Companies and Christmas Bonuses

[Bailey Guns]

I've never worked for a company/employer that gave a Christmas bonus. Sometimes there were small perks like leaving early, a meal brought into work, etc... But not an official bonus.

I work at a job now that was meant to be seasonal...just something to do over the winter months. I managed to Forrest Gump my way into a full-time position. This year the full-time employees were told we'd get a ham or turkey for Christmas. I know...not much. But I thought it was a nice gesture anyway.

But then, a few days before Christmas we got letters from HQ that announced that due to the outstanding performance of the company, attributed to the employees, we were getting an additional stock contribution to our employee stock accounts equal to 5% of our annual salary. That was a pretty substantial amount. I've never received anything like this and I thought it was a great Christmas bonus.

I hadn't intended to work for this company too long but I'm definitely rethinking that. Even though it's not the best pay I've ever received it's by far the best employer I've ever had.

I feel blessed to have a job I like with a great company considering some of the misfortune I hear people having to endure, especially at Christmas.

Anyone else?

ETA: Not to mention, I now get the holidays off, with pay.

[kwando]

I don't get a bonus but have a very flexible work schedule, love the people I work for, sick abd vacation days, great bosses, pays the bills (everyone wishes they got paid better)... And most importantly... I HAVE A JOB!!


Merry Christmas!!

[Adawg38]

I usually end up with a paid 4 day weekend and an extra $500 bonus check. Lots of misfortune for others but I never use my bonus on myself. I guess that's just me. Merry Xmas everyone!

[HBARleatherneck]

delete

[Bailey Guns]

I love to spend my wife's money...not that I ever get to. She makes in one shift what I make in a week. Not to mention she only works 3 days a week.

I keep trying to get her to understand that I wouldn't need to work if only she'd get another full-time job working another 3 days per week. I've told her she'd STILL have one day off to clean the house and cook. She's pretty close-minded on the issue.

[bogie]

I haven't gotten a bonus, but they let us have Christmas eve off this year paid! This is just as well for me since I get to spend more time with my wife and pup.

Merry Christmas

[Bowtie]

I received a $250 bonus this year. It came out to $160 after taxes.

[theGinsue]

I work for a multi-billion dollar company & for a Christmas bonus I got...
to keep my job.

[Fmedges]

I received a ham one year which was nice. This was the same year the company lied about profits so our profit sharing was lost. Oh we'll at least I had dinner.

[BuffCyclist]

We don't get annual cost of living increases, pay raises, bonuses, or anything. I was nominated for a "Employee of the Year" award in my department (which is full of professors too) and won that award for $500. After taxes, it was $110. Better than nothing, but a large bonus would be very nice.

[spqrzilla]

I love to spend my wife's money...not that I ever get to. She makes in one shift what I make in a week. Not to mention she only works 3 days a week.

I keep trying to get her to understand that I wouldn't need to work if only she'd get another full-time job working another 3 days per week. I've told her she'd STILL have one day off to clean the house and cook. She's pretty close-minded on the issue.

It is astonishing.

[ChadAmberg]

We get a so-called "bonus" sometime usually in February. It's generally thousands of dollars, but it's counted as part of our expected salary, but you never get all of it.. It's like saying "Your salary is 50k$ a year, but you'll only get 40k$ in normal paychecks. Then that remaining 10k$ you should have gotten already in normal paychecks we get to hold until the next year. Also, that 10k$ is the max, it's modified down based on how the company does, how well your group does, and how well you do, so most folks only get 90% of that potential 10k if you do well. Oh, and since it's a bonus, it has taxes taken out at a much higher rate, so you'll only see maybe 50% of that, and you won't get that back until you file the year after. But we call it a bonus so you'll feel like we're being generous."

[Sharpienads]

The only time I get a bonus is when I re-enlist.

Oh, and when I get to drop bombs on haji. I would count that as a bonus, too.

[zteknik]

Haven't seen one since the Reagan years... :(

[blacklabel]

We get little stuff, a Christmas party but I'd much rather have a legit bonus.

[car-15]

we used to get cash and a nice dinner, then it was just a nice dinner, then a ham from king soopers that we had to go get , now for the past 3-4 years we get a dinner at golden corral with prize drawings, I won a wii last year, and a bbq the year before. this year nothing so far, but the dinner is usually in jan. so who knows?

[grubby669]

I work for a multi-billion dollar company & for a Christmas bonus I got...
to keep my job.


Hahaha me to! I also get Christmas off and its paid!

