So what's the norm with work collections?

[KitKat1985]

I work in a fairly big team (50 people maybe?) and there always seems to be a collection for someone who is having a baby / getting married, having a birthday, coming back from sick leave, changing jobs etc. There's 2 going around currently for example (one for a colleague who is leaving, and one for someone who has a big birthday coming up).

I'm a more senior member of the team although not a manager (supervisor type level) so am aware that I earn more than most of the team members, and therefore there's an unwritten expectation that I'll be more generous, but to be honest by the time I pay my nursery fees each month, I'm hardly well off, and a few recent big expenses (necessary change of car and house, both in the past year) mean I actually owe my mum a few thousand which I'm trying to pay back as quickly as I can. In reality therefore by the time I've paid bills, groceries and petrol I usually only have about £10 each week to spend on petty cash things like baby groups, or buying the kids an ice cream etc.

I've been recently putting £5 a time each time a collection comes round because I sense that's probably the least that people expect from someone who is one of the higher earners in the team, but it's really eating into my petty cash for the week and sometimes I then can't afford to then take the kids to playgroup or something on my days off. I'm finding myself getting a bit resentful of the bloody collections as much as I am trying to be team-spirited, especially when some of them have felt a bit unnecessary (collections for a colleague who had come back from 2 weeks sick leave [seriously I've had longer holidays?!] and some for people who have had birthdays which weren't for any significant age or anything). I have suggested now that the team is too large now to do collections for every birthday, and also it's a bit awkward as some people's birthdays always get missed etc as people obviously only collect for those birthdays that they know about (and obviously some people are more private and don't mention when they have birthdays coming up).

What's the norm for what you put into work collections in your team? And do you normally do collections for everyone's birthday etc?

I'm only in a team of 5 so we all put in £2.50 for each others birthday for flowers or wine.

In larger teams like you describe it would be £1 for big birthdays and things like leaving baby or wedding. For a normal birthday just their 'pod' of 8 or so would put in £1 with the team leader adding a little bit extra for flowers or booze.

Isn't it an anonymous system? We have a big brown envelope that people or an undisclosed amount of cash in. We (me and DP) haven't had a lot of spare money lately and honestly sometimes I don't put anything if it's someone I don't know well or its the end of the month or I just don't have any cash on me. I still sign the card though (maybe this is CF territory!)

We don't do birthdays or short term sick. Collections for people leaving only and sometimes a bunch of flowers after a significant bereavement (not sure if we always do this but have done for one member of staff since I've been there)

For a team of 50 I'm sure you're not the only one finding it a bit much, I would definitely suggest cutting right back

Don't feel obligated. Just pay what you can afford or want to offer

Where I am the card and an envelope for the money get put in an a4 envelope and dropped off in each office in turn - that way no one knows how much each individual has put in, but you know if anyone's been missed by if the card is signed.

I put it in 2 quid unless it's someone I'm particularly fond of.

There's about 50 in our team and we only do collections for charity, big birthdays (e.g 50th), bereavement or leaving

Put a quid in. Or nothing. An envelope went round at work recently where people were writing their names and amount donated. I just put my name with a tick next to it - and after that, so did everyone else. Don't be pressured into donating more than you can afford.

Team of six within a big team of about 50.
For normal birthdays we just do a card and sometimes a drink at lunchtime.
For ‘significant’ birthdays or wedding/baby etc, my small team go out for a nice lunch but we do a card and collection within the wider team. Expected donation £1 or £2 although sometimes the senior managers will put in a note.
Work in an industry perceived as high earners but it is a token recognition of a big event. Too many people to do a collection for standard birthdays.

Also, we only do leaving collections. We might do birthdays for immediate team.

Totally get this. I prefer doing big birthdays with zero on the end, babies, leaving etc.

My team have around 10 ppl. I think it's starting to get ridiculous. It's went from the big things to now include engagement presents, house warming presents etc.

Sometimes I go in and can spend £20 in a week, usually put a fiver in. All the birthdays seem to come at once. I have said before we shld probably just do big birthdays but now it's started it's hard to change. I'm also part time so sometimes it does feel too much.

Then there is the wider office collections too for big birthdays, leavers, retirement, babies etc.

We are losing staff everywhere just now there's a collection going every week!

We only do collections for big events so long term sick, weddings, babies, leaving etc. It's an envelope which gets sent round and you add as much as you like. For birthdays a card is sent round to sign. I contribute based on how well I know the person and how much cash I have. Do not leave yourself short to contribute to a colleagues collection. Doing things with my DC is my priority. Equally I don't expect anything for my life events from work.

Everyone at the school I work in puts in £5...whether you are a part time TA or the head teacher. Some choose not to put in...like the deputy head even though they happily received three hefty collections of over £200 for their marriage and birth of two children

There is no norm and it's not mean to only put in a pound or two if that's what you can afford.

