Christmas is right around the corner, What gift(s) for the Shop Employees?

[Tony Quiring]

We would use scrap money to buy gift cards for a nice restaurant.

The family suffers the employee's being away from home for work so family is part of the employee so taking family out to nice dinner is thanking the family for the employee's good work.

If you know the workers as family then get card to place they want to go but maybe would not go due to price.

Large enough to feed the family.

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[Matt@RFR]

Gift cards are guaranteed to be for a place that somebody doesn't like.
Clothing is guaranteed to be the wrong color / fit / design / whatever.
Food is guaranteed to be the wrong flavor.
Cash is guaranteed to be useful.

Also, $100? Really guys? That's a few hours of overtime... big fucking deal! I guess if you're giving bonuses because you'll catch hell if you don't, $100 will do it. But if you're giving bonuses because you actually give a shit about your people, then give them something meaningful. Last year I paid off one guys car loan and the other guys last 3 mortgage payments so he owned his house free and clear for xmas. Yes, to do this legally, you pay income taxes on the cash you will hand out.

At a past job, I was handed a fifty dollar bill a week before xmas. I looked at it for a couple seconds, handed it back to the owner with the brand new Harley, and said, "Here, you must need this more than I do." For fucks sake guys, I spend way more than $100 on free lunch throughout the year.

On a related note, we have a large (1,000+ employees) "small" beer brewery in the next town. It is widely known as "THE" place to work in the area, no matter what your job is. Pay is good, benefits are good, but above all I hear the work environment is the biggest perk. Along those lines, the owner himself will randomly take an employee to lunch, talk shop, see how things are going and generally hand them an envelope with a couple grand of cash inside. Not a xmas bonus, just a thank you.

 

[Booze Daily]

The biggest problem I’ve seen is once you start doing something you can’t stop because the employees come to expect it. I never gave more than I did because it was just a token of my appreciation and kept in the spirit of the holiday. It was something I felt I’d be able to do regardless of whether we had a good year or not.

 

[Steven-Canada]

Not sure of the us rules, but in Canada cash or something similar to cash = like gift cards are taxed like income.

 

[4 FN 27]

Gift cards are guaranteed to be for a place that somebody doesn't like.
Clothing is guaranteed to be the wrong color / fit / design / whatever.
Food is guaranteed to be the wrong flavor.
Cash is guaranteed to be useful.

Love your optimistic view on life. As my ol'Man always said "A bitch'in Sailor is a happy Sailor. As long as they are bitching they are happy...keep em bitchen." There are those people in life that no matter what they are not happy. I am not in charge of their happiness. They are. We have a few old timers that you could hand them a brick of Gold and they would complain it is too heavy to carry to the car.

Also, $100? Really guys? That's a few hours of overtime... big fucking deal! I guess if you're giving bonuses because you'll catch hell if you don't, $100 will do it.

Christmas Gift, not a bonus. We have other programs for that.

At a past job, I was handed a fifty dollar bill a week before xmas. I looked at it for a couple seconds, handed it back to the owner with the brand new Harley, and said, "Here, you must need this more than I do." For fucks sake guys, I spend way more than $100 on free lunch throughout the year.

I have '13 Vette and a '15 Z28 and nobody has been ungrateful enough to hand me a gift back. Maybe I should buy a Harley.

Once a month we do a Lunch for the Employees. Either Catered in, a Barbeque...heck 2 months ago one of our Operators and myself made Lunch for everyone. We have a monthly Birthday Party to celebrate the Birthdays for the Month, Company Golf Outings, Paint Ball, Bowling, Saints Baseball Games and a big Christmas Party.

On a related note, we have a large (1,000+ employees) "small" beer brewery in the next town. It is widely known as "THE" place to work in the area, no matter what your job is. Pay is good, benefits are good, but above all I hear the work environment is the biggest perk. Along those lines, the owner himself will randomly take an employee to lunch, talk shop, see how things are going and generally hand them an envelope with a couple grand of cash inside. Not a xmas bonus, just a thank you.

We are about to crest the 100th employee in a very competitive market place with hundreds of "nice" places to work we aspire to be like "those" places. I want to be "that" place in the realm of Fabrication.

 

[Matt@RFR]

The biggest problem I’ve seen is once you start doing something you can’t stop because the employees come to expect it. I never gave more than I did because it was just a token of my appreciation and kept in the spirit of the holiday. It was something I felt I’d be able to do regardless of whether we had a good year or not.

Coming to expect it is certainly a potential problem. However the way I look at it is if you want to work in a shop that has that family feel and cool perks and stuff, well you're part of the family whether its been a good year or a bad year.

 

[Mark Rand]

Coming from an ex-wage slave:- We always thought that store vouchers showed a lack of thought from the management (they were cheap too).

