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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

240 replies

Hohohonooo · 05/12/2018 22:19

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?

OP posts:
Aragog · 06/12/2018 20:12

but otherwise it's another evening paying for childcare/taxis and losing an evening before Christmas.

No childcare to pay for even when DD was smaller. Ours is never with partners so DH would be looking after our DD. We share taxis where possible, and DH has been known to drop me too. Ours is usually on a Friday evening after work, so no great hardship re one weekend evening in the month for us.

A580Hojas · 06/12/2018 20:13

I've never paid anything for any works Christmas party, but then I've always worked in the private sector. If the Christmas party was going to cost me I wouldn't go. Mercifully, most of the Christmas parties I've been to have been civilised lunches in posh restaurants.

RahRahRooRah · 06/12/2018 20:13

I run a small business of 10 employees, and give them £50 each for the staff Christmas meal/night out

Girliefriendlikesflowers · 06/12/2018 20:17

£70 is ridiculous, I can't imagine anyone paying that. I'm public sector and last year spent £36 on the works Christmas do, it was dire and for the first year ever I'm not doing it this year.

Polarbearflavour · 06/12/2018 20:20

Last year I worked in a civil service department. It was hinted to me that as an executive assistant I should be planning the Christmas party for the team including fussing around with money. I just ignored it and they didn’t have a Christmas meal! Grin

WTFIsAGleepglorp · 06/12/2018 20:22

Nothing.

I work with these people. I don't mix with them socially.

Getfitmumma · 06/12/2018 20:23

If you work in public sector you almost always have to pay for yourself....

SauvignonBlanche · 06/12/2018 20:24

NHS worker, usually pay £30-£35 and as I’m the boss usually buy a couple of bottles of wine for the table as well.

MrsDesireeCarthorse · 06/12/2018 20:25

Teacher. We have a party in-house paid for from common room subs (5 quid a month). Summer party also covered.

daisypond · 06/12/2018 20:26

That's too much. I work in the private sector and would never expect the company to pay for a Christmas party. I would expect to pay for myself.

BG2015 · 06/12/2018 20:26

Teacher and we're paying £40 this year for a meal, disco etc at a local country hotel

ScreamingValenta · 06/12/2018 20:29

The funded/non-funded Christmas party is a key private/public sector divide! Think carefully when planning your career! Xmas Wink

daisypond · 06/12/2018 20:31

Screaming - but I work for a private sector organisation and we don't get a funded Christmas party - it's all about cost-cutting, efficiency savings and the bottom line.

iamyourequal · 06/12/2018 20:33

£70 is very expensive, I would have thought prohibitively so for many people. Ours is mostly paid for by the organisation, but we pay £10 contribution and £5 for the transport there. It’s a 3 course lunch with wine, in work time. I don’t think I would want to go if it took up a Saturday!

AriadnePersephoneCloud · 06/12/2018 20:36

Nothing, but I'm not a party person. I am paying to go to my team lunch and that is around 35 and I'd rather not go to be honest. Not because I don't like the people I work with, they're lovely, but I'm tired, I have a lot to do and lots of credit card debt... Still I agreed to it months ago so can't back out now :/

Di11y · 06/12/2018 20:41

I work for a local council who pays for a staff party. We own a. conference venue so do a buffet, disco, karaoke, diy photo booth and byob for under £7pp. downside is staff clear up the mess.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 06/12/2018 20:43

I wouldn't pay anything. The company pays for ours and if they didn't I wouldn't go.

arranbubonicplague · 06/12/2018 20:47

I loathe work events. I'd willingly pay £20 not to attend one.

Never once had a subsidised works-party.

HopeGarden · 06/12/2018 21:10

I’d pay £20 - £30 if I liked my colleagues enough to want to go to a Christmas do with them.

As an aside, one place I used to work put on a free Christmas meal for employees, including a free bar.
There were always plenty of people overdoing it on the free bar because they wanted to take as much advantage of the free alcohol as possible. I imagine that sort of thing would be even worse if people are paying £70 including all inclusive beer and wine because there’ll be a fair number of people wanting to make sure they get their money’s worth.

WineAndTiramisu · 06/12/2018 21:22

Ours is the same, £70 and includes all food and drinks. I refused to go last year because I was pregnant!
Going this year, although I resent it. Half of them get so drunk it's embarrassing, I usually leave early and only go every 3-4 years. Last time I ended up buying cocktails as the included wine was undrinkable. Not looking forwards to it to be honest.

BibiBlocksberg · 06/12/2018 22:01

Thank You for starting this thread OP, have been wanting to ask the same thing for a while.

Meal is paid for by company (Financial Services) plus two free drinks vouchers at posh hotel 15 miles from where I live.

However, no transport provided this year & no one to drop me off or collect so left w choice of booking hotel room (minimum £78) or taxi each way (quoted at £60 return)

Add to that cost of buying suitable outfit (only work & dog walking clothes in wardrobe) & it's starting to become prohibively expensive (also £25k salary here)

Seriously considering cancelling & being branded as a pariah who doesn't care about the company/is not a team player.

No pressure then :(

Marva · 07/12/2018 06:35

Ours is all paid for by the company - three course meal, entertainment, champagne on arrival and free wine and beer all evening (spirits available but have to be paid for).

But it's a pretty formal affair (black tie) so not cheap to get a suitable outfit. I still haven't got one and it's in a week so that adds stress to an already busy December. And if you live far away or last train home is early in the evening, there's the added cost of hotels /taxis.

The dinner is nice but the entertainment dire and the after dinner disco not to my taste at all so I'm not really fussed about it. I'll go and probably sneak out an hour or so after dinner is over. If I had to pay (or got taxed on the "benefit") I probably wouldn't go.

Talulahbeige · 07/12/2018 06:43

Work do’s became a real bone of contention for me when my husband started his own business.

Our government give an annual tax allowance to companies for an annual function, it’s £150 per person. So basically for every employee they can either pay £150 in tax or spend it on a party or function instead.
So when companies say that they are paying for the party, yes it’s a lovely thing to do, but it also means they are not paying out anything they wouldn’t be anyway.

If they are then charging you to attend they are basically taking your money to get a tax rebate!

Plaiceholder · 07/12/2018 06:45

Ours is £35 this year. I'm going. I work for the civil service. We've never had a paid for party. (Haven't had a pay rise of note for almost a decade but that's a different thread)

namastayinbed · 07/12/2018 06:47

Ours is in work time so technically they're paying me to go.