories.
That's because all the stupid asses in the US voted out unions.
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I got nothing but tbf at the restaurant where I work I do get free snacks, unlimited free drinks, free breakfast and lunch and a discount on food when I'm not working so that's basically my gift
Wasn't really a "gift" but my former boss handed me a rope and suggested I use it to hang myself because the team i oversaw had poor performance one weekend.
I live in an Asian country. Every year, there's a big company dinner, and three years ago it got moved to a place with a fixed menu, they choose for you. They KNOW I have lethal food allergies, and they choose food I can't eat. Then they ask "why don't you go?!?!?!"
I wouldn't be at all surprised if a lot of people noped away from a lot of these companies and their stupid, greedy bosses. A bonus should be a bonus, something useful and appreciated! It doesn't have to be expensive, just utile and of good quality. Finally, nothing beats cold, hard cash.
One place gave me a slab of beer. I don’t drink alcohol and live alone. Another gave me a company shirt, just like the other five they gave me to wear at work. My favourite bad one was a voucher to spend at one of the other hotels in our chain, it wasn’t enough to cover one night for one person.
Nowadays at my current job, we either get a Christmas bonus, a bottle of wine, or we go out to dinner with the company president, who is an awesome guy. At my old job, I got a $50 gift card for a restaurant chain that I told my boss that I didn't like. And it was only valid at one location that was an hour away from where I lived at the time.
Retired after 23 years as Pres/CEO. Had relocated but remained on staff to assist in transition. My entire family was visiting when a box arrived. Opened it to find a cheesy plaque with the wrong name engraved. Um...thanks?
I worked at a Staples call centre, and for my two year anniversary there, I was rewarded a cheap plastic clock that broke when I tried to put in the batteries. I recognized that it came from a company that supplied us with those "gifts with purchase" items that we gave away. I looked up the price; they were $2 each with a minimum purchase of 500. One of my coworkers quipped "it's symbolic; they're telling us our time is worth nothing."
I got given a toy cow once. We were farming. The first year was a bottle if wine which I liked. The 2nd year, on account of having had a baby, we got a toy cow. A toy cow for year of working at all hours, on all weather conditions and low pay. We left after that.
My wife was a university professor, and was generally the last one to leave on any given day. On the last day before Christmas, she was the only professor left in the building when the president made the rounds, ostensibly to give everyone their Christmas gift from the university: a pencil. Not a nice mechanical one, a plain, wood pencil. The president was carrying a huge bowl of them, and said, "Just one!"... to the only person in the building.
My old boss died and then quickly my colleague (I found him dead) I helped to get the company I had worked for for almost 30 years sold on behalf of his widow and his son. And despite them both getting a substantial payout, all I received was what I could see with my eyes closed and a subsequent 3 months off with pretty dreadful depression... And they've never been in contact with me since. I learnt the hard way it's better to spend 5 minutes on your feet than a life time on your knees (as many who have encountered since that episode have found out).
Four years in a row I got a "Christmas" card with nothing on the front. Inside was a notification that a donation had been made in the name of [employee name] to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Although corporate was in Cincinnati, I worked and lived in Colorado. Second, both my first and last name were misspelled every year. I couldn't even claim the $5 donation for my taxes since the name was wrong.
I work at a tiny, non-corporate convenience store. Every year the owner gifts us cash ($200) and a large bottle of alcohol. Last year it was Crown Royal, this year Parrot Bay pineapple. I don't drink. 👍
I sincerely hope you're not complaining. You get $200 and something you can gift to someone else.
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One time, the whole staff got a book of poems … still have (“What the Living do”) … not bad, but the better gift was a leather-bound passport holder from a London company … still have it and the only complaint is that you have to take it out for scanning … sadly, only has one stamp …
These people just don't get it. S****y Christmas bonuses are just incentive to GRIND HARDER.
I'm so happy I live in a European country where it is normal that as good as every employee receives a thirteenth month pay at the end of the year. Thanks to our unions. I'm sure all these happened in the USA. The 'you are not better than slaves'-vibe is strong in these stories.
