To ask how much you would willingly pay for your work's Christmas Party?

[Hohohonooo]

I'm not going because of the cost.

Ours is £70 per person, which is for a 3 course meal and all inclusive beer and wine. AIBU to think that's way too much?! For context, I earn £25000 per year, which is fairly typical for my workplace.

How much would you be willing to spend?

[Timtims]

£30, £40 absolute max! Public sector so always have to pay. Often Managers (incl me) subsidise drinks out of their own pockets (wine on tables).

Tbh, I think its a pretty shitty situation if you can't spend one social occasion a year with colleagues. Caring commitments aside, I'm always shocked at the staff members who would rather book annual leave than spend 4 hours with colleagues (whilst we have to pay for our 'do', we do get time off work).

[Iaintdonenothing]

I nearly didn't go to this year's Xmas party out of the principal of not wanting to pay £25 for a three-course-meal in a shoddy sports bar (usually can get burger, chips and a pint for £6).

I did decide to go as I got swept into the Xmas fever last minute but it was sad as 50% of the admin staff wasn't there as they're all part-time and work on barely over minimum wage on essentially zero hour contracts. When the bill was coming out the boss stood up and told us that it was on the company - only that there was quite a few staff decided to skip the meal because they weren't 'hungry'. I actually felt guilty afterwards.

[IWouldPreferNotTo]

@Hohohonooo

There's about 5.4m public sector employees so a £50 budget per person would be about £270m. Now I can't deny that is a lot of money.

However, the ~£100m the Royal Family costs is equated to about £0.69 per head so even this £270m to treat public sector workers as if we value their contribution is unlikely to be more than £2 for a taxpayer.

But what about the poor beleaguered worker living month to month, surely they can't afford to donate to the bloated bank accounts of our nurses, swanning about drinking champagne between shifts. Well, they wouldn't because they don't pay much tax.

Treating public sector workers with a bit of gratitude is completely affordable.

[Hohohonooo]

@IWouldPreferNotTo

£50 a head for the 1.5 million odd NHS employees would be about 75 million quid in total. I wouldn't feel comfortable going to that party!

[IWouldPreferNotTo]

@Holidayshopping

I think that the public sector should also have a party where the staff don't contribute. Yes, it is tax payers money but realistically £50/head is going to have no real impact on what I pay in tax and as that £50 is going to be spent on taxable services straight away it seems a reasonable thing to do.

If we keep treating the public sector as if they need to be on a bread and water diet to prevent them going wild then we're going to create a situation where anyone with a choice will go for the private sector.

[Iused2BanOptimist]

No way would I go if it was £70
I work in NHS and departments / wards organise their own things. Some departments quite big, go to the sort of pub that can do big parties. My last ward it irritated me people didn't want to pay more than £25 and we always went somewhere disappointing, when there were some really good offers for just a bit more, around £28, less than £30. People won't spend more.
My new dept quite small, 8 of us went to Giggling Squid, had about 1/2 bottle wine each and a drink before. It was really nice, just under £30 with drinks.

[Holidayshopping]

I always thought the Christmas party was the company's way of saying thank you for all the hard work its employees had put in over the year... hmm

What do you think should happen in the NHS, schools, local councils etc? Surely you can understand that things might be different there?

[YeOldeTrout]

Good to hear someone wants their tax ££ spent on Xmas parties! Sadly this is not widespread belief.

NHS policy is can't have alcohol on any premises & will never pay for it, either. I worked in a NHS-funded building & we were never supposed to have alcohol on the premises, even if it was unopened gift brought by a visitor.

[mollysmammy]

£0 - Im not sure if it's different for different sectors as I've always worked in the private sector...I have worked for several different companies over the years, and never had to pay (plus we got a few bottles of wine on the table and at one we also got drinks tokens in addition to the wine. I always thought the Christmas party was the company's way of saying thank you for all the hard work its employees had put in over the year...

[Idiot1]

Company I work for pays for our meal and a few (if you're lucky) drink's which is all well and good but they take us to the most expensive restaurants hotels in the city. Last year's a glass of wine was £9! Didn't go down too well with me or my colleagues who are barely making minimum wage 😝

[SparkleTheTinselKitten]

£50 if it was somewhere I actually wanted to go. About £30 otherwise.

[FunkyKingston]

In my case a tenner for a meal in a chain type restaurant. Actual cost is 30 quid but work (university) offers £20 per person attending.

I felt obliged to go as I was newish, however it only appears to be management and their acolytes going. It will be tortuous.

[Pinkprincess1978]

I've always paid for works Xmas do's. Norm is £30/£35 which sometimes includes a half bottle of wine. I wouldn't want to pay more than that.

[Sugarformyhoney]

Never go on them- spend enough time with my colleagues as it is! £70 is ridiculous though

[Cutesbabasmummy]

I work in the public sector too. We are going to a local gastro pub which is £25 per head for three courses. Drinks are extra. I've never worked anywhere that have these all paid for parties in hotels with casino!

[Birdsgottafly]

Ours used to be £50, that was inclusive of drinks, about four years ago.

If there were the possibility of cocktails, or good entertainment, I'd pay £70. But here in Liverpool, most places offer three bottles of wine for £25, if ordered with food and there's decent, freshly cooked places offering three courses for £20. A few have live music, so £45 for a good night out.

[Thehogfatherstolemycurry]

Mine is £50 for 3 course meal and all alcohol included. I'm looking forward to it and didn't resent paying. For context I earn minimum wage but we are a small team and all like each other. Last year we did a spa break so was more.

I've never worked anywhere that the employer has paid for it.

[BlitheringIdiots]

What's exempt
You might not have to report anything to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or pay tax and National Insurance. To be exempt, the party or similar social function must be all the following:
• £150 or less per head
• annual, such as a Christmas party or summer barbecue
• open to all your employees



We get nowhere near £150 per head

[BlitheringIdiots]

Wow that's a lot. We pay for our staff to have a Xmas lunch and I even drive a round trip morning and evening to pick 4 of them up and drop home.

[Serin]

NHS here. Ours was £65 each. It was also 30miles away from where I live so I didn't go. Would have had to add on cost of taxi or staying over!!
Have got gorgeous event planned for next week £50 a head at National trust venue with family.

[Porla]

Posted too soon!

We had ours last night, £35 each. NHS department. 3 course meal and disco. Consultants bought wine for all the tables and kept topping it up which was really nice of them

Was actually really good, usually a bit shit but a new person organised it this time and we had a right laugh

[Porla]

We had ours last night

[NannyKasey]

I'm public sector and ours is £30 which we have to pay for. The management pay for wine on the table during the meal. As the last 2 years (for me) have been a disaster (2 years ago, I had just come out of hospital after almost 3 weeks and couldn't go (got my money back tho), last year, I managed to injure myself by falling down the stairs at home, coupled with a rubbish meal (no gravy and the Christmas pudding was burnt) meant I came home early) I'm hoping that this year might be OK

[DarlingNikita]

I wouldn't mind paying per se, but £70 is a LOT. I don't drink either, so all-inclusive alcohol means nothing to me. It'd be impossible to get my money's worth – there's only so much ginger beer/lime and soda/mineral water I can drink.

Good excuse not to go, if you ask me. Then again, I'm a miserable moo and have always avoided work parties.

[SlowlyShrinking]

Never paid anywhere until I started working in the public sector.