Does anyone else remember getting fabulous christmas bonuses from employers?

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1]

I remember 30 odd years ago regularly getting bonuses of £800 at Christmas which was about a months wages.

Always got taken out to fabulous restaurants for no expense spared dinners too.

It doesn't happen anymore does it?

Does anyone know why it stopped? Or does anyone still get one?

It's not a moan, I just wondered why it had stopped when we are supposed to be better off now than we were 30 years ago.

I'll be getting a gift of about £10 from my employer plus a buffett lunch.

What will you be getting?

I'm shocked at all these people working in the NHS who get nothing. Back in the day we always got a free mince pie for working Christmas day, can't believe they've stopped that.

Bloody credit crunch fucked it up for everyone!

Public sector here - get an paid Christmas party and a bonus of up to 10% wages

That's very generous for the public sector, i'm guessing you're not education or healthcare.

£500 bonus paid in November's salary

A night out , usually a meal and good piss up afterwards .

A decent gift from the bosses personally , we all get different stuff depending on our personalities, so thoughtful if sometimes a little off the ball

Whatever time off we need for the nativity plays , carol concerts etc - no questions asked , just work it into your own diary ( TBF that goes all year round , one of the best bits of working for them , I never had mum guilt for missing stuff )

Short days over Xmas week , it's needs to be staffed but on bosses orders "do what's needs to be done , don't hang around and if you want to bring the kids in with you , they can play on my laptop "

I work in a 24 hour industry so it's noted that We can and do attend call outs at 3am , take calls after hours and generally work to get the work done whatever time of day so in return for not a great salary but lots of loyalty and hard work , our bosses do go all out to let us know we are appreciated .

Care home manager. I get nothing, but I fiddle the rota and give all my staff an extra paid half day off in December (by organising the rota so that I or my deputy can cover their work). I would probably get the sack if head office found out but they get paid fuck all and are expected to work Christmas and new year as it is so I feel like they bloody deserve some reward, however small.

@LensGlans me too. Just a fuck ton of marking! Ho ho ho

Yeah, that doesn’t sound very public sector!

A friend working in recruitment would go to an annual work do involving a night away in a hotel, food and party, sometimes in France, Belgium or Holland. DH would get a free night out drinking.

Erm, nothing. Academic.
Always grateful that the university closes down properly between Christmas and New Year though, it’s the only time of the year I can actually ignore e-mails.

@DontLettuceBrexitLettuceRomain I'm so intrigued as to what part of public sector you are! Any clues on sub sector that wouldn't be outting?

We had fantastic Xmas parties at my old job but no Xmas parties. My Xmas bonus in my first job was amazing though, about £500. I used to get monthly bonuses as well depending on my sales teams performance (I was the admin) between £150 and £300

This year we are getting £15 each to pay for a team lunch. Never worked anywhere with a bonus but even the Christmas party has gone now.

These things used to be tax exempt. Now there’s a cap of £150 pa on staff entertaining.

One job I had I got £300 cash in a envelope on Christmas Eve . It was the same amount never went up. I changed jobs I was there 3 Christmas's I got £300-£500 in my last salary before Christmas pay .
I've changed jobs since nothing 1st Christmas because only worked there a few months but the year later got a decent bonus so was quite happy . I work for a big company too so I think it very generous of them . All these companies I've worked for are doing well profit wise and if you work hard a bonus should be given.

I'm self-employed so I get bugger all. In my voluntary role, the charity I work for gives us £12.50 each towards a Christmas night out. Doesn't cover the whole cost of a meal so we have to top it up and pay our own drinks.

DH gets a bonus, but performance-related end of financial year, not at Christmas and not "just because". He also gets a gift from his immediate boss, think last year it was restaurant vouchers.

DH is also responsible for buying gifts for the personal assistants, the managers pay for this out of their own pockets. I get the job of shopping for them each year which is great fun. Hampers this year, last year it was Molton Brown and I think the year before that it was something like Lush massive gift boxes.

I work in the public sector, so I get nowt. The flip side of that is that my working conditions and contract terms are really great, so I have no complaints 🥰

Self employed, but spent nearly a decade as an out-worker for a family firm. They would throw a lavish evening do for all staff, but we'd all have to sit through the director's demented, spiteful husband slagging us all off for about 30 minutes so no one was really sad that these parties dwindled post 2008. One of my current customers bring me friut and veg from their allotment which I really appreciate.

Civil Service so no bonus. We pay for our own party and senior managers buy the drinks.

In my previous life in the private sector I recall a months extra pay, trips to Paris for Xmas lunch etc. But that didn't compensate for the shit I had to take. At least I am now treated with respect in a fulfilling job in the public sector.

I remember when our insurance, pension, law firms etc. used to drop Christmas presents off. We’d have cases of wine, boxes of cheese and whiskey, F&M food hampers etc.. It all changed with anti-bribery laws about ten years ago. The recruitment agencies still try to drop off doughnuts on xmas eve though.

Forgot to mention that we also take out Christmas party in our own time. In case the Daily Fail spots this.

NHS: our gift has always been to work all over the Christmas period for little thanks.

Our patients families normally ensure we are kept in chocolates💐

I will get my usual quarterly performance bonus which will be around £500 gross. We get a meal and drinks and a party too. We nearly made next level target which would have mean over £1k bonus but it didn't happen.

No specific Christmas bonus though.

I get about £500, a lunch, a paid for black tie party and a present from the boss. It's not a massive business so we are well looked after but people still moan it's not enough.

One year our headteacher wrote us a joint Christmas card
We pay for our own Christmas party if we want to go (very few do).
We have to lose a lunch to have lunch with our class (actually really nice but like others, still have to pay for a terrible dinner off a plastic plate if we want to eat - I decline and just fill up at break!).
And then we pay for a party for the kids. There used to be a £5 budget for each class party but even that’s gone now so it comes out of our pockets.
Still. I love my job

Dp owns his own company and gives his employees a £500 bonus!

Oh, and takes them all out for the day, all drinks and food paid for.

In big supermarket as a student- nothing, but the only place to pay extra on Christmas Eve/Boxing Day/NYD.
In small family retail business- £100ish if all going well, bottle of wine on a bad year.
Now I have 3 ‘jobs’ all on a self employed basis, all small family companies.
Job 1: 4 years of nothing, one year £50, next year weeks wages (£200), ten years now of nothing, despite it being our busiest time of year. We usually work until late Christmas Eve, and one of us, often me as I live closest, agrees to being ‘on call’ on Christmas Day (standard NMW every day bar Christmas, when not paid if not called in). The customers are generous with drinks, sweets and mince pies, though. We have staff drinks, but pay for ourselves. There used to be a paid for staff outing when I first started, but that stopped about 6 years ago. One year everyone but me went bowling for the day - I stayed to mind the site by myself, and it was a no bonus year. Still miffed about that!
Job 2: totally random stuff, but generally expensive and hugely appreciated - this year whiskey, a North Face jacket, a sofa, and a £££ puppy.
Job 3: fancy hamper