Most appreciated was paying for/subsidising an evening meal or party at a location that was organised by the employees. It worked best if the managers attended as well and were prepared to let their hair down and take a little banter from the workers. Wives, girlfriends or equivalent came along as well for many of us and this improved the whole thing, especially when the other half actially gets to see the folk that one had been talking about for the last year. The subsidy was done at a fixed amount per employee, so if you took your other half, that was down to you. But it still worked out well.

 

[DDoug]

Well, you could always:

1. Change religious affiliations to one without Christmas....
2. Keep religion out of the workplace.

 

[Spyderedge]

Gas card

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[dstryr]

Gift cards are guaranteed to be for a place that somebody doesn't like.
Clothing is guaranteed to be the wrong color / fit / design / whatever.
Food is guaranteed to be the wrong flavor.
Cash is guaranteed to be useful.

Also, $100? Really guys? That's a few hours of overtime... big fucking deal! I guess if you're giving bonuses because you'll catch hell if you don't, $100 will do it. But if you're giving bonuses because you actually give a shit about your people, then give them something meaningful. Last year I paid off one guys car loan and the other guys last 3 mortgage payments so he owned his house free and clear for xmas. Yes, to do this legally, you pay income taxes on the cash you will hand out.

At a past job, I was handed a fifty dollar bill a week before xmas. I looked at it for a couple seconds, handed it back to the owner with the brand new Harley, and said, "Here, you must need this more than I do." For fucks sake guys, I spend way more than $100 on free lunch throughout the year.

On a related note, we have a large (1,000+ employees) "small" beer brewery in the next town. It is widely known as "THE" place to work in the area, no matter what your job is. Pay is good, benefits are good, but above all I hear the work environment is the biggest perk. Along those lines, the owner himself will randomly take an employee to lunch, talk shop, see how things are going and generally hand them an envelope with a couple grand of cash inside. Not a xmas bonus, just a thank you.

Its usally us smaller guys who do more for the employees it seems like. All the bigger shops around me (20-100 employees) do bare minimum. We are usually 1-3 weeks of pay depending on how the year went and how the employee performed for the hourly guys. I have a couple salary guys who get quarterly bonuses as well.

 

[SeaMoss]

That was nice, but I would have preferred a little screamer.

Is that similar to a spinner ?

The only one I really remember was a choice of ham or turkey. They made a big point of it coming from the owner's wife, since he had a reputation to uphold as meanest boss on the West Coast. Must have made an impression, I can remember it after fifty years. Seemed like a nice touch, a gift, not a bonus or anything. If you wanted to make it special you could get a high-quality one. Artisanal, and all that

I think the cash-reporting thing is down to $7500 now, by the way.

 

[DDoug]

Digger you are going downhill fast mate,next you'll be telling me there's no such thing as father Christmas. Now that would save the old man a few bob.

Not me....It's just in today's "lawyer happy" climate, someone will always
get their knickers in a knot no matter what the employer tries to be nice.

 

[hobbyman]

Most shops in Canada that I worked in gave a grocery voucher for a turkey. There were two reasons. The first was that the old man could not drink it up and leave the family with nothing at Christmas and it was a British/Charles Dickens sort of thing. Often there was also bonus in the paycheck anywhere from 25 to 500 bucks. The only shop that I worked at that did not do the turkey voucher thing was taken over by Americans. They just didn't feel the need to do anything.
Best was a deluxe Leatherman engraved with year, company and name. It was too nice to use so it sits in my dresser drawer. LOL

 

[Larry Dickman]

Gas card

then what about all the alkies that have to ride their bikes to work?

 

[SeaMoss]

I would get you a TV set made by John Logie Baird.

That'd be perfect for me, I hate electronics

 

[Kyle Smith]

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/christmas-gifts-bonuses-296093/?highlight=Christmas

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/shop-management-and-owner-issues/who-still-does-christmas-party-313532/?highlight=Christmas

 

[akajun]

$100 could get you a really nice pocket knife with their name engraved on it. I'm partial to the US made Kershaws with the speed assist for one-handed opening.

This for the Men, though I prefer Benchmade. For the ladies in the office, maybe a nice bottle of wine or something more ladylike.

 

[DDoug]

This for the Men, though I prefer Benchmade. For the ladies in the office, maybe a nice bottle of wine or something more ladylike.

You prefer ?

Get it wrong in todays age and you'll get sued.

 

[akajun]

Sued over the brand of Pocketknife? I don't think we've gone that overboard, yet.

 

[Limy Sami]

''Christmas is right around the corner, What gift(s) for the Shop Employees? ''

A simple sentence ''Seasons greetings to one and all, .......you still have a job after the break.''