I promise to not be too jealous of all the wonderful perks that will probably be posted here. And I know there will be a great variety!
First of all, DEFINITELY the holiday - be that Christmas or Hanukkah or others celebrated in my mind are NOT about the perks.
Iâm talking about the holiday âseasonâ - be whatever that is for you!
My S is a teacher and after today he will enjoy a nice holiday break of two weeks. My D works for a PR firm and they are IMO EXTREMELY generous to their employees with closing the office at the end of business Dec. 23 and staying closed until (this year) January 4. (sure sheâll do some emails and stuff over the break, but how wonderful for traveling!). She gets a holiday bonus, had a festive firm party, etc.
I feel like the low man on the totem pole! I work in health care, but not direct patient care myself. Our employer, a university, gives us Christmas Eve, Day and NYâs Day off. I will take other days off myself. No bonus, no gifts, no special meal/food celebration besides the potluck some of us organized in our office. Itâs fine. I have a generous vacation policy so have plenty of time to take a few extra days off.
I donât feel like any of us are âowedâ anything. And I am SO not a stuff person (though days off and good food and $$ are always appreciated!!!).
But Iâm curious after seeing office party comments on other threads - what are your work holiday perks??!!
Pretty much the same as you abasket. Our office used to have lovely Holiday parties which were downgraded to potlucks and nothing at all this year. I did attend a very nice luncheon yesterday, but that was department specific.
In the âCamelotâ days, when I was a young attorney (decades ago), the attorneys (plus significant others sometimes) would go on a trip to Vegas and Carmel, with everything but spending money and tips covered by the firm. It was great bonding, and we even golfed some. The firm also threw a very nice Christmas party for all employees and their SO, with lavish door prizes for all employees (one year the top door prize was trip for 2 to lovely Maui resort and spending $$). Theyâd also give all employees some cash bonus and attorneys a gift certificate for a nice restaurant.
When I was working in the judiciary, they would have a Saturday lunch. Everyone was supposed to bring a $5 grab bag (everyone participatedâi always brought cookies which were popular) and they had Santa awarding door prizes (mostly gift certificates and things judges contributed).
Now, working for my nonprofit, I have no employees but work slows down a bit over the holidays and I am able to son and time with my loved ones. We give all those attending our support groups in December a little goodie bag and I give each of them a new dish towel.
I own the business so the perks come out of my pocket. We give paid holidays and close thanksgiving and that Friday. We close at noon Christmas eve and Christmas and close at noon and off new years day. I give Christmas bonuses. Every other year I do a big party with a guest at a local hotel with dinner, dancing, open bar and I pay for the hotel rooms. On the off year we do a lunch during work hours. If they do gift exchanges itâs off premises and I donât know about it.
On the one hand itâs a slow time of year, but on the other the slow time of year also means lower revenues. Closing the business actually costs me quite a bit.
I just got a phone call from my sister who is attending her 6th out of NINE holiday parties she has to go to for work. Ugh!
This is actually the first year we are NOT doing the white elephant exchange, which Iâm quite fine with. We have a holiday party (spouses invited) this coming Monday night at a nice restaurant downtown. In the past, sometimes weâve all gotten gifts (one year we got iPads) but usually itâs just distribution of bonuses (which are checks).
Our office is technically closed the week of December 28 but practically speaking those of us who are senior are working the whole time anyway, just from home. We have international clients in countries where Christmas is irrelevant so we keep projects moving. Since I am leaving (going part-time for the first 6 weeks in January/ February) this is my time to catch up on files, finish up on knowledge estate projects, etc. Iveâ never really had that week off, just been able to come in and out as needed.
6 out of 9 parties? Thatâs called TORTURE for me!!!
I too will do bits and pieces of work even when Iâm off. Doing an hour or two of emails/small projects some mornings while the rest of the family is sleeping in suits me well and makes life more pleasant when I get back to the office AFTER the holidays!
In my first corporate job my boss would hold a nice party for us and SOs at his house in January, so we could enjoy it more and not feel like it was an obligation.
I work for a small non-profit now and am very flexible. I usually close the office for the week but of course am still on email and checking voicemail and doing paperwork on my schedule.
The huge company I work for shuts down between December 24 and January 1 every year. Iâm adding in 3 days of vacation for an even 2 weeks off. Itâs all paid, traded decades ago for other holidays during the year.
âMy S is a teacher and after today he will enjoy a nice holiday break of two weeksâ
I am in IT - what used to be called a computer programmer, but now we all have very fancy names for our positions that the lay person will not recognize, so there is no point in saying who am I nowâŠbut I will be off for 1.5 weeks - Dec. 24 - Jan. 3. I do not consider any office holiday party as a perk, not my type of fun. The Hickory Farms gift box is not much of a perk either, it will disappear soon as it has been diminishing in size over time and currently consists primarily of filler with few microscopical items laying on itâŠ
Sâs company gives perks all year long. It started with a lovely and huge gift basket they sent him when he accepted their offer of employment. There is a subsidized cafeteria, a fitness center - even an indoor golf range on the campus. They also paid the finders fee for his apartment, along with a nice relocation package.
