To not want to participate in the work christmas do as its too expensive..

[b584]

I work for a well know food retail company, They have some large stores but mainly convienience stores, Out of the 7 years I have worked in one of the smaller stores we have only had 2 christmas do's.

We are given £10 per employee towards it. it has been that amount since i've been there, over the 7 christmas's I have been there we have had 5 different managers, 2 couldnt be bothered to organise anything and arrange cover for the store so we were given the £10 in store stamps so we had to spend it instore,

The 2 times we have gone out have ended up costing about £60 per person as the managers have chosen where we go and once you have paid for a taxi there and back, then your drinks, meal. it soon adds up when the company is only paying £10 towards it,

We have a new manager now, been with us about 2 months, He has organised a christmas night out at a large pub/restaurant chain, A week before payday and even if it was on payday many of us cant afford it, We have 11 staff at the moment, 15 is about right for the size of our store so all fed up and overworked,

He is making some of us feel bad for saying we might not be going, To be honest I think we deserve more than £10 for the shit we put up with every day especially during the Christmas period with double deliveries, not enough staff and stressed out customers. And You would think that it would have gone up abit in the last 7 years.

Aibu to stick to my guns and not go or am I being a misery guts?

Don't go. Say you've been invited to an event that is free and sooooo....

I've just returned as a trainee.
Our Christmas Lunch is £27.
It is 'noted' if you don't go.
I only earn £9 ph.
I can't afford to go

Don't feel forced to go if you can't afford it. I work for the NHS and we get zero money towards a Christmas party. It's been the same situation for me for years: £35 for a shockingly bad hotel meal, taxis and hotel priced drinks = nearly £200 for a night out for me and OH, which I prefer to spend on my kids. People always say afterwards that the meal is really bad, as it's so busy at this time of year that the food really suffers.

The people who tend to organise these things tend to have more money than most of the people who go, then wonder why nobody is interested. I think some people really look forward to it and want to get dressed up/show people they scrub up well out of work, but it isn't for everyone. Just go for drinks somewhere and order some chips for goodness sake!! Job done!

We pay for our own. It's £40 each and partners are invited. It's miles from where we live so booked a hotel too. We used to get a token gift voucher of £30 at Christmas. A love to shop type thing. But when the new company took over our franchise they stopped that.

My last job which was office based, my boss paid for everything at Xmas. Meal, drink, taxis. He was very generous.

ilovepixie - sorry no vacancies. We are a small company and our only asset is the staff. When setting up the company I vowed to treat the staff very well. Staff turnover is very low as a result. The hope is that over time the staff will not look to the company for this particulry benefit as, business performance permitting, a christmas bonus is paid.

YANBU to not want to go but very lucky to have £10 contributed. I'm a teacher and we never get any money towards ours. Last year the party cost us about £110 each.

My sister works for a retail chain and all their retirement/Xmas meals are shit. Their Xmas meal this year was free for staff members, but +1s cost £28 and the one drink token they were each given didn’t cover a single liquor+mixer at the expensive venue, nor could it be topped up with cash.

Apparently a “big boss” came to their table and complained that only 3 of them had bothered to come.

I used to work at a retail place, we got free meals, free +1s and we didn’t get drink tokens, we got cards or badges we’d flash at the bar staff when we went to the bar to get unlimited drinks so everyone got plastered, managers and all.

Our Xmas do is £130 each and overpriced. I would so love to get the cash instead.

Can these employers really not see the connection between what they pay in wages and the fact that their employees cant afford to contribute £££ to a Christmas party.

Is the cognitive dissonance really that strong.

Wow, I cannot believe the number of people who have to fork out for their own Christmas party I absolutely would not go if I had to pay!

Myself and DP work in the private sector and we both have excellent parties that are fully paid for (including pre-dinner cocktails, 5 course meals in v nice restaurants, free bar and taxis home) and partners are permitted to attend both parties for free.

I think it is disgraceful that some of the most hardworking frontline staff in the public sector don't get the same treatment to be honest.

You don't need to give chapter and verse about your finances, it's none of their business.

Just send your apologies for absence, the event conflicts with a family arrangement.

There are tax implications of 'just giving the money' to staff. It's a permissible business expense under the category of staff welfare.

Giving the cash is a totally different kettle of fish.

I thought it was standard to pay for yourself in the public sector. Dh used to pay for the staff Christmas night out when he worked for the public sector - he would not have told them he paid for it.

I worked for a similar company when I was a student. Their Christmas do was all covered by the staff, nothing from the company whatsoever. It was about £45 PP and I point blank refused given the fact that was about one shifts wage.

I teach FE now and we don’t have one, the English department just goes for drinks after work. DP’s company, on the other hand, pays for the whole shabang and partners are invited too so it clearly varies company to company.

YANBU at all.

the NHS dental practice I used to work at the owner paid for the christmas meal and the first drink anything other drinks you pay for yourself

they used to pay for all the drinks until a practice owner was sued in the Highlands as one of the staff went home the wrong way or started walking or something but they got lost and died of hypothermia but I believe her parent sued on the basis that the owner had made her drunk as he had paid for all the drinks so it was his fault, even though I believe they had gone to another club or pub after it had finished without the boss

legally I don't think he was found guilty responsible but I know many many people who owned businesses in the area stopped paying for alcohol at work events this was at least 12 years ago

also since then other legislation has tightened up so you can complain about harassment and sexism etc if it happened on a works night out so a lot of business owners are far more cautious where 15 years ago they may have paid for whatever drinks etc no one wants to get sued later

I never go to my work night out. I hate paying £££ for shit food at a party night.

DH used to pay for a staff night out for his employees but many now have children and it's a costly time of year to get outfits etc for. He now gives all staff £100, a farm fresh turkey or other meat to the value of £80 and we throw an afternoon buffet where children are welcome. Most staff attend the afternoon and it's grown arms and legs over the last couple of years with children's party games and Santa visiting.

I think it's fair enough that public money isn't used for people to get pissed tbh. But I don't understand public sector managers who don't put their hands in their pockets and show appreciation for staff. There are plenty of well paid people in the upper echelons of the public sector.

Many years working in schools. Lots of Christmas dos. Always paid for myself. Iv'e never heard of any schools subsidising nights out to be honest.

Company I worked for used to pay for a big do in a local hotel but I refused to go - the staff used to behave like they had never been out without their parents before. It was obscene.

Yeah gladiatorgirl or head must have really enjoyed our company 🤣🤣 we even had a drinks tab 🤷‍♀️ I’m quite honored now

Ours is self-funded and we don't even sit down to eat until 8.30. It's just too late and would mean a night of indigestion and misery so bollocks to it.