[KestrelBike]

I don't want to talk about my current job, but my last job we typically got a decent dinner (limited by when our worthless trash office-manager got off Facebook and booked a place for our dinner, shed be shocked when everything was booked halfway through December and our boss would yell at her) and a $100 cash card. I always never even gave a second thought about the Xmas stuff because they treated us so damn well the other 364 days out of the year and paid us what we were worth to them. Almost brings a tear to my eyes thinking about it, because they were so good about it.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

I don't get raises.... What's a bonus? Holiday party? Always on a day I work. Cost of living increases? What are those?

Four years, one raise of $0.15 an hour.

[zteknik]

Four years, one raise of $0.15 an hour.
That was the big O's change he prommised.......

[KestrelBike]

I don't get raises.... What's a bonus? Holiday party? Always on a day I work. Cost of living increases? What are those?

Four years, one raise of $0.15 an hour.

Holiday parties on work days can actually be the best, because if they're somewhat mandatory (ie you feel like your attitude will be frowned upon by your bosses if you don't show up) and they're on a weekend, suddenly you're basically showing up for work without getting paid. At least if its during work, you're showing up and getting paid to do so.

[cfortune]

We get annual bonuses. Usually 5% of our salary. Not 100% if we get one this year. We'll see in a few days though.

We also get a fair amount of time off for the holidays (this year we have the 24th - 3rd off).

[StagLefty]

When I was working I always considered a bonus just that-if I was lucky enough to get one from the company I was working for,great. If not oh well.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

Holiday parties on work days can actually be the best, because if they're somewhat mandatory (ie you feel like your attitude will be frowned upon by your bosses if you don't show up) and they're on a weekend, suddenly you're basically showing up for work without getting paid. At least if its during work, you're showing up and getting paid to do so.

Not how it works with my job. Lol.

[Wulf202]

let's see I got 200$ tax free which was nice, then i got to work 4 hours on Christmas morning, unpaid. No raise this year and all my overtime and extra trips into work are all unpaid. Oh and I get to use my personal card to buy things and they'll send me a check within 2 weeks if they don't have it in petty cash.

[Batteriesnare]

I've been blessed with annual raises an a 5% of gross bonus at the end of the year. No benefits tho..... Oh well.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

I work for a very large company. Our non union employees get a very large bonus yearly, union employees get no bonus. I asked my boss once if we get a bonus this year and his response was I get my bonus bi-weekly when I get paid. I am very thankful for my job, I work hard every day. I feel blessed with or without a bonus.

[R&S]

I work for a multi-billion dollar company & for a Christmas bonus I got...
to keep my job.


Me too! I'm just glad to have a job to go back to in the new year (maybe). The few things in life that I've learned are: life isn't fair; there are no guarantees (except death and taxes); and you have to look out for yourself because no one else will.

[R&S]

[HH]

[GlockDog47]

I work for a big company, they were a lot better to us before the merged with a few others. Now we get a ham and no bonus.

[brutal]

I work for a multi-billion dollar company & for a Christmas bonus I got...
to keep my job.

This. No direct bonus.

However, we did get a small bump in the company 401k match to employee stock (100% ESOP) this year due to earnings and a generous year end discretionary contribution. Unfortunately, the stock performance for the 2nd and 3rd quarter evaluation was dismal and the expected stock split isn't happening. Everyone/group has different plans. Some get direct bonus based on performance (mostly sales account execs), some are revenue or utilization based individually or as practice leaders, and bonus (incentive) quarterly throughout the year. Large companies generally have fairly complex and diverse plans and discussing your compensation with others is voodoo and often grounds for dismissal.


We get a so-called "bonus" sometime usually in February. It's generally thousands of dollars, but it's counted as part of our expected salary, but you never get all of it.. It's like saying "Your salary is 50k$ a year, but you'll only get 40k$ in normal paychecks. Then that remaining 10k$ you should have gotten already in normal paychecks we get to hold until the next year. Also, that 10k$ is the max, it's modified down based on how the company does, how well your group does, and how well you do, so most folks only get 90% of that potential 10k if you do well. Oh, and since it's a bonus, it has taxes taken out at a much higher rate, so you'll only see maybe 50% of that, and you won't get that back until you file the year after. But we call it a bonus so you'll feel like we're being generous."

Any company expecting to give a large bonus and not paying a substantial percentage before 12-31-2012 is screwing you and themselves on payroll taxes for 2013 with the hikes coming. The taxes on bonus are often higher due to payroll tax accounting practices (averaging) so if you expect a large bonus early in the year, you should adjust your withholding accordingly to your tax situation.

