Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tacky is not the right word, but yeah, it's a terrible gift. The best gift for people who work for you is a bonus. Second best is a gift card. Third best is a heartfelt note of gratitude and some baked goods. I know some people would think that third one is terrible but I get that money is really tight for some folks and there really might not be funds for financial gifts, so at least a clear acknowledgment of their contributions and some kind of effort is better than nothing.

Anything else... just don't.

Just like tipping at a restaurant, if you can't afford to do it, don't go out to eat. If you can't afford to tip your cleaning people at Christmas, you are a stingy ahole. You take care of the people who take care of you.

PP here. The difference between hiring cleaners and going to a restaurant is that it's an ongoing relationship. If you got laid off during the year or experienced other financial hardship, you might have enough to keep on your cleaner but not to give them a cash bonus. Sure, you could also have just fired your cleaner and then not had any bonus obligation, but I'm guessing most cleaners would prefer to keep an otherwise good client over the course of the year and miss out on one tip than lose that work altogether.

If I were in that situation I would likely also recommend my cleaner to others to help them get more work, but that's not something that counts as a bonus.

But no, tipping your cleaner in December is not the same as tipping the waiter at the end of a meal.

I've noticed over the years that when I just give cash (in a card) as a holiday bonus to my Latina cleaners, I get a regular thank you. When I give a gift, they get really excited. So I do both. Can anyone explain this?

Yeah that's awful

We give $200 and a nice box of chocolates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tacky is not the right word, but yeah, it's a terrible gift. The best gift for people who work for you is a bonus. Second best is a gift card. Third best is a heartfelt note of gratitude and some baked goods. I know some people would think that third one is terrible but I get that money is really tight for some folks and there really might not be funds for financial gifts, so at least a clear acknowledgment of their contributions and some kind of effort is better than nothing.

Anything else... just don't.

Just like tipping at a restaurant, if you can't afford to do it, don't go out to eat. If you can't afford to tip your cleaning people at Christmas, you are a stingy ahole. You take care of the people who take care of you.

We don't get Christmas bonuses should I get mad at my company

We don't give bonuses in fact it should be the other way around you give gifts to clients so they should be giving you something. However we don't care either way .

Your friend is rude and should give cash. Our weekly is $320 (that includes a $25 tip) and we gave a $400 bonus plus a box of chocolates for each (there are two). They work very hard and a weekly tip + annual bonus isn’t going to break the bank for us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, that’s insulting. It screams “regift,” even if it isn’t. A cleaning person deserves money as a gift. You don’t know them or their circumstances well enough to choose a personal gift for them. And they likely aren’t earning SO much that they couldn’t use more cash. Cash is the answer.

Soap-making kit is awful. Your weird friend doesn’t know if the woman has sensitive skin or allergies or a soap she already lives or zero interest in craft projects. And maybe she wants to get away from gifts related to cleaning ANYTHING!

The more I think about it, the more I think your friend and her husband are cheap jerks who lack all empathy. Jeezus.

Shut up

Merry Christmas and you step off.

Anonymous wrote:Tacky is not the right word, but yeah, it's a terrible gift. The best gift for people who work for you is a bonus. Second best is a gift card. Third best is a heartfelt note of gratitude and some baked goods. I know some people would think that third one is terrible but I get that money is really tight for some folks and there really might not be funds for financial gifts, so at least a clear acknowledgment of their contributions and some kind of effort is better than nothing.

Anything else... just don't.

Just like tipping at a restaurant, if you can't afford to do it, don't go out to eat. If you can't afford to tip your cleaning people at Christmas, you are a stingy ahole. You take care of the people who take care of you.

yes, insulting

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6:9 again! For some reason I am so riled up by this. Your friend is flouting the standard expectation that a holiday bonus is the cash amount of one cleaning session.

I never heard this standard. Bonuses aren’t required. I do think the gift is tacky.

The cleaning people are your staff helping you run your household. These tipping standards have existed forever and you not knowing and not following them is a sign you are low class.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care for the soap gift, but I also don’t understand why you have to tip every person that crosses the threshold of your house. House cleaner charges X amount and you agree to it. The end.

You're horrible. I despise people who employ people who are probably poor/low income and then act stingy when it comes to tips. When you're at the bottom of the income bracket, those tips make a huge difference. It's a thousand times worse if you're the type who gives expensive gifts to family and friends.

"These people?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6:9 again! For some reason I am so riled up by this. Your friend is flouting the standard expectation that a holiday bonus is the cash amount of one cleaning session.

I never heard this standard. Bonuses aren’t required. I do think the gift is tacky.

Yes, this IS standard. I wouldn't be surprised if your housekeeper finds a new house to clean on your day and has to bow out - why work for someone who doesn't care about them?

This. A good cleaner is going to be in demand, and will drop clients who pull stuff like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No gift would be better than this.

Their requires the cleaner to show fake gratitude and pretend to like this trash. It gives the employer the feeling that they did something good when she actually insulted her employee.

OP I think you should give your friend a soap making kit for all future holidays, birthdays, milestones, etc! You know, since she’s so into that stuff.

OP here. She's really more of a peripheral friend who is part of the group because a few other people really like her, which I truly do not understand. This isn't the only thoughtless/selfish thing she's done.

shocker, lol