To hate the office whipround?

[aliasjoey]

AIBU to hate the office whipround? I just can?t afford the apparently continous stream of demands for contributions for leaving gifts, retirements, birthdays etc. This month there has been someone getting married, and someone who?s just had a baby. Last month there was a big retirement do.

I probably am Being Unreasonable, because of my previous experience. I used to work in a large office. Whiprounds were frequent (even if the person was actually going to one of our competitors) and on the day itself there would be an extravagant ?presentation? with cards, gifts/flowers and speeches. I had more money then (pre-children!) and used to happily contribute. Then my position was made redundant after 10 years. I was in a strange role which didn?t properly have a manager, the closest thing to it was a woman who was not really my boss. She didn?t really ?manage? me though, and she was also away on my actual leaving day.

So throughout the day I waited for the presentation. The ?We will miss you? cards and the . The speech. I may even have prepared my own speech. Nothing happened. Nobody even spoke to me. I know it was just unfortunate that my ?manager? didn?t think to arrange it, but I walked out and burst into tears.

Fast forward to current position. It?s a smaller office, but similar thing (although we don?t do the speeches!) I do wonder if by the time I ever leave, as people more frequently move jobs, there may be no-one here who has been here very long to arrange mine!

I feel resentful of being asked to contribute. I feel guilty if I don?t. So yes, IABU but I obviously still have ?issues? from my old job.

Whiprounds sicken me - all desperately expensive. Worse, the firm invariably uses them to claim 'We're a happy ship' while fleecing the employees of their own wages to do so.

Redundancy whips are the worst - the last lot cost me 100 pounds plus 3 meals out and countless drinks - only for me to lose my job last. Left a bad taste.

I state loudly and openly to all around me that I don't contribute and don't want anything for my birthday or ever want a leaving pressie. I will join in for a Secret Santa as it involves everyone and is normally only a fiver.

In my profession there are loads and loads of contract workers and I realised a few years ago that I was spending a small fortune on all the leaving gifts for numerous people who I did not really know at all and, as a permanent member of staff, I was never going to get the same in pressie quota back! I also saw the hourly rate of many of these people and at £35-65 per hour they can bugger off minus my hard earned cash in their pockets. I often buy cakes and biscuits when we've had a hard week so I'm not a miserable git.

Many years ago I remember a staff member leaving who was hated by all and someone had put in the large brown collection envelope a lemon with the words 'suck on this' printed on it in black marker pen. Made me laugh.

I think my mates place has the perfect solution. Going to have a chat when we go back about doing the same.

Basically, each person in mates workplace pays a yearly contribution, which I think was £12. Although helps that there's over 80 contributors. Each week £1 is invested in the lottery and each week the numbers are the same. Linked into the t&c's they signed stated a clause about whip rounds for leaving, maternity etc, and the amount you get depends on the amount of time you have been there. So up to 2 years you get a £10 gift voucher, 5 years etc. And of course, what happens when the numbers come up. They have left it so if it's less than a tenner each it gets chucked into the pot, and at the end of their year, they will decide how much of the little winnings stays in the pot and what happens with the rest.

Sounds so much simpler and cheaper. No more collections. Just the occasional card that either gets signed or simply passed on.

I hate collections too and requests for sponsors for charities. It is so expensive and I can't really afford it

I had a baby, there was a "substantial" (the collectors words) amount collected and it got pinched. It's happened to about 3 collections now!

We don't do birthdays (except big ones - just a card). For leaving/babies/weddings we have an envelope: you put in privately what you want then write your name on the envelope. It works fine.

In my last job I upset the staff before I left (long story). I was told that the person who was collecting for me was ambushed in the car park by a posse of staff demanding their contributions back...

We don't do birthday whiparounds, thank goodness. I make a cake, as I'm the only one that does it and actually enjoy it and I put receipts in to petty cash for any special ingredients I need. We do baby/wedding but it's an envelope passed around the pigeon holes and you cross your name off the front, sign the card and put in whatever you like. We're only a small staff though, so it's only really a couple of times a year. We might put a bit more in for weddings as we're usually all invited to the wedding so buy a gift accordingly. We also don't do goodbyes, as our school takes us out for dinner at the endof each semester anyway, which is generally when people leave, and the school pays for a bunch of flowers.

In our small office (15 staff) we contribute £2 for birthdays.
It's not compulsory, in fact, 2 people don't participate at all. Everyone records on a list what their preference is, ie vouchers for various shops, etc
The birthday person is 'surprised' with their card & gift at some point during the day.

If it's a leaving collection, most people up it to a fiver but it's not compulsory.

Seems to work well for us.