AIBU to think workplace collections are getting excessive?

[user456876]

I work in retail in a team of 15 in the last 6 weeks we have had collections for -

Leaver
Wedding
New baby
Leaver
Manager's Birthday
Retirement

Everyone is expected to put in £5. I've chosen not to participate (I don't expect a collection and have never received one) but I have heard the two staff who organise the collections slagging me off.

AIBU to think the amount of collections and the amount people have to contribute is excessive? Also AIBU not contributing?

I agree it’s best not to do it. The worst is when no one organises it so it ends up being random who gets a present. A person might get a nice present after being there for 6 months but someone leaving after 6 years gets nothing - it wouldn’t be an issue but you can make people feel bad if they’re aware of these differences and they take it personal even though it’s not intentional.

Our team just do significant events like births or serious illness or special birthdays. I avoided telling people it was my 40th though as didn’t want a fuss. It’s not been that frequent.
Originally it was everyone’s birthday but then the team grew and it became ridiculous
so we thankfully stopped it.

I agree. It’s become insane. Leavers pregnancies and weddings. We also have the option of signing a virtual card which is nice. The only two times I gave money was when my boss left (£100) and a favourite colleague left (£50).

We do baby, leaver, retirement but it’s all online and the collections get to £50ish so most people aren’t putting in. I assume people do for the people they know better and don’t for the others. Yours sounds excessive and being basically compulsory is wrong.

I recently returned to work where I had been a manager. I used to pay for a Christmas lunch for all my staff. (Single, high mortgage and average wage). Never received and never expected a gift myself. Couldn't believe when in my new post one of the staff asked for £10 towards a Christmas present for the manager!! Apparently they do it every year. What the absolute ... ? I paid as felt I had to but when did lower paid staff give money towards a managers present. I wouldn't have minded but she's a really awful manager as well 🤣

To be honest I manage a large team and I agree it’s gotten out of hand.
In the past 2 months we’ve had 3 collections and I feel awful asking.
But we’ve started something and I’m not sure how to stop.
Also as I manage the team I end up topping up do putting in extra this past 2 months it’s cost me £60.
Im thoroughly fed up of it.
Birthdays, babies, leavers, weddings it’s never ending !

Does anyone even get a present they like? Isn’t it like random Christmas presents from someone you don’t know very well and who doesn’t know you? Something either so generic it’s blah, or something so niche it’s actually wrong - is it really a good use of money?

What about a large card with enough room for people to sign it and put ‘good luck’ or whatever, plus a few people saying (on the day) happy birthday/sorry you’re leaving/good luck with the new baby and here’s a cup of tea I made you and two biscuits - isn’t that more personal and meaningful?

Edited to say - my last day anywhere would feel much more personal with a few people popping to say ‘it’s been lovely working with you, where is your next job? What are your retirement plans? What are you going to study at college?’

A generic posh bubbly set or pen and posh notebook set or plant that you have already - just a bit meh. And someone has to spend quite a bit of time sorting it, doing the collection, buying something, people (very justifiably) saying ‘well I’m not giving because you forgot my 50th’ and then the inevitable discussion about how the whole thing can go smoother next time.

I’ve had fantastic presents from a temporary contract (3 months) and seen people (in other jobs) receive nothing after five years while others at the same job got presents for sneezing. The unfairness of it all is what riles me I think.

Manager's birthday? Or indeed any team member's birthday? Unreasonable.

No collection should tell you how much to put in. Birthday's seem unnecessary to me. If the person is my friend I'd buy them a card or a coffee etc but that's up to me. Retirement and leaving I would contribute but what I could afford and depending how well I knew the person leaving.

That doesn't work in the public sector or in the Voluntary Sector though.

It’s non stop where I work. I can’t even be arsed to sign the online cards because it’s a daily chore (sometimes get multiple emails per day)
Ive spent a lot of money over the past yr and im sick of it!

I am the same. Contributed to all the collections for over 10 years and didn't get one when I went on maternity leave! Going back to work in a few weeks and still feel annoyed about it, especially as I saw in my work emails a collection for the woman who went on mat leave just after me! 😅

You are not being unreasonable. That is £30 in a matter of 6 weeks.

I work for a company which has a lot more staff and I only contribute to collections for people that I like. A minimum amount isn't dictated and i'd say something if it was. I'll caveat this by saying I only sign cards if I've put money in the pot (not saying you do that @user456876 ).

Where I work there is a tin in the locker of the person collecting, with a staff list. You tick your name on the list when you’ve “dealt” with it. That may mean you’ve put in whatever you want or nothing at all.
So, no harassment at all. You might just be reminded you haven’t put a tick.

No, I agree. This was higher education.

This is easily one of my favourite things about my work. There's a kitty. You pay in 150 kr (£20), and then there are gifts for those who pay in to a specified value when they leave, have a baby, have a round birthday, serious illness over 2 weeks or get married. If you don't pay in, someone might organise a collection but there is NO obligation, and the contribution is 10-20kr (£1-2).

OMG this brings back memories of being harassed for collection money! I used to put a pound in if I knew them and 50p if I didn’t! A young lad never had any money and used to run away from the main collection ladies, if they were carrying a blue tin! 😂 After my maternity leave I was hard up so did opt out of all collections. Did feel a bit mean but hardly had any money left over from nursery fees and fuel (long commute). This was 20 years ago! I work from home now, thank goodness!

That sounds very sensible and I wouldn’t mind doing that! It’s the unknown amount of collections!

We have them regularly but there's no set amount, you can add or not add whatever you like. We have a "birthday locker". A card is put in for whatever celebration it is and an an envelope to add your contribution and sign the card if you contributed.

I stopped years ago. Birthdays, weddings, anniversary (Other than a direct member of staff who i went to their wedding and bought a gift myself), retirements, etc etc. I wont do it. I even refused to buy for someone i had worked with for 15 years and got on with. Not happening anymore. We have 3 branches and its a weekly occurance for a collection for something.

Ive had 40th & 50th birthday whilst being here. 25th wedding anniversay etc etc. Ive never once celebrated with a card or a collection.

The second i made it clear i wasnt part of the cult it all became much easier.

This is insane to me!

I run my own business and I would never ask my employees to fund a present- thats outrageous. We always buy a small present for everyone's birthday but it comes out of our pockets as the business owners, not from employees.

Part of the reason for this is that years ago when I was an employee I also got hassled to contribute to presents for people I had never even met and it used to piss me right off.

Say no- you arent an ATM.

Yes insane. The latest was sports team girl out on injury. Collection. My dd gave nothing as said theres collections weekly now)

But the organiser can see who has and hasn't contributed. I don't like them. At least before you could drop a few coins in an envelope and no one would know if it was £2 or £5 etc

The one that they use where I work, the money donation is anonymous by default, unless you decide to put your name in.

I didn’t know that, like @HelpMeGetThrough I also thought it could be anonymous, and the recipient also just gets a card with names so wouldn’t know who contributed what, if anything.

Not workplace but at my daughter's school they've started arranging collections for children who have an "injury", so broken arm/wrist for eg. The kid didn't even miss a day of school!!
Sure, it's a nice idea, but surely a card everyone in the class signed would suffice?! Where does it end?!
My son gets tonsilitis, so would he qualify for a voucher too? He's off school for much longer when he gets ill as well!
I refused to contribute, which I felt a bit mean about, but it just gets ridiculous.