Your worst xmas bonus

Timberrrrrrrr

Talking about bonuses today on the lunch break and it made me think about my worse one ever.

17 years old working on a golf course, Usually a list used to go up in the club house and members would donate money towards an xmas bonus fund for the ground staff. This had been going on for over 20 years but this one year management came up with the idea that they would provide this years bonus.

Now bear in mind this was 1987 the bonus usually paid around £100 per man so a nice lump to get xmas week. So 3 days before the Christmas we all get bought into the club house and sat at a table and get a nice meal and couple of drinks (I had to have lemonade as I was driving) and then we get handed our xmas bonus.

Club captain and manager proceed to hand each man a ****ing 20lb turkey and a bottle of whiskey. Now we are sitting there still expecting an envelope with some cash in it so it came as a surprise to all when announced that this was all we were getting. I politely point out to them that A: I live with my parents and the turkey was bought and paid for weeks ago and B: since I am underage it is illegal for them to hand me a bottle of whiskey.

Uproar ensues and in January the members had a private whip round and each man was handed £70 (better late than never right?). I left shortly after to pursue another career but was told that the following xmas the old bonus system was reintroduced.

So AH what was your worst xmas bonus?

smash

You gen an xmas bonus?

Posh git!

MarkR

Free year's membership for the Jelly of the Month Club. I think I have a video of it somewhere..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QNVe9Hbhwc

Timberrrrrrrr

smash wrote: »

You gen an xmas bonus?

Posh git!

Sure even the doleys get one, You need to move up the corporate ladder son

Penny Tration

Don't get one in the place I work now, but was handed a 20 euro gift voucher and 200 cigarettes from the manager of the newsagents I worked in when I was 15

Rubberchikken

i've never gotten one. does that count as the worse?

The Backwards Man

Self employed now, don't get a bonus. Jacked up a job an hour before the bonuses were being handed out, would have been a couple of grand at the time.

Baron Kurtz

A bag of dicks. I asked them should I go suck each one individually or all at once.

RedXIV

Only one place I ever worked gave an xmas bonus, chinese restaurant I was working in at 16. Invited us to the restaurant on Xmas eve, huge big slap up feed for the workers (1 family and me and a mate from school) and then at the end, a €20 note in a card. Was thrilled, as wasn't expecting anything. But nothing since then. Mind you, the money some of the places spend on the xmas party, you can't help but notice that you're getting well looked after, and we did get a financial year end bonus in April last year.

smash

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Sure even the doleys get one, You need to move up the corporate ladder son

Next stop, world domination!!!!

xabi

Self Employed and my boss has never given me one... oh, wait.

Royale with Cheese

While working for a large American company with a fairly rigid promotion and pay increase structure, the promotion and small pay increase I received that year affected my end of year bonus (without going into too many details, bonus was lower because of the promotion). After some simple maths I worked out I actually would have been better off overall if they hadn't promoted me. I contacted HR and anyone who would listen, but nobody gave a toss. I left shortly afterwards.

smash

xabi wrote: »

Self Employed and my boss has never given me one... oh, wait.

Your boss is such a cnut! :pac:

suicide_circus

We get all4one voucher card thingys

megabantz

Christmas Bonus... I had to look that one up

Nesta99

Was told how lucky I was having having a job - thats a bonus! I was 17 at Uni and working in a Bar. Worst christmas break ever getting home 2am Christmas Eve and then working every hour offered then we were all told to p*ss off 2nd of January. I now have a nice 3 week break break every christmas and that really does me as a bonus (as a public sector worker i'm sure not one word would be uttered if we got a bonus!!).

Penn

Apart from the years where there was no Christmas bonus, was told one year that instead of an Xmas bonus, we were being given an extra day holidays. Grand.

When we came back after New Years, told they needed me to work an hour late every evening for two weeks to make up for the extra day off they'd given me. Ended up working 10 hours to make up for the 8 hours off they'd given me.

RhubarbCrumble

Not so much worst bonus, but I worked in Dunnes years ago (late nineties/early noughties) and we had to pay to go to the Christmas party.

Kimbot

I dont know what a christmas bonus is

whatdoicare

I'm a stay at home mam right now so my bonus will be a big bag of abuse and whinging.

Best year ever!

smash

Nesta99 wrote: »

I now have a nice 3 week break break every christmas and that really does me as a bonus (as a public sector worker i'm sure not one word would be uttered if we got a bonus!!).

Public Sector workers get 3 feckin weeks Christmas holidays? :eek::eek:

Kimbot

smash wrote: »

Public Sector workers get 3 feckin weeks Christmas holidays? :eek::eek:

Well i aint getting 3 weeks off :O i have the friday 25th and the following monday off and thats it haha

BattleCorp

A German retailer here in Ireland gave us a €1 chocolate Santa as our Christmas bonus a good few years ago.

Some fcuking insult. I would have preferred nothing.

BizzyC

jonny24ie wrote: »

Well i aint getting 3 weeks off :O i have the friday 25th and the following monday off and thats it haha

You have the following Monday off? That's nice.

Worst bonus time I ever had was on a year where I was given a big salary increase.
At the EOY review, there had been a call that all employees should be "flat" on the previous year's pay, ie they had deducted my entire salary increase from my bonus, while everyone else received bonuses....