[HHS]

[RJLou]

The previous (global) very large company gave out turkey gift cards for Thanksgiving and the higher pay grades got substantial bonuses, the grunts did not. Unfortunately I worked my way up to only see one of those $3k bonuses. The small family owned business I have worked for the last 3 years gives bonuses, my first two were $200 but had a good year this year so $500 for everyone. Very cool of them considering the small size of the company.

[ChadAmberg]

Any company expecting to give a large bonus and not paying a substantial percentage before 12-31-2012 is screwing you and themselves on payroll taxes for 2013 with the hikes coming. The taxes on bonus are often higher due to payroll tax accounting practices (averaging) so if you expect a large bonus early in the year, you should adjust your withholding accordingly to your tax situation.

[HHS]

Oh we all know. 3-4 weeks before bonus, every changes their withholdings to 9 dependents or more, gets the bonus, then changes it back the next day. It takes a little bit of the bite out of it.

[Byte Stryke]

I got a NICE bonus this year
I was really shocked

[NightCat]

I work for a multi-billion dollar company & for a Christmas bonus I got...
to keep my job.
^^^^^ This...

Followed by " we're cutting your hours to 25/wk, but here's a $50 bonus for christmas..."

FML.

[gnihcraes]

I've had nice bonus checks and company perks, years ago.

Nothing much since going government employment. We end up on Channel 7 news for a monthly birthday cake for employees.

We've received a few extra paid Holidays though, since there hasn't been one cost of living increases or pay for performance increases in the last 5-8 years. (one day per year if budget allows for that year)

[JoeT]

I got a turkey for mine...That I donated to the food pantry in Lafayette

my wife bought a new Mercedes with hers.... they don't call it a Christmas bonus, it's a bonus based on the company profits for the year and is a % of her "normal" salary

[Ridge]

I was told I can take all the overtime I want. At least until the contract ends 01/02

[Bailey Guns]

I was told I can take all the overtime I want. At least until the contract ends 01/02

That's the one thing about the company I work for that I don't get. They'll forgo $800 - $1000 in sales to save an hour or two of overtime to the tune of $50 or $60. Overtime is rare...but that's OK. I like my time off.

[Goodburbon]

I've gotten bonuses, and it's been appreciated. some slow years it's just been a $25 or $50 gift certificate to wal mart. a big part of each december was vendors coming in and giving us ham/turkey gift certificates. That was always nice, we'd get a year's worth of ham certificates in a week.

I guess we don't get bonuses with the company i work for now. The pay is "better" than my last company, but it's certainly not as family oriented. Also, the pay isn't better when you're not "working"

[birddog]

I love to spend my wife's money...not that I ever get to. She makes in one shift what I make in a week. Not to mention she only works 3 days a week.

I keep trying to get her to understand that I wouldn't need to work if only she'd get another full-time job working another 3 days per week. I've told her she'd STILL have one day off to clean the house and cook. She's pretty close-minded on the issue.

thats a lot of IKEA meatballs!!! [ROFL3][ROFL3][ROFL3]

[Troublco]

We get a Christmas bonus. This year, due to "outstanding company performance", we got an additional bonus mid-year. The company also does other things, like sending a very nice, fairly high dollar gift basket to all employees this time of year. They also go out of their way with other things, like our insurance (things like 0 copay on prescriptions and emergency room visits) and 401k (matching is over 100%, and they have an investment outfit that helps us manage it). I get loads of overtime, both at home and deployed. I love my job, even if there are days I'm not as happy as I'd like just due to the usual things that happen.

[tmleadr03]

This year the boss bought me a tool box. And said I would at least double my salary next year. I was all excited till my wife pointed out the two times zero is still zero...

[buffalobo]

No bonus. Company is pretty easy to work for though. They have paid me for every day that I have missed due to my wife's medical issues. About 3 weeks over the last 18 months and probably another 4-6 days over the next 6 months and still show that I have my regular vacation time coming.

[Ashton]

I feel like this thread is a set up. So people who get christmas bonuses in the tens of thousands can be called out.

For the record. My pay is 50% commission based. I don't get any bonuses other then the ones I earn. Which is just called my pay.

[Ashton]

Also, it's my experience that smaller firms give larger bonuses. I know someone who works at a small engineering firm who got a $8500 christmas bonus before taxes. He also woke up drunk on the COO's couch... So perhaps he has some leverage or something.

