Do you get any "extras" from work at Christmas

[Lady Whistledown]

Christmas lunch at a local restaurant, week Friday.
A complimentary hamper, worth a couple of hundred quid but we pay BIK tax on that.
Notification of annual bonus, to be tipped into January's salary.

I thought you were a firefighter? Are you not doing that any more?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

with occasional reminders of being threatened with disciplinary action if caught doing outside freelance work.

Does Hiney Art count?

 

[worthingseagull123]

One company company I worked for years ago did away with Christmas bonuses and time off for a Christmas lunch. The bad feeling in the office was significant. People stopped going above and beyond what was asked of them and the company's profits went way down. Still the owner could not complain. You damage goodwill and people will do their basic work objectives and nothing more. And rightly so.

 

[worthingseagull123]

I work in the public sector and get no paid for extras at Xmas. The priv day that we used to enjoy has been taken away from us by George "Scrooge" Osbourne.

I wonder if others would complain if Public Sector workers got the kind of extras that have been mentioned in this thread - which of course would be paid for by the tax payer.

We have had the priv days added into extra annual leave (entitlement has gone up from 30 to 31.5 days).

 

[willow147]

You work at Amex too?

Nope, I work for a holiday company that specialises in holidays for the over 50s.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

BT once gave two bottles of wine at Christmas (around 1990 I guess).
There were a few people who refused them for religeous reasons or somesuch and no-one knew where theirs' went, we assumed the managers had had a really happy Christmas. A few months later a couple of us were working in a store room in Withdean Exchange and we found them stuck behind some equipment - a dozen bottles of piat d'or which we liberated, took to our yard and shared them out in an impromptu tasting session.

BTI only gave out these incentives if you did a duty on Christmas Day I remember the 2 bottles of wine , plus in other years a bottle of champagne and smoked salmon , box of chocolates , truffles , whisky glasses and a raffle ticket to win top prize of £250. When I moved up to Grimsby it was a case of be thankful of having the taxi fares paid out if you were in on Christmas Day which was done begrudgingly because I was a compulsory transferee.

 

[Bry Nylon]

I thought you were a firefighter? Are you not doing that any more?

No - I left earlier this year.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

My £20 gift card from work this year went towards the cost of replacing our microwave which died at the beginning of this month.

 

[worthingseagull123]

My £20 gift card from work this year went towards the cost of replacing our microwave which died at the beginning of this month.

Good timing to reheat left over Turkey!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Our privilege day has had to be added to our annual leave as it was a gift from the Queen to civil servants at her coronation, not something some old Scrooge like politician could remove at a whim.

We have had the priv days added into extra annual leave (entitlement has gone up from 30 to 31.5 days).

I told him that.

 

[worthingseagull123]

I told him that.

I think it is good. Adds flexibility to when to take time off plus ensures opertional coverage.

 

[pauli cee]

as a sub contracting sparky, have a few times been laid off the week before xmas due to work quietening down. always grateful for a bit of a holiday that time of year.......

 

[jakarta]

Which "attitudes" are they? Genuine question.

The attitude that says: We have come to the end of another year so I need a reward in addition to my normal wage just because we have come to the end of another year.

The same bollocks as annual pay rises because I have stayed in my job another year.

The delivery of performance based bonuses because I am better at my job and have improved my performance/turnover/profitability I have no problem with at all.

Does that help?

 

[Porkydale]

Some examples of unusual things that we've instigated over the last few years:

A member of staff has a full Board seat. They are elected for a one year term by the staff. Managers have no vote.

Each year, we invite Unions in to pitch for members. in 2013, no staff member (to my knowledge) joined, though it wouldn't bother me if they did.

We have an annual promotion cycle (April). The first and second level managers are elected by the staff below them in the hierarchy. I determine how many managerial jobs are vacant each year and retain a veto, though I haven't used the veto in 4 years.

A list of everyone's salary is pinned to the notice board. Obviously, we insert a clause into people's contracts allowing us to do it. The huge benefit is that it MAKES managers be absolutely sure that they can justify the salary awards they make, which they should be doing anyway, but in a secret situation many managers do not.

If a staff member who has been employed for a minimum of 7 years leaves and starts their own business, we will give them a £50k start-up equity injection in return for a flat 5% stake in their new venture. 7 years' service is all that is required, we figure that if they stayed with us for 7 years they must be pretty good folk, otherwise they'd have left or we would have asked them to.

Every 5 years, we give every staff member a 3 month paid sabbatical.

There are many more things, but this is just a sample.

On the flip side, here are some of the demands I make:

At work, you will devote 100% of your attention and effort to making the business succeed.

If we need to get hold of you outside normal hours, you must be available within 4 hours for a telephone call. We give every consultant a mobile phone to facilitate this, and we rarely use the requirement, but if an emergency comes up and you're the only person who has the required knowledge, our commitment to our customer means we have to get them an answer within 6 hours.

No politics (small p) are ever tolerated.

If you lie to any staff member about any work-related matter and we catch you, you're fired. No second chances.

If you breach internal (e.g. the staff member who sits on the Board talks about what is discussed) or client confidentiality and we catch you, you're fired. No second chances.

As I say, an unusual culture, but one that I always wanted to work in through my 20's and 30's and never found. It's not for everyone, but those who like it, thrive.

Did you find a reason why no member was appointed to the position ,i am really interested for a number of reasons which i wont go to on here.The rest of your posts i find really positive and a future way companies should be looking .

 

[Lady Whistledown]

No - I left earlier this year.

Oh ok. I thought for a minute the Government had sorted out some sort of deal with the FBU to stop them going on strike again

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Few on here seem to be unhappy that they have to pay a contribution towards a staff Xmas meal. I'm an IT contractor and always insist I pay all, or a contribution, as this helps me define my status under IR35.

Sure some of you will say, IT contractors can afford that anyway, but I'm just as much a part of the team [in my eyes anyway].

I operate under my own limited company, so I could give myself a bonus if I chose. But since I've not worked since March this year, times are tight, so not this time.

 

[timco]

Extra hassle and forced to take December 25th off whether I like it or not!

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

The attitude that says: We have come to the end of another year so I need a reward in addition to my normal wage just because we have come to the end of another year.

The same bollocks as annual pay rises because I have stayed in my job another year.

The delivery of performance based bonuses because I am better at my job and have improved my performance/turnover/profitability I have no problem with at all.

Does that help?

Not really.

Being given a bonus doesn't mean the person receiving it had an "attitude" that they deserved it.

Do I think I deserve my bonus and all-expense paid meal? No.
Will I still take it to help me financially? Of course.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Not really.

Being given a bonus doesn't mean the person receiving it had an "attitude" that they deserved it.

Do I think I deserve my bonus and all-expense paid meal? No.
Will I still take it to help me financially? Of course.

I'd agree with that. I get my bonus but I don't think I'm entitled to it (except when it was written into my contract), I treat it as a bonus - some people don't, they expect it.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Did you find a reason why no member was appointed to the position ,i am really interested for a number of reasons which i wont go to on here.The rest of your posts i find really positive and a future way companies should be looking .

I don't understand your question. If you're referring to the Staff Board seat, someone has been elected by the staff and appointed by me every year the scheme has been running. If you're referring to why no one has chosen to join a union (afaik), no, I don't know why. The only way I could find out would be to ask every employee, which would be a ridiculous waste of time. Further, it would be an invasion of privacy and the employee doesn't have to tell me anyway.

Does that answer the question? If not, feel free to try again!