To not give the postman a Christmas bung

Never. They are being paid to do the job they are doing. Why the heck do I need to chuck a fiver or a tenner at them to 'thank them' for doing the job they are paid to do? And as I (and some others have said) some of them earn more than me! And as for 'the binmen do a job no-one else wants to do' as someone said earlie, what a joke! It's not a hard job, the bin wagon does most of the job for them, and they get paid a good bloody wage! 'Oh but they're out in all weathers.... ' someone said. Yeah, so?

I’ll only reconsider tipping when politicians stop tipping themselves with our wages, with their extremely generous expenses, and taxpayer-financed booze (which they drank during lockdown).

It seems that there are a lot of postmen & women on this thread

Indeed. I've never understood this and nor have I ever "tipped" for Christmas.

Christmas bung? Not heard that before 🤣

We used to give our posties £20 each,they were great but they've both retired and the service is shocking and I couldn't tell you who they are so we stopped.

No, and I also don’t tip pilots, bus drivers or train drivers. I also don’t tip the checkout personnel at Tesco or the border staff checking my passport.

Do you?

Give the guy a fiver for heaven’s sake

Yes & it also depends how much spare money families have too
Some just can't afford

You'd normally tip those people because rain, hail, or shine, they are out there performing a service for you. Do you tip taxi drivers?

I never tip anyone but if your husband wants to tip the postman I wouldn’t care much.

My partner is a postman & it makes his day when he gets a tip. He loves his job & genuinely goes above and beyond, but I guess it depends what yours is like day to day.

It is as a tip for a postie

Only on MN could people be twats about a kind gesture

for reference:
I am not the OP
i am not showing off
i am really grateful to my postie who goes over and above what his role is and has actually saved us money

I think it’s different these days. I used to do this, but now it’s a different person each time.

But it's not standard.The OP has said that her postie went above and beyond for her and this is how she wants to thank him. How lovely for him, if he's anything like my postie friend, he'll be surprised and thrilled.

They may not choose to, but its hardly the case that most people in the UK cant afford to give away £50. Thats ridiculous. You might be in that situation and resent it but that doesnt mean most people are that unlucky.

In Europe and the UK most employers pay at least the minimum wage so, like the rest of us, get a fair salary for their work.

Minimum wage is generally considered not enough to cover living costs. I don't regard that as a fair salary.

£50 is not a ‘nice little bonus’?! It’s a large amount of money that most people can’t afford to pay, let alone give as a tip!

I am reading the room. Bitter and jealous because someone gives a person in a low pay job £50. Accusing them of showing off. Its £50, a nice little bonus to make their day, not a pair of diamond shoes intended to show the neighbours how rich they are. Just bitchy and unnecessary.

We tip our XYZ because he’s brilliant (at his job, which he is paid to do).

To quote a MN staple “read the room”.
I’m well off my most measures and no way would I ever tip anyone £50.
£50 for most people is a lot of money.

Our postman is amazing. He takes time and trouble with deliveries and always says hello if he sees you. We tip him. Our bin team are also amazing and we leave them a tip (to share out) because they are reliable and efficient. Some posters say they are just doing their job, but I find more and more now that many people just don’t do their jobs so I want to show appreciation when it makes life easier.

Are you American? It’s very common to tip people in the US as wages are extremely low or non existent.

In Europe and the UK most employers pay at least the minimum wage so, like the rest of us, get a fair salary for their work.

Where do you draw the line at ‘tipping’? There are so many people who work behind the scenes, do you tip them? Do you tip the supermarket check out employees? The GP, nurse?

I did think about tipping the bin men, we have a great service, but i never see them and I can't leave something on the bin as it'll walk!
I did tip our Ringtons lad because hes lovely, polite and helpfully leaves us stuff even if I'm not in, which I much appreciate! Also tipped the window cleaners because I really do appreciate them doing that job and charging so little.
If I were at the hairdressers I would tip at Chtistmas, but I dont the rest of the year. Postman, I used to yrs ago but our 'regular' was replaced with a range of people and I'm rarely in when they post things in now.

I dont begrudge tipping because some people are not on decent wages and I appreciate the jobs they do for me, like tipping servers at a restaurant.