At the company holiday party they âraffledâ off very expensive prizes - like $1500 watches, $1000 bags, etc. S won a beautiful leather chair. At Thansksgiving his office closed at noon the day before and was closed the Friday after. They also gave all the employees pecan pies. Was delicious.
Last week his wee division was the top producer in the 3rd quarter and the company brought in lobster lunch for them from Legal Seafood.
Employees arenât eligible for year end bonus until they have been with company for a year so S misses out this time.
H works for NYS and they get nothing (except great bennies which come with the job.)
Our office would offer everyone free limo rides home from their big bash so no one would be tempted to be DUI. Lots of folks got rides to the party so they could enjoy the limo ride. It was a win/win.
Iâm going to have a glass of wine and try not to think about why I have to go to school on Monday and Tuesday of next week. I guess it goes without saying that teaching at a low income middle school is lacking in many holiday perks. We go back Jan. 4, and while itâs not as long as every other school district within 100 miles (!), I still will enjoy my break.
My organization gives us all of Christmas Eve day and New Yearâs Eve day off, as well as Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. We have a holiday party, in January. Iâm not very social when not at the office, so that will be a chore for me, as this year my department is responsible for organizing and hosting it (off site, on a Friday night). It was recently decided that employees can get paid time off for volunteering during work hours, and my team took a morning to do a holiday-related volunteering stint last week. That was fun and felt like a bonus.
Dhâs employer closes for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Yearâs day. Otherwise, employees must use their vacation days for additional time off. Various departments used to host holiday parties at local country clubs, but I havenât heard of that being done for a while. We both found them tedious and were happy when we had an excuse not to attend. There are no holiday bonuses. From time to time, weâve received a gift from whoever his boss was (exec. mgt. offices seem to have revolving doors), and it was usually a basket from some food company (chocolates, most often.)
We used to host Christmas parties at our home for dhâs staff and their SOâs. They were attended by 75+ people and entailed a huge amount of work for me. A few years ago, when dh was briefly acting director of another division, I suggested he do a lunch at our home instead for just the employees. We hosted about 40 people and he gave them the remainder of the afternoon off work. That got rave reviews for both the lunch and the time off. ; )
One of our kids works in a similar firm and gets the same holidays. Another works for a company that closes from noon on Christmas Eve until Jan. 2nd (or the Monday after New Yearâs, depending on the calendar.) That company does not close for many of the scattered holidays throughout the year. No big parties and no bonuses. Oneâs department organizes a pot luck lunch each month, so the December pot luck has a holiday theme.
Similar to rosered55âs employer, dhâs company gives one extra paid day off per year if used for a volunteer project. In addition, the company sponsors teams for various groups (Habitat, an autism center, and various United Way agencies) and those who participate are paid for time spent on those projects. A lot of people use their day to work at holiday parties hosted by charities and churches.
Schools around here have classes through the end of the day December 23, and resume January 4. But it is a nice time to spend with family and friends.
Holiday perk for teachersâŠwe were permitted to wear jeans to school for this week and nextâŠbut with nice tops.
Holiday perk for my husband in private industry. His company had a nice holiday party. They were amongst a very few who have always had thisâŠdidnât give it up in 2008. Nice sit down dinner, decent entertainment, and a great DJ.
They also have an in house luncheon which will be next Wednesday for,staff and invited clients and vendors.
And they got holiday bonus checksâŠwhich are very well received.
We used to get lots of gifts from vendorsâŠbut those have significantly declined.
I work for a hospital system as well (though in research) and we get Christmas Day and New Yearâs Day. Thatâs it! I have been here a long time, so have vacation time to cover what I need, but I always feel sorry for the younger workers, especially with little kids, as they really save their vacation days (sick days come out of vacation time) so canât always take it at Christmas time.
@zoeydoggie, thanks you for teaching with such a good attitude - our schools NEED you!! My son teaches at a low income middle school too - you are special people!
Letâs seeâŠI used to work in a private office I got a nice bonus and a luncheon and a ton of food gifts from patients. I work for a larger company now so no big bonus but a super nice dinner with a gift card. Biggest perk with them is I can flex my time and essentially take two weeks off work without using a ton of vacation time. Back in the day, H used to work for a major cell phone manufacturing company and they had a huge huge holiday party and dance at an amazing hotel. I would consider it torture now (hate getting dressed up and making small talk with colleagues!) but looking back it was super nice and fun. I used to get a free turkey or ham from a previous hospital employer and that was always nice.
And I know there will be a great variety!