That's because all the stupid asses in the US voted out unions.
Load More Replies... I got nothing but tbf at the restaurant where I work I do get free snacks, unlimited free drinks, free breakfast and lunch and a discount on food when I'm not working so that's basically my gift
Wasn't really a "gift" but my former boss handed me a rope and suggested I use it to hang myself because the team i oversaw had poor performance one weekend.
I live in an Asian country. Every year, there's a big company dinner, and three years ago it got moved to a place with a fixed menu, they choose for you. They KNOW I have lethal food allergies, and they choose food I can't eat. Then they ask "why don't you go?!?!?!"
I wouldn't be at all surprised if a lot of people noped away from a lot of these companies and their stupid, greedy bosses. A bonus should be a bonus, something useful and appreciated! It doesn't have to be expensive, just utile and of good quality. Finally, nothing beats cold, hard cash.
One place gave me a slab of beer. I don’t drink alcohol and live alone. Another gave me a company shirt, just like the other five they gave me to wear at work. My favourite bad one was a voucher to spend at one of the other hotels in our chain, it wasn’t enough to cover one night for one person.
Nowadays at my current job, we either get a Christmas bonus, a bottle of wine, or we go out to dinner with the company president, who is an awesome guy. At my old job, I got a $50 gift card for a restaurant chain that I told my boss that I didn't like. And it was only valid at one location that was an hour away from where I lived at the time.
Retired after 23 years as Pres/CEO. Had relocated but remained on staff to assist in transition. My entire family was visiting when a box arrived. Opened it to find a cheesy plaque with the wrong name engraved. Um...thanks?
I worked at a Staples call centre, and for my two year anniversary there, I was rewarded a cheap plastic clock that broke when I tried to put in the batteries. I recognized that it came from a company that supplied us with those "gifts with purchase" items that we gave away. I looked up the price; they were $2 each with a minimum purchase of 500. One of my coworkers quipped "it's symbolic; they're telling us our time is worth nothing."
I got given a toy cow once. We were farming. The first year was a bottle if wine which I liked. The 2nd year, on account of having had a baby, we got a toy cow. A toy cow for year of working at all hours, on all weather conditions and low pay. We left after that.
My wife was a university professor, and was generally the last one to leave on any given day. On the last day before Christmas, she was the only professor left in the building when the president made the rounds, ostensibly to give everyone their Christmas gift from the university: a pencil. Not a nice mechanical one, a plain, wood pencil. The president was carrying a huge bowl of them, and said, "Just one!"... to the only person in the building.
My old boss died and then quickly my colleague (I found him dead) I helped to get the company I had worked for for almost 30 years sold on behalf of his widow and his son. And despite them both getting a substantial payout, all I received was what I could see with my eyes closed and a subsequent 3 months off with pretty dreadful depression... And they've never been in contact with me since. I learnt the hard way it's better to spend 5 minutes on your feet than a life time on your knees (as many who have encountered since that episode have found out).
Four years in a row I got a "Christmas" card with nothing on the front. Inside was a notification that a donation had been made in the name of [employee name] to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Although corporate was in Cincinnati, I worked and lived in Colorado. Second, both my first and last name were misspelled every year. I couldn't even claim the $5 donation for my taxes since the name was wrong.
I work at a tiny, non-corporate convenience store. Every year the owner gifts us cash ($200) and a large bottle of alcohol. Last year it was Crown Royal, this year Parrot Bay pineapple. I don't drink. 👍
I sincerely hope you're not complaining. You get $200 and something you can gift to someone else.
Load More Replies... One time, the whole staff got a book of poems … still have (“What the Living do”) … not bad, but the better gift was a leather-bound passport holder from a London company … still have it and the only complaint is that you have to take it out for scanning … sadly, only has one stamp …
These people just don't get it. S****y Christmas bonuses are just incentive to GRIND HARDER.
