AIBU to expect employee to say thank you for Christmas Bonus?

[Booper42]

I am self employed and at Christmas gave all my employees a generous Christmas Bonus - out of the 7 employees only 3 thanked me for their Bonus. I have waited for the others to at least say thankyou or acknowledge that they have recieved the money (sent via online banking). One of the employees has now asked for more money - if she didn't appreciate the £500 I gave her, why should I give her anymore especially when she doesn't appear to be putting in a great deal of effort into her work at the moment!

Is it me, or is this how employees are these days?

Very rude that only a few of your employees did say thanks

Well, being pragmatic, does their lack of manners mean they don't do a good job?

It really is silly to let something like that get in the way of an employment relationship.

Even if it is an unskilled job, I have seen posters on mumsnet complaining that they cannot get any applicants for the job they are advertising.

Decent tenants and decent employees should be nurtured, even if they aren't perfect.

Can nobody see that it might be embarrassing to thank someone for money? I would do if the money was given directly to me or my boss was telling me about it, but I wouldn't be able to bring it up in conversation out of nowhere. What if you're not sure if everyone else got a bonus or the same bonus?

YABU

There are many different kinds of bonus, which I think is influencing a lot of peoples' responses - performance based, contractual, discretional, gift etc - and the response and "obligation" to thank for each one would be different.

A performance based and/or contractual bonus I don't think needs a thank you - it is based on you hitting your targets and is agreed as part of your renumeration package for doing the job.

A discretional bonus, based on good reviews/going above and beyond, I think I would send an email/note to whoever was in charge of that decision (so whether it was my supervisor, the manager or the big boss) to show my appreciation for the gesture.

A gift that had no bearing on my work, eg just because it was Christmas and the boss was giving everyone the same gift - monetary or otherwise - would get a thank you from me, just like any other gift would. However, since a gift is supposed to be given without obligation, you can feel disappointed/upset that the recipients haven't said thank you, but to actually consider their employment statu based on it, is out of order IMHO.

All of this is tempered by the assumption that I am not handed the cheque/money directly. If I was, then I would thank whoever was giving it to me out of pure courtesy, if nothing else.

TL:DR There is no obligation to say thank you for a bonus but it is polite to do so, and people shouldn't have to worry that their "position in the company" would be under review based on how grateful they appeared to their boss.

I work for a small firm and I would always say thank you for bonuses. They didn't have to give it to me, I already have a salary from them to cover my working for them. They could spend the bonus fund elsewhere but they don't. They give the money as a thank you. If the business isn't in a financial position to do so, we've not had bonuses but when the going is good we all get the benefit. They're not performance related though; we always work hard