[rondog]

For the last several years my annual bonus was usually a grant of X-number of shares of company stock, depending on many factors. Most people just cashed them in, and it was always a couple thousand. Last time, I just let it ride, and the stock took off. That bonus ended up being about quadruple what everybody else's was, just because I moved it to my Scottrade account and let it ride, and kept a trailing stop order in place to protect the profits as they grew. I've since moved that money to a different stock, and it's still working for me.

But now, no job at all......

[Bailey Guns]

I feel like this thread is a set up. So people who get christmas bonuses in the tens of thousands can be called out.

For the record. My pay is 50% commission based. I don't get any bonuses other then the ones I earn. Which is just called my pay.

So someone put a gun to your head to compel you to respond?

[Troublco]

I feel like this thread is a set up. So people who get christmas bonuses in the tens of thousands can be called out.

I didn't see anyone like this, other than the one who said his wife got something like you're mentioning. Ours is $100 x years with the company. Still nice to get, since they don't have to do it. It doesn't work out to very much, unless you've been with the company for a LONG time, but it costs money for them to do it for us. Having been with the DoD for pretty much my entire adult life prior to my current job, I'm happy to get it!

[jreifsch80]

I feel like this thread is a set up. So people who get christmas bonuses in the tens of thousands can be called out.

For the record. My pay is 50% commission based. I don't get any bonuses other then the ones I earn. Which is just called my pay.

mine is the same way though us sales reps did receive a 250$ cabelas gift card so my company basically bought me a bunch of 7.62x39 ;)

[ChadAmberg]

Also, it's my experience that smaller firms give larger bonuses. I know someone who works at a small engineering firm who got a $8500 christmas bonus before taxes. He also woke up drunk on the COO's couch... So perhaps he has some leverage or something.

"Why am I naked and sticky? Did I miss something fun?"

[meatman]

I've gotten a nice bonus every year for the past 9 years. It's a great, family run company. They treat their employees right and the employees perform at a higher level, and company keeps growing when others have closed their doors.

Unfortunately we have come to expect our bonus every year and this one was spent two months ago toward building a new garage for myself. :D

[Ashton]

"Why am I naked and sticky? Did I miss something fun?"

Lol. The guy was black out drunk too apparently. It's possible.

[ruthabagah]

When I first moved here I was an expatriate employee for a foreign company. We were paid on 14 month (2 half month in June/September, double in December), 5 weeks paid vacation, one free plane ticket a year to go back home, a company car and housing allowance.... All while working 80 hours a week, because the other expats view the job as long paid vacations!

I don't regret it for one sec. I am making 50% less, but at least I am proud of my work, and I can see my family at night. And because of hard work, next year (spring) I will finally get a bonus1

[DSB OUTDOORS]

As an owner, me and my partners know the value of a good employee. If it wasn't for them, there would be no company. Even in these tough times we always try to give out bonuses to our employees.

This year was a rough one. But me and the partners talked it over and gave the employees the same bonus the received last year. I have 60 employees now. So we as owners opted out of our profit shares and gave up our bonus. So our employees would have a good Christmas.

Hurts, but it keeps the company alive and employee moral up for the next year.

[brutal]

As an owner, me and my partners know the value of a good employee. If it wasn't for them, there would be no company. Even in these tough times we always try to give out bonuses to our employees.

This year was a rough one. But me and the partners talked it over and gave the employees the same bonus the received last year. I have 60 employees now. So we as owners opted out of our profit shares and gave up our bonus. So our employees would have a good Christmas.

Hurts, but it keeps the company alive and employee moral up for the next year.

Well done. The true mark of a great leader is his willingness to make sacrifices for the good of those that depend on him.

[Monky]

I didn't get one. So today at work I've been looking at boobies all day.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

I didn't get one. So today at work I've been looking at boobies all day.

On the Internet or at the strip club?

[Monky]

On the Internet or at the strip club?

On the internet. My boss is out of town so I won't be at the strip club for work :)

[T-Giv]

I didn't get a bonus of any kind. In fact they determined at the last minute that my step raise for my year of service anniversary would not be authorized for next year. My wife has been at her new job for one month and they gave her a $500 bonus. It all depends on the organization. Sure can't complain about having a job!

[van7559]

I work for a small company, and have gotten bonuses every year. Some better than others, but this year was pretty sweet for sure. I never really expect the amount I get, if the company does well, and I do my part the stars all align. My boss is a badass, last year I got a sweet leupold rangefinder and $750 cash!