To think hamper is better gift than voucher for staff

[Christmasmorale]

Ok given everything going on this year I want to boost staff morale with a nice Christmas gift. Our budget isn’t large enough to give a meaningful bonus. We have about £200 spend for each staff member.

I like the idea of an F&M hamper - with staff either choosing the Wine or Christmas food hamper. My business partner thinks it’s a waste of money and that staff would appreciate a £200 department store or Amazon voucher instead to spend as they please.

Personally, I used to get an F&M hamper every Christmas from an old work place and I still have the hamper boxes in use to this day as blanket storage etc. Even though I would also get a £1000 Christmas bonus from that workplace it’s the hamper that I remember fondly and associate positively with the organisation.

So:

YANBU: hampers are a more personal touch
YABU: just give them the money, no one wants F&M fruit cakes

Like the majority of people I would prefer a voucher to a hamper. Hampers are so wasteful.

Definitely the voucher or cash. Hampers are usually overpriced and always contain stuff you don't want. Unless you know the dietary requirements of all the staff you don't know if they don't drink, have allergies are diabetic and limit sugar. Stick with the voucher.

@moonbells

Drat. The gov.uk weblink says:

"You don’t have to pay tax on a benefit for your employee if all of the following apply:

it cost you £50 or less to provide
it isn’t cash or a cash voucher
it isn’t a reward for their work or performance
it isn’t in the terms of their contract

"

So if it is cash or a voucher, tax is applicable.

Oh snap so voucher has the same tax implications a voucher then.

£200 added on to a payslip just doesn’t seem like a Christmas gift at all. Maybe I’m being blasé about it though but it just doesn’t scream Christmas present.

Would people prefer cash on payslip or a gift voucher from your preferred store?

*as cash then

Love to shop vouchers are nice, as they can be used in a lot of different places.

If I was receiving a "same for everyone" gift I would prefer a voucher.

I've looked at many hampers thinking to treat myself but there are always somethings that would not get used/eaten.

I don't have voting on so can't vote.

I'd rather an amazon voucher. I'd prob give most of the hamper away b

Reminds me of when my husband's work gave them all a £110 bottle of red wine for Christmas one year.

Many were appreciative but just considered it a bottle of wine and didn't know the value, they'd have been far happier with a case of cheaper wine. Lots didn't drink red wine or wine at all. So what was actually a reasonably generous gift was a bit wasted. I know many would have been happier with 80 quid cash than 110 quid wine

Some people might not drink, some may not eat chocolate, some may be allergic to something , trying to diet, have little space at home.

Sure more personal than vouchers/money but these would possibly be of better use

You can pay the tax on the vouchers for the staff- you can do it directly with HMRC

A £50 Nov, Dec, jan, Feb voucher might not be taxable
In an envelope saying dont open until (right)

Check that out

It's honestly be so gutted if I knew it was a choice between a posh hamper or a voucher, the thought that I could have had £200 to spend on the family Vs a hamper with prob quite a few things that will not even get touched would be so disappointing.

Quite apart from anything you tend to have a fair bit of luxury food in at Xmas already so it's all a bit superfluous

Every hamper I've ever received has been gifted out apart from one or two items.

They are lovely to receive but once you open them and look at the individual items they're not all to everyone's taste.

I think a small gift plus a decent amount on a gift card would be much more preferable.

I think you may be projecting from what you like to get and that's always a mistake. There is no one size fits all so if you give hampers, you have to accept that a significant proportion of people will not like some/ much of what's in it - and for them it's a rubbish bonus. Can you offer a choice?

Yeah it’s a big deal this year for tax because normally you can spend up to £150 on a Christmas party without paying tax. But no one can have a Christmas party and benefits over £50 are taxable. This would be voucher or hamper. Under £50 either would be fine as long as they aren’t cash or exchangeable for cash.

My work used to buy a range of 'prizes', so hamper, voucher for local restaurant, amazon voucher, spa treatment, etc. Then we'd have an afternoon with games etc where when you won you got to pick one of the prizes. It was done so everyone got at least one prize.

I'm very anti-Amazon too, and last time I got a big voucher from there, I bought a steam cleaner and a kettle. Not exactly a Christmas treat
Maybe not a treat but more useful than some crackers, a jar of piccalilli and the like

We get John Lewis/Waitrose vouchers. Previously I have put it towards some new boots and this year (well it's last year's voucher) I am hoping to put it towards a new Shark vacuum but waiting on any Black Friday deals first.

I love the idea of a hamper, especially a F&M one - we used to get sent one to our work years ago from a supplier and it was great fun dipping in and divvying it up between us - but I think in the current climate, most people would prefer the money/vouchers to spend as they wish.

You can pay the tax for the staff but that’s going to be an extra 20% tax at least plus 12% NI plus your 13.8% NI. So for £200 that’s an extra £91 per employee. Which is a lot.

Voucher from Amazon,M&S,Selfridges ,Liberty or F&M over the hamper.
Hampers are great if you can manage to pick items than you know are appreciated by the recipient otherwise it could end up a disappointment.
Years ago we were gifted a F&M hamper and I think we managed to use one product only from the selection as we didn't like anything else inside (we are not fussy eaters).We appreciated the gesture but it ended up to be a fuss as we had to give away pretty much everything in it as we didn't want to go to waste.

While I wouldn't be ungrateful for a hamper, given the choice I'd prefer vouchers.

I love a hamper, always local food though. However, I strongly agree with your husband.

I agree that hampers are a waste of money. And as someone else said, the F&M ones are really old fashioned.

@windmill26

Voucher from Amazon,M&S,Selfridges ,Liberty or F&M over the hamper. Hampers are great if you can manage to pick items than you know are appreciated by the recipient otherwise it could end up a disappointment. Years ago we were gifted a F&M hamper and I think we managed to use one product only from the selection as we didn't like anything else inside (we are not fussy eaters).We appreciated the gesture but it ended up to be a fuss as we had to give away pretty much everything in it as we didn't want to go to waste.

If you live in London?

Selfridges ,Liberty or F&M

I think it's a nice idea, the hamper. However, my mum used to get a very small F and M hamper from her work. It was tiny, nothing inside that she would normally but or use, she thought it was an entire waste of money and just for show. So there might be better ways to show appreciation.

A voucher definitely.

Just as a side point, do you give staff cash bonuses at Christmas and/or pay rises?

I'd maybe even prefer a cash bonus as opposed to a voucher.

A hamper, usually, would be fine but you also have to take into consideration people's dietary habits and if they drink alcohol etc.