Do you get a Christmas bonus?

“I forgot our June 'appreciation' gift, a Visa card with money on it. Let's see, I think it was $16.63 last year. What's the point? IMO, just put it to some good use. All those little bits might then amount to something.

One nice thing at Christmas is that employee groups and employees' churches give gifts and food to families who are struggling financially. The boss in one program where I worked would spend all year buying gifts with her own money for the kids on the program AND their siblings. These were kids with catastrophic illneses whose families earned less than $40,000/year or whose medical expenses were more than 25% of the family income. We're talking hundreds of gifts here. Some years, I would load up my van and deliver gifts to families who couldn't come to town and get them. So I guess my Christmas bonus is seeing the best of the Christmas spirit in action and seeing the gratitude on moms' faces when they see that someone cares about them and their kids. That's the best.”

“garfum - that 10% net sure is a lot more than 10% gross. I will be lucky to get 50% of my 10% bonus after taxes, so it's like a 5% bonus.”

“I don't get a bonus but I do get christmas eve off without pay.”

“I work in higher education... Not only do we not get a bonus, we even have to pay for our own holiday party (which in the past, was mostly paid for from empty pop (soda) can deposits....
:-(

Lots of cutbacks in recent years. We just stay thankful that we have jobs....”

“I got my annual bonus a few minutes ago.

You guys should feel sick.”

“Party at bacpac's!!”

“No annual bonus, but I got a certificate and cash award for volunteering so much of my time in doing the campfire programs this summer :)”

“I realize I actually get a kwanza bonus of sorts. Not cash but we always get 1.5-2wks off at Christmas and New Years. I am so accustomed to the time I take it for granted. I need to start thinking about that more.”

“think hard and APPRECIATE!!!!”

“wintersolstice, I certainly do appreciate it. I just have grown so accustomed that it doest stand out as anything out of the ordinary, like a weekend.”

“what's "a weekend????
Right Lizs”

“I am a bookkeeper for a chain of grocery stores, the past few weeks I have put through as well as watched all the manager give out gift certificates, cash bonuses, gifts etc.: Monday will be the last payroll I put through for the year and I have not received a christmas bonus of sort. Any advise? Would any of you ask your boss for a bonus or just not say anything and continue on.”

“I wouldn't say anything. If you stoop to asking, and he has already made plans to do something for you behind your back, you'll feel stupid. A bonus is just that, a bonus, and as such is a voluntary remuneration for a job well done. If after the holidays are over, your boss hasn't done anything in that direction for you of his own accord, perhaps a question as to why not could be voiced. Especially since he knows you are aware of the many bonuses and gifts that he has distributed to other employees. After all, if an employee isn't measuring up in his/her bosses eyes for some reason, he/she has a right to be the first to know in order to correct it.”

“In addition to a generous bonus (and I mean generous considering I've only been with the company for 2 months), we all got our company Christmas gifts today. Everyone got a Sony PSP. Not bad at all!”

“Very nice!


The company I work for is a multi-billion dollar private company. Each year they used to give us a certificate for 5 dollars off a ham or turkey. Last few years we got nothing but a link to an internet Christmas card, lol!”

“Well maybe I make it sound a little more generous than it is, my company has a total of 4 employees. I'm guessing if we had a few hundred or thousand there wouldn't be as much wealth sharing going on.

The benefits of working for a small, well, tiny, company...”

“I work for Arnold Schwarzenegger. We get lots and lots of time off throughout the year. And Maria sends me a fruitcake. I prefer time over moolah. I used to make lots of moolah with little time, I much prefer less moolah with lots of time. If I could make lots of money AND have lots of time, that's what I want. I'm working on it.com.”

“I just found out today that we all get $100 to spend on company logo apparel. Whoopee! Not sure if I'll use mine or not, because as of Jan 1 I won't be on payroll anymore!”

“Get something really cool and sew a TT logo over it.”

“Three weeks paid vacation, I guess. I don't think state employed teachers can expect an actual Christmas bonus.

