Sorry folks. New here, didn't realise this was a hated thing that requires posters like me to be shunned out the thread!
Before I go, wanted to share my own personal cf story and leave with dignity this time 🤣.
I was working in a company where my friend always wanted a job in. She hated her role and the pay at her own company was rubbish and there were rumours that it was losing too much business hence why some departments were being cut out. Since I got this job, I sent my friend numerous job ads from our company but she never bothered filling out the application to get the job.
My own company started using this incentive where if you recommend someone you know and that candidate gets the job, you receive a £500 bonus. This was new at the time but wasn't really advertised. So things started getting serious for my friend where she was worried and still pressuring me and one day I noticed another ad on our website hiring someone for a role that was a similar role my friend was working in. I sent her the ad and this time she filled out the application form with her cv and sent it in.
My friend was later invited for an interview and later got an offer for the position. So imagine, she was getting 23k in her old company (figures been changed not to be recognised) and now in my company she started off with 35k. She started work and was telling me how she wished she applied before and how everything is amazing in my company. My company is really good with staff development and provides so many opportunities for staff. Anyway a couple of months later I got joint email from HR and Finance saying they were authorising the bonus which I honestly forgot about. A couple of weeks later my friend then found out through another girl she started chatting with during cigarette breaks and mentioned the incentive. I received an angry text from her saying "thanks for not letting me know that you have been making money off my back, the least you could have done is told me and go halves" and then moments later "what are you planning to do with your hard earned money now, go on another WELL DESERVED holiday???"
I was taken aback and didn't know what to reply and didn't respond at first. The bonus hadn't even gone through yet plus it gets taxed. I went home and sent her a long message along the lines of what I've written here and said I was happy to share the bonus with her (what an idiot I am) which I transferred half of it to her account immediately despite not even receiving the bonus as I had her details on my banking app where we sometimes sent money to each other for things like- if I saw a dress she would like I would take a picture and she would say buy it for me and send the money. she didn't reply back to my text and just ignored me and never spoke to me. I felt really bad, I should have told her about the bonus but honestly it had nothing to with me hiding this from her. I would have treated her for a weekend spa or something like that.
Many months later, I went on an event where it required me to work with a couple of people from my friends department and I was totally shocked to find out that she had recommended so many people for a few new roles and even sent the job ads to her old colleagues where that business went bust and she managed to get 1 new staff in and another candidate was called for an interview.
My comeback text:
Hi Jane, hope all is good. I hope my hard earned money was useful at a time when I helped you get a job and saved you from your old company that was about to go bust. I've heard that you've been having fun with the incentive. I hope you enjoy your bonuses but don't forget to share it with your friends xxx
And no, she never shared it with anyone.