Company Xmas present to charity

[Hundenaterkatten]

Not in the UK, but I work for a multinational which is not short of cash. The local tax rules allow the company to give employees a non cash gift (can be a voucher) worth about £50 tax free. It is a normal perk used by most companies and this one in the past.

This year the company has decided to donate it to charity. AIBU to view this in the same way as a gift from a person and not be happy. If I was given a choice to donate or better to also choose the charity I would probably be happy and go along. But a unilateral decision to donate to charity is nothing to do with me and I am pissed off.

I don't blame you. Do they also get tax relief on the charitable donation?

It is peanuts for the company, but they get the same same relief giving it to charity as employees

To avoid a drip feed I must declare I gave my DB an energy efficient light bulb as part of an Xmas present in the 90s

Its their money they can donate it to charity if they want. Maybe they didn't want to give it to employees for some reason.

In split. I can see why you're disappointed to not get your £50 Christmas bonus effectively. I also think its great the company are making a donation to charity. I guess they could have split or doubled

It's their money, up to them what they do with it. Plenty of people never get a Christmas bonus (including most of us in the public sector).

The problem is not that the company has given to charity, it is that is that it has announced that my Xmas gift is being given to a charity I did not choose and I should be happy.
It would be better if they just made a donation and did not pretend it has anything to do with their employees.