My department usually rotates having a Christmas party at someone's home. This year's party was very nice.

My wife's company used to have awesome Christimas parties with lots of raffle gifts. Now they don't do anything.”

“$50 to Fred Meyer AND...


$250 to REI!!!! :) Guess I'm getting that baby carrier after all!”

“i just found out we're not getting a bonus this year...that sucks, i've already put a down payment on a pool”

“I just found out today that I have to work Xmas eve and the day after Xmas. But Monday will be double time.
Does that make it a bonus?”

“All of our bonuses are tied to performance, not holidays.

We do get a four day weekend as we take both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

And we had a pretty cool Christmas party.”

“I got a big cash bonus but end up spending most of it on my dang kids for Christmas. Thank god for bonus or they might not get christmas.”

“i hope i get a jelly of the month club membership this year”

“My bonus is that I still have a job (I think). This kind of thread makes me wonder if the union / state-employee dudes / dudettes even know what a high risk venture it is working in the private sector. Sometimes we make more $$, sure, but we have NO guarantees of anything, meanwhile many of them b!tch about the size of their Xmas bonus.

Holiday TT memo: You should all appreciate what you have, the grass isn't always greener on the other side, whatever you think the othetr side offers. The mere fact that we can post here means we're doing OK!”

“Oh, I got my 5-year service pin today. Its got a ruby in it. :)

I'm working one more day this week, and one more day next week, and I'm never going back (at least not on payroll, I may visit my friends there once in a while!). :)))”

“No Christmas bonus, but my boss did hand me a promotion slip this morning with a $3500 raise on it and a grade increase. He actually said "Merry Christmas" when he handed it to me. That's the biggest raise I've ever had that wasn't at raise time.”

“Hobbit - Congratulations!

Wanderer-As an employee of General Motors for 15 year prior to going to work at the state university, I know where of you speak and am not complaining. But if GM had not laid me off, I wouldn't have looked for the job I have today.

On the other hand, I got a Christmas card from one of my best buddies at GM. He just got promoted to VP of Human Resources for GM North America. He will have his hands full for a few years!!!”

“I work for a state university in the state with the absolute worst economy in the nation. The state budget has necessarily been cut to the bone, and yes, it is just as risky at this point as in the private sector.

They hold a big Christmas party, but I've only gone once or twice in my 15 years here. (I picked out a crystal bowl for my service award instead of the pin with 3 gemstones. See what happens if you stick around, smiley girl? ;) ) They provide free food and drink (nothing outstanding) in the high-school-style festively decorated cafeteria.

In the last several years we've been grateful just to receive COLA every year; some people have had to do with freezes or below COLA raises instead (in effect, a pay cut).

My Christmas "bonus" is a paid vacation from Dec. 25 to Jan. 1. While I appreciate the time off (with pay), I always thought I was missing out on the "big cash bonus" until I read what some of you get (no offense). Thanks for reminding me of the true value of my "bonus".

Merry Christmas everyone! Count your blessings, no matter how small or large!”

“Fourteen days off......back to work on 3 January.

Where to hike....”

“This morning our senior VPs met us in the lobby and gave us all a certificate for a free fountain drink from our cafeteria!!

Joy to the world!!!!!!”

“My P/T job gave us $50 bonus ($8/hr. regular pay). My new F/T job gave us a killer luncheon, token gifts (candles and ornaments) and three paid days off between Xmas and New Years'day. Folks that had been here over 1000 hours also got a cash bonus.
(I didn't qualify for that) Considering I have had the worst year for financial reasons I am coming out okay. Here's to 2006!”

“Close. We get a Christmas bone.”

“Jelly of the Month Club”

“I got to handout some 1k bonuses. That was actually fun. We don't do big bonuses because the company funds 15% gross pay into retirement. No match necessary by the employee.”

“Woo hoo,mine hit the bank this morning,time to buy a new (used) car and plan two very important trips for Me”