You say there is an expectation for senior well paid people to put more in, but does this actually exist anywhere outside your own head and does anyone know or care who puts in what?

If an anonymous envelope goes round, no-one will ever know if you haven't contributed 'enough' and you can always increase your contribution when your disposable income increases. And just because you get paid more, doesn't mean that you have a higher disposable income, far from it.

You say you have hardly any spending money, and also mention important things that need to come out of it like baby groups and treats for your DC. But you might find that many of your younger and lower paid colleagues still live with their parents or live in cheap house shares and most or all the money that they earn is spending money - hundreds of pounds a month or more. In that context, who can afford to put more in the work collection?

Don't think you need to spend your DCs icecream money on buying a gift for a work colleague is what I am saying.

I work in a small team, we each give our manager £20 at the beginning of the year which works out about £2 per person, then weddings/big birthdays we would give a bit more. But I like everyone I work with and want them to have a nice gift :)

We don't do them here and we are only a small team. The team did use to be bigger and we would do collections, but at certain times of the year it felt as though there was a collection every 5 minutes so that stopped.

We now just do a card for birthdays and I buy my secretary a present for birthdays and Christmas because she is a star.

We did do a collection for the last retirement and the last maternity, but in the 12 years I have been here there has only been one of each so it doesn't come up often!

I really don't understand a collection for someone who has been off on sick leave for 2 weeks though and is fine at the end of it!

We only do a card for birthdays even ‘big’ birthdays. Cards get paid out of petty cash, or it’s always the low paid secretary who has to pay for the card isn’t it? Collections for weddings or babies, that’s about it.

This is one of the (many) things I don't miss about working in a large office. We had over 500 people in one dept, and the self-appointed Compulsory Fun Organiser spent more time distributing cards, making collections etc. than on her actual job. After many attempts and lots of passive aggressive comments she finally got the message from me, and others. Needless to say, when she finally left, no one organised her card and collection.

Team of four. We don't do anything.

Someone tried to instigate flowers for a non-significant birthday last year but two of our birthdays had been totally ignored (not even a "happy birthday" and they were aware) so that was a hard no.

Small team here of 5. We have gone collections but tbh I ended up paying it with hardly anyone chipping in. They earn a lot less than me so I buy them something if I am closer to them or maybe cakes etc on the birthday for team who are in less often. We did secret Santa at Xmas and I did them all a stocking and small token gifts for the Xmas temps,
Collections should be a choice.

Small team of 6 in a larger dept of about 50. We put in £2/3 each for the token gift for immediate team's birthdays which is usually well thought out and quite nice because we all know each other well. For the wider dept a card is usually sent round in an envelope with a collection for cash with a tick sheet of who has hasn't signed but there is no expectation for an amount to be put in. This is for birthdays, retirements, leaving, maternity all sorts of occasions but I usually don't put anything in because like you, I simply can't afford to fritter money away on gifts for lots of other people every day of the week. Just signing the card isn't cf-ery, you've expressed your well wishes you don't have to give money if you don't want to.

I work in a similar size team. We do collections for significant things like leaving, baby, marriage and only very big birthdays. Even then they do seem to come around quite often and £5 is expected each time. I do always put in myself, as having had 2 babies and a wedding since I've worked there all with generous collections and gifts, I feel like I've had my fair share of others' cash and gifts.

I wouldn't want to put in for every single birthday though - that's excessive

Where I work we don't do a collection for birthdays and I would not expect an acknowledgement of mine (even a big one). We do have collections for people who leave, but I work in quite a stable team so that isn't frequent. Also, there's no suggested amount and no one knows how much money each person has put into the envelope.

We just do big birthdays. People just put in whatever they want. Usually between £2 & £5. It's not an issue if they don't want to pay.

Brown envelope anonymity here. Sometimes when one is the person organising the collection one finds a load of coppers and small coins. That's the whole point of making it anon. I'm sure we occasionally get people who feel they have to sign but actually don't like the person, so put no money in.

At my son's first school they had collections for vouchers for the form teacher and classroom assistant twice a year. A fixed amount was asked for by the person doing the organisation. I once put the sums out by asking for the larger sum to go to the TA not the teacher as I felt the TA made more effort with my son. Got a funny look, but shrug!

My workplace stopped collections and had a policy about it. Some staff complained that they felt forced into giving when they didn’t have the money to contribute and they were also too frequent. People still informally organised things but it would usually be only for a special event like going on mat leave or a significant birthday; even then it had to be made clear to everyone that no money was expected.

Thank you for all of your replies.

I think instead of giving a £5 note to the person doing the collection in future, I might be a it more subtle about it and just put a couple of pound in the envelope when someone isn't directly looking at what I'm putting in. You are right that it's silly to give money to work colleagues and then not be able to afford treats for the kids. And it's absolutely true that a lot of my junior colleagues (although lower earners) often have very few financial commitments so actually have much disposable income than I do, whereas pretty much all my earnings are accounted for at the moment with bills and repayments.