PARlance

BattleCorp wrote: »

A German retailer here in Ireland gave us a €1 chocolate Santa as our Christmas bonus a good few years ago.

Some fcuking insult. I would have preferred nothing.

Every lidl helps

GAAman

"A donation of €35 has been made to the National Gallery of Ireland in your name"

Sugar Free

My bonuses have never been at Christmas, they were always at the end of Q1. I always thought that was the norm, perhaps not?

Jamaican Me Crazy

I have never been in a job that paid a Christmas bonus and I have been in several management positions. In my last job my boss used to give me €100 in a card as a present.
In one job I had we were given 2 weeks paid holidays off over Christmas in lieu of a bonus so that was pretty nice.

Just started a new job with a bonus structure but I don't qualify for a bonus this year, I will next year.

mahoganygas

Every staff member got a slab of carslberg or bulmers. Their choice.

I was 17 so I was handed a box of quality street. Gutted!

westcoast66

I worked in a place were the boss pinned up two advent calendars on 1st Dec - the "early calendar" and the "late calendar". First person in could open the window on the early calendar and get a chocolate and last person to leave could open a window on the late calendar. I'm still not sure if he did it for the laugh or if it was actually our bonus!

smash

BattleCorp wrote: »

A German retailer here in Ireland gave us a €1 chocolate Santa as our Christmas bonus a good few years ago.

Some fcuking insult. I would have preferred nothing.

Don't lie. You ate that santa!

seamus

Never gotten a bonus since I've had "real" jobs. The only bonusses I ever got were working for Superquinn during school. They'd give you vouchers to spend in the shop. Sounds scabby, but it wasn't too shabby, £200 or so I think. Most of the staff were kids, so they'd swap them for cash with the parents, who would have done the Xmas shop in SQ anyway.

Other than that, ne'er a bonus to be seen.

ScumLord

We used to get about €150 worth of vouchers and stuff. Then the recession happened, now we get nowt. This will be our first year having a Christmas party since the recession.

Lia_lia

We don't get a Christmas bonus. That's my worst Christmas bonus!

I worked in a hotel during college and we used to get €80 worth of vouchers every Christmas. Dunnes vouchers and was also All For One vouchers one year. Was great! €80 was brilliant considering I was a student only working weekends.

Diamond Doll

P45

Penny Tration

When I worked in Supermac's, we got no bonus. Attendance to the Christmas party was mandatory though. I didn't know this, wasn't gonna go and was told I'd no choice but to go (after a 14 hour shift!). The party was an €8 Chinese buffet, a free drink and then pay our own entrance to a club and pay for our own drinks for the night forgot that one!

Penn

westcoast66 wrote: »

I worked in a place were the boss pinned up two advent calendars on 1st Dec - the "early calendar" and the "late calendar". First person in could open the window on the early calendar and get a chocolate and last person to leave could open a window on the late calendar. I'm still not sure if he did it for the laugh or if it was actually our bonus!

I misread that and thought the last person in each morning opened a window on the late calendar and got a chocolate, which just sounded like a horrible management decision

imitation

Worst was nothing i guess, which in fairness seems to be what most people get.

However any employer worth there salt should be setting aside 250 euro for the tax free gift card at christmas, easy way to give a bit more cash tax free.

bpmurray

Never got one in almost 40 years at almost every step of the corporate ladder, although I once got a very small box of chocolates.

Lux23

I haven't always gotten a Christmas bonus, one place didn't even pay me Christmas week so all my shopping had to be got with October/November's paycheck and I had no cash come Christmas week. I don't get one where I am now either.

Actually last year was the worst, as not only did I not get a Christmas bonus I also came in to work in December while my father lay dying. Awful shower.

BattleCorp

smash wrote: »

Don't lie. You ate that santa!

Yeah, but I didn't enjoy it. :pac:

Riskymove

smash wrote: »

Public Sector workers get 3 feckin weeks Christmas holidays? :eek::eek:

lecturer?

A small box of Lidl chocolate shells. Mean gits. (The choccies were very nice, though)

maudgonner

Diamond Doll wrote: »

P45

Me too. Got made redundant on Christmas Eve.

valoren

A Terry's Chocolate Orange.

I was a temp in a Pharmaceutical giant.

maudgonner

maudgonner wrote: »

Me too. Got made redundant on Christmas Eve.

Jeez. I thought I was bad getting my redundancy notice the day before I got married!

Ruu

My brother got a box of USA biscuits working at Supervalu, the box was dented and they weren't going to sell it anyway.

silverharp

Getting Xmas eve off is ours this year...dont spend it all in the one place....

TerrorFirmer

I used to get a few hundred at Christmas and a hamper, but haven't had a Christmas bonus of any type in about 5 years...:(

emeldc

I love the Christmas bonus. I get to roide the boss every year. (Well technically I work for the wife )

Buona Fortuna

Rubberchikken wrote: »

i've never gotten one. does that count as the worse?

In the 30 odd years I worked in UK, I only ever got one once. That was the first year I started working for an American Bank. The bonus was the christmas party.

I was only there a year and every other job, including a casino, it SFA and "Happy Christmas".

In later years we did get a Christmas e-mail. Oh how our spirits soared.