If you are a boss what do you do for your employees over the holidays?

[Anonymous]

We give a bonus of a week's pay to our nanny, plus a few smaller gifts that add to up to somewhere between $100-250. DH and his partner opened a law firm together two years ago and they give a week's salary to anyone who has been there over six months and a half a week's salary to any who've been there under six months. In addition they usually give some fancy food item -this year it's going to be fancy boxes of chocolates. Last year it was fruit of some kind.

[Anonymous]

To the pp, how is that relevant to the question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the pp, how is that relevant to the question?

How is it NOT relevant?

[Anonymous]

You are very generous. My company has the same amount of employees, lots of money in the bank, and we only get a $100 gift. We never get holiday bonuses.

[Anonymous]

Reading comprehension is a fine skill to learn.

The staff will be getting a company bonus in March and the OP wants to provide a token thank you gift around the holidays. Due to other expenses she is looking to cut costs. I imagine OPs employees are not nannies so that comment isn't relevant. Nor is your husband's bonus payout relevant because his gift is equivalent to the company bonuses. Even if your story was relevant, I don't see how it leads to cost cutting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you could do a lovely breakfast with your budget and send everyone home right after (and can you tell them ahead of time that you are doing that?). I would love to go home after breakfast!

Me too!

[Anonymous]

I also don't understand what your kids daycare providers have to do with this...do you get them giftcard too? That certainly is not the norm...I have two in daycare myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you could do a lovely breakfast with your budget and send everyone home right after (and can you tell them ahead of time that you are doing that?). I would love to go home after breakfast!

Me too!

I wouldn't. I don't want to get up early, stuff my kid into their daily routine they have to do because I go to work, wear my work clothes, commute for an hour, only to get there for breakfast and then be told I can commute back home now and change out of my work clothes. Coming into work for an hour or two is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you could do a lovely breakfast with your budget and send everyone home right after (and can you tell them ahead of time that you are doing that?). I would love to go home after breakfast!

Me too!

I wouldn't. I don't want to get up early, stuff my kid into their daily routine they have to do because I go to work, wear my work clothes, commute for an hour, only to get there for breakfast and then be told I can commute back home now and change out of my work clothes. Coming into work for an hour or two is ridiculous.

Read OP''s reply

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't get our company bonuses until March so I always feel I need to give something to my employees (6) around the holidays. This comes from me personally and I have 3 kids (7 daycare providers total!!!) and a ton of holiday related expenses so I don't ever want to come across as cheap but I also really need to watch my holiday budget. Last year I did 100 dollar visa gift cards and a lunch catered by Honey Baked Ham. This cost me around 7400 dollars. I would like to cut that down to more like 650 if possible...leaving me only 50 bucks for the meal. I still want to give out the 100 dollar gift cards but was thinking maybe just ordering pizza for lunch or doing donuts and bagels as a breakfast? I always let them leave after the lunch for the rest of the day so maybe this year if I did a breakfast it would be an added bonus to leave right around 10 am and have the rest of the day off? Would that make up for me skimping out on the actual meal part? Ive taken them out to lunch in years past which I think is most enjoyed by all but if I did that I would have to cut down the gift cards to 75 each and I don't really want to do that. Thoughts? Or any other ideas in general?

Wait, what?? $7400 for lunch?

[Anonymous]

$500 cash + Christmas through New Years paid time off. I'm a small business, so I think this is pretty generous (and all I can really afford).

[Anonymous]

I am lowly, but oversee hourly graduate students, candy and $25 gift cards. They expect nothing since I am barely above them, ,so its a nice gesture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get our company bonuses until March so I always feel I need to give something to my employees (6) around the holidays. This comes from me personally and I have 3 kids (7 daycare providers total!!!) and a ton of holiday related expenses so I don't ever want to come across as cheap but I also really need to watch my holiday budget. Last year I did 100 dollar visa gift cards and a lunch catered by Honey Baked Ham. This cost me around 7400 dollars. I would like to cut that down to more like 650 if possible...leaving me only 50 bucks for the meal. I still want to give out the 100 dollar gift cards but was thinking maybe just ordering pizza for lunch or doing donuts and bagels as a breakfast? I always let them leave after the lunch for the rest of the day so maybe this year if I did a breakfast it would be an added bonus to leave right around 10 am and have the rest of the day off? Would that make up for me skimping out on the actual meal part? Ive taken them out to lunch in years past which I think is most enjoyed by all but if I did that I would have to cut down the gift cards to 75 each and I don't really want to do that. Thoughts? Or any other ideas in general?

Wait, what?? $7400 for lunch?

Typo, I think. Especially when you read the rest of the sentence.

OP, the gift cards are really nice. Do the breakfast and let them go home at noon. (Some PP's obviously aren't reading very well)

[Anonymous]

OP, you sound like a nice boss. Thanks for doing anything at all.

[Anonymous]

One of my old bosses (private sector) had a nice lunch in the conference room, then gave us the rest of the day off with pay. He mailed us holiday cards with a $50 gift card. We all liked that.

That was all before the recession and my company getting bought out by a private equity firm. Now the only gift we can hope for is to not get laid off on December 31.