To want to pay less at work Christmas drinks?

[Rainallnight]

Agh, I just wrote a long post and it got lost!

the short version is - it’s my work’s tradition that SMT members split the bill for drinks at our Christmas lunch. I am the least well paid member of SMT by some distance and have begun to feel this is unfair.

I’d rather we make a contribution that’s proportionate to our salaries.

AIBU?

And how many in the SMT?

Have I got this right? @Rainallnight You are an SMT manager for a charity, with a team of 15, and the Christmas tradition is that SMT foot the bar bill for the Christmas do? However, some SMT members earn more than others, so splitting the bar bill evenly between you feels unfair.
If this is correct, then the division of the bill shd take this into account.

Worked example
OP states that her salary is around half that of another SMT member. If they were the only two paying, then OP shd pay 50% of what her better-remunerated colleague does. So if the bar bill came to £150, she would pay £50 to (presumably) his £100.

Someone in accounts will know the salary figures, and could work out a ratio. 'From each according', etc.

Be brave, @Rainallnight , and suggest this to your SMT colleagues - and to your friend in accounts.

I think you would quickly find that the higher earners don't want to go anymore. Subsidising colleagues' alcohol consumption wouldn't be a priority for a lot of people.

Or suggest the SMT put £xxx behind the bar and after that’s gone, everyone buys their own.

I think this is a good option. Make it clear to the other people who aren’t paying, what the limit is. (In making this suggestion to the rest of the SMT, point out that you actually don’t have much to spare after all your outgoings, so that they might start to consider that it’s not fair on you to share an unlimited bar bill).
Some people probably take the mick anyway, thinking they’ll drink as much as possible since it’s “free”.

Either set amount behind the bar, or first round/two rounds paid for and after that everyone buys their own.

How can it possibly be difficult for someone to know what everyone earns and work out from that what they pay

I certainly don't know how much my colleagues earn. I know who's higher up the chain but the difference in salary could be minimal. It's not like you can ask payroll for a list & people are very very private about their salaries.

This wouldn't work as you are basing it on gross rather than net incomes....

"Oh sorry but cant make lunch! Happy to send over £X for the booked set menu so no one is out of pocket....enjoy!"

Or, if you are me.......

to SMT only "Sorry not in for three days, DD has given me Noro." after making sure you hugged and kissed as many as possible a Merry Xmas the day before [evil cackle]

I dont drink so Id be paying nothing.

We put £1000 behind the bar for our wedding of 65 guests, three kids under 18. We got a £250 refund. So I'd need more information or assume it includes food or a lot more than 65 people were there, which is unfair. If a company wants to spend money on drinks, it should pay from company funds.

If you do put x amount behind the bar, which is really the best way to do it I think, make sure to give everyone tokens or something so it's shared out fairly.

You could easily spend £20 on one drink in London. Or more if you unwittingly join a round with someone wealthier in a wine bar (won't make that mistake twice!)

If drinks cost this much then get the company to pay or have a pay bar.

I think you need to speak to the CEO or the rest of the SMT and say that you are willing to put XX amount towards drinks this year. Let people know whatever arrangements are in place beforehand and expect some moaning.

I've never heard of somewhere fully funding drinks for the night.

How much are you talking?

I’m baffled about why charities and gov employees don’t get a meal / night out at Christmas. It’s the cost of business, goodwill and appreciation for staff. Why can’t a reasonable amount of funds be used for this, it’s seems like such a red line issue needlessly imo. In op scenario the CEO should cover, it’s completely unreasonable for someone on 50k to be covering a share of this.

Personally I'd feel put out, as a non drinker my drinks would only come to like 20 but others would be like 70/80 so I'd be paying more than what my drinks are worth and some spend less (fancy cocktails or doubles etc) I would suggest just paying for your own

50k and 100k working for a charity, reason why I don't donate to charity most off the donations go to the higher up people and not what it's actually donated for!!

You pay for table wine only.

If the staff, (or are they volunteers?) wish to knock back cocktails, they pay for those.
I have never known any company pay for all drinks. You can't be party to your staff getting blind drunk and if it's free, that's the temptation.

Other than one private company I’ve always worked for locally authorities or civil service. Local authority managers used to buy the first round between them or put wine on the table depending on the type of do we were having. The private company was totally different - there was an amount set aside for drinks and when it was gone it was gone. It was always claimed back on expenses though but the company had a large budget for that kind of thing! I certainly don’t expect anyone to pay for my drinks all night when we go out no matter who they are and I wouldn’t be happy paying for anyone else’s all night either!

Ignoring charity's for the mo, you'd get the right leaning papers having conniptions about taxpayer's money being spent on getting public sector workers pissed.

How much is this likely to cost you?

There are already people on the thread saying charities shouldn’t pay salaries like 50k. Where they think charities will get qualified people from if they won’t pay a decent wage I’m not sure.

But if people have the attitude that all charity workers should accept low wages, then imagine how they feel if the charity spends money on a party.

How much you earn does not dictate how much you drink. Otherwise by comparison you could order lobster and champagne and pay less than others because you are paid
less. It’s not for the better paid to pay for
your drinks.
I wouldn’t go if you feel upset about the way it’s run, but I don’t think it’s unfair for everyone to pay their share. You’ll all be drinking in
rounds I imagine.

Easy. Get the finance manager to work it out. They know what everyone’s salary is, and will be able to estimate the total cost. The. They tell everyone on the SMT (individually) what to contribute. If that money runs out behind the bar, everyone starts paying for their own,

It really shouldn’t be up to staff, even if they’re on the SMT, to be paying out of their own pocket to give the rest of the staff a bit of a jolly. Boosting moral is an organizational expense, not one that should be fobbed off on staff. It’s one thing if you decide to do it yourself, off your own bat and within what you find affordable, though that can itself set up expectations that pressure others who don’t want to do the same, but it’s really unethical for it to be an expectation. Some people get paid so much it’s a drop in the ocean and they won’t think twice, but an organization that’s paying people that well will also have enough money to buy their staff drinks at christmas.

Unfortunately, I think it could come across as a bit stingy to protest it, but it may be the kick they need to sort out something more appropriate. I’m sure the board are keen to keep “staff booze up” off the charity’s expenses, but that’s not a good excuse for pushing it on to you. They can do something different instead, or fudge it as a “staff celebration” or the like. You know the people you work with best, but I would not suggest pro-rating it. If you’re going to challenge it I think you need to say something more along the lines of “I may be on the SMT, but I really don’t get paid well enough to subsidise the charity like this. You need to count me out this year.” And leave it up to the rest of them of them to think harder about whether they should be doing it at all.