To think this is a strange way to do Secret Santa?

[Fancylike]

My office has announced a Secret Santa but has set a minimum price of £40. There’s no maximum but you have to spend over £40 on a single gift. I’m new to the company but every SS I’ve done previously had a maximum spend, not a minimum and it’s always been £5-10.

This just seems like a lot of money to spend on coworkers you may not know well (I work in a different department to the name I pulled so have to research them) and also having a minimum doesn’t sit well with me given the disparity in salaries across the office. I’m new so I don’t want to rock the boat by asking if the organiser got mixed up but it’s also been made clear we all need to participate.

The whole thing is ridiculous. I hate secret Santa for work colleagues anyway, but £40!

I don't think Movie tickets are a good idea if you do go through with it (unless you know the person likes to go to the cinema). Myself and my husband have never been that into going. Since having kids though, we certainly wouldn't want to have to arrange childcare just to go and watch a film.

I'm probably a miserable old tw*t but I hate Secret Santa with a passion. In my old section, at least it was only a fiver but then again, this meant choc willies and the like were par for the course..

I have no advice, awkward situation all round! Just here to say I preferred secret Santa back in the 90’s/00’s. Everyone used to hoot with laughter when the boss unwrapped a knitted Willy warmer or something equally as juvenile. Shame it can’t be fun like that anymore!!

I’d refuse to take part on the basis you don’t know the person at all & it’s a ridiculous amount to spend on someone you don’t know.

I haven't spent£40 on anyone in my family no way I'd spend it on a random for secret Santa!

I hate SS. It’s. Waste of money.They can’t force you to take part. Many E say you can’t afford it?

Most of them won’t be appreciated even if they are £40+ what an absolute waste of money, products and YOUR time/money. Sack it off. Or fund China by finding something worth £40 and getting it for 40p on Temu…

Was the £40 hand written? Could it be a fancy ‘1’ instead of a ‘4’?

On Teams?

They can't force you to participate. What about those that don't celebrate Christmas? Yes £40 is way too much.

If it was me I would simply say I’m not participating and to take my name out. Others would probably follow.

That’s bonkers. Where DH works it’s entirely optional whether you partake or not and it’s £10 max spend. £40 is crazy, even more so in the current climate.

Would be ridiculous anyway because not all lawyers in central London earn loads, and OP specifically mentions salary disparity across the office, which will be the case in most offices, even ‘fatcat’ 🙄lawyers.

i did it 1 year only i took time and physically bought a nice cadburys teddy and chocolate in return theyd forgot about me and i got a shitty decoration given to me not wrapped up or anything so hell a no from me and 40.00 is a bit mutch i dont even spend that on my kids and grankids per present i would put the receipt in and make a point aswell if you dont like the item return it yourself and get something you do like or gift voucher if anybody hums and hass about it i would say at least they can buy want they want and not be given some crap they dont want.

id opt out

This is bonkers during a recession.

Do you work for Rishi? 😳

Does Cinema entry cost £20 / person where everyone else lives ?

No. £4.99 and £6.50 here.

As an American who lived in Victoria, British Columbia as a child and spends time in the UK, Yankee candles, and other smelly kitsch is something some Americans like, but many of us would rather skip that sort of thing. I personally purchase items that are of quality. For example, my mother loved (as do I) Liberty of London fabrics, etc.

It amuses me how Americans have a reputation for liking loud, cheap rubbish, yet that is of a sort not like many of us.

For the gift exchange, I’d buy something that is unclassifiable as far as worth (such as a leather good or a nice silk or wool scarf that is not as high as listed here in OP’s post) and of lesser amount, and simply gift it without stating cost.

Buy something off vinted, with labels on, it may retail at £40 but on vinted you will pay less than half.

Call me tigh but that's what I've done for all my Xmas shopping, named clothing unworn with labels much much less than rrp.

I can't imagine that, legally, they have a leg to stand on if they say you have to participate. I also can't imagine you're the only person feeling this way.
There's a whole chapter in "The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists" in which the cast of underpaid decorators are taken out on an excursion by their boss...which, actually, they have to pay for themselves. It's presented as a tool of control - making people think "good old So-and-So", when he's nothing of the sort - and also as an extortion mechanism, because, after all, who's organised the charabanc and who's collecting the fares?
If the staff in an office organise a cheap and jokey Secret Santa, it's churlish (but permissible) not to join in. If the management instruct you to spend proper money (most of the price of a day's childcare, or enough shopping for a few days) then it's essentially a deduction from your pay.

Might be worth contacting ACAS and asking their opinion?

I think the charity donations are a good idea except don’t they work better/ are really designed for when the recipient says no gifts for me, do a charity donation instead? It’s a bit weird to say oh you were hoping for a gift but I went over your head and sanctimoniously gave it to charity in lieu.

Perhaps. For me, If I was the recipient of one of those charity donation things I would maybe just think that the person who was allocated to me barely knows me and that's probably why they have chosen to do that, rather than buy something they don't know if I would want. I would personally prefer that and welcome it as a 'gift' but completely appreciate that yeah, maybe some people would like an actual gift since they have given a gift.
Each to their own I guess!

Yes I wouldn’t mind myself. But I just wondered if some might mutter a bit if it happened to them. It’s just too much for someone you don’t know full stop.