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A so called Christmas bonus


Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

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Aft'noon all,

 

Having spent a frustrating hour attempting to redeem £50 on a points card from a wretched shopping website this morning....can I just suggest to any company directors reading this....if your opinion of your staff is low enough to want to get them entangled in a shoppers website...even if they only want to extract the points card/vouchers, then don't bother in the first place. Sites such as these are designed to be extremely tedious to negotiate, especially if you don't want to purchase what is being peddled on the site.

 

Dave

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We lost our Christmas bonus because staff were using it as a bit of extra cash (unsurprisingly) , rather than what the company thought it ought to be used for when they introduced it.

 

Andy

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Lincolnshire is always different - so a Lincolnshire Co*p points card which now has over £40 on it (bonus was 75% this year and we booked travel through the Co*p) is not actually valid in all of the County - examples include Mablethorpe and one town centre store in Boston.

 

However it is valid at two other Boston Co*p retail establishments :scratchhead:

 

 

And to think that I had to shred two old Co*p cards to get this one :jester:

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I'm supposedly due a £25 Samsung voucher for some Christmas sales incentive I wasn't even aware I was partaking in...

 

They seem slightly bemused by my apparent lack of interest...do Samsung make anything that costs £25 or less...would I have any use for it?

Memory card for the camera? 

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The only place I ever worked on the big railway which offered anything more than a contribution than a lunch or whatever was with my last concern and they introduced a special company bonus which was awarded to a single person in some (but i think not all?) departments as there were a very limited number available throughout the company.  And by then railway industry standards it was well worth having, even after paying tax on it.

 

In terms of 'Christmas boxes' I think thhMendip quarries were the most original - a whole Stilton cheese being very much appreciated one year.

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I'm supposedly due a £25 Samsung voucher for some Christmas sales incentive I wasn't even aware I was partaking in...

 

They seem slightly bemused by my apparent lack of interest...do Samsung make anything that costs £25 or less...would I have any use for it?

 

I expect they'd have a crack at an Adams Radial if they thought there was a few quid in it...

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Having spent a frustrating hour attempting to redeem £50 on a points card from a wretched shopping website this morning.

"Dave that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year."

 

Merry Christmas Dave, bonus or 'unbonus'.

 

 

(Sorry about the crummy quality.)

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We get a free Christmas dinner do, only made poor by the fact every place they choose has music so loud I take ear defenders ( not joking).

We also get a christmas basket however this is bought in the same way as they buy every thing else, cheapest bidder, so although a large basket all the packets are half empty.

Mind you only one previous employer (of five) gave anything at all that wasn't required as part of the contract.

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I used to work for the German national shipping line Hapag-Lloyd. Rewarding their staff was an important part doing business for them. They didn't muck about

when it came to a christmas bonus - they simply paid you twice in December! Once at the end of the month as normal and once in the middle of the month  :sungum:  

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Mornin' all,

 

The lure for the bean counters who seem to be in charge of many companies nowadays is that £50 shopping credit doesn't cost £50 to them...it will be nearer £30. The number of staff who simply don't bother with the so called gift and the marketing ploys that those, who do bother, are subjected to makes up the missing amount.

 

Dave

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Mornin' all,

 

The lure for the bean counters who seem to be in charge of many companies nowadays is that £50 shopping credit doesn't cost £50 to them...it will be nearer £30. The number of staff who simply don't bother with the so called gift and the marketing ploys that those, who do bother, are subjected to makes up the missing amount.

 

Dave

Actually it is even less as a 'Christmas allowance' which is not pad as cash but as, say, a subsidised/paid for meal or - presumably - vouchers, can - unless the rules have been changed(?) - at least partially be offset against tax as they receive an allowance per head for the perk (unlike many other perks which are taxed). So in fact the £50 voucher at a discounted buy-in price might not, in effect, cost them anything at all and could come as a gift from HMRC.  If a cash bonus is paid it is subject to Income Tax for the person receiving it as it is considered part of their income (which it is of course)

 

I remember folk enthusing about the 'marvellous parties' given by Richard Branson for various of his companies' staff - not only offset against tax as an allowable biusiness expense but if they were held at his house in Oxfordshire he raised a charge against the company concerned for the use of his house & garden, and people wonder how he got rich!

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Actually it is even less as a 'Christmas allowance' which is not pad as cash but as, say, a subsidised/paid for meal or - presumably - vouchers, can - unless the rules have been changed(?) - at least partially be offset against tax as they receive an allowance per head for the perk (unlike many other perks which are taxed). So in fact the £50 voucher at a discounted buy-in price might not, in effect, cost them anything at all and could come as a gift from HMRC.  If a cash bonus is paid it is subject to Income Tax for the person receiving it as it is considered part of their income (which it is of course)

 

I remember folk enthusing about the 'marvellous parties' given by Richard Branson for various of his companies' staff - not only offset against tax as an allowable biusiness expense but if they were held at his house in Oxfordshire he raised a charge against the company concerned for the use of his house & garden, and people wonder how he got rich!

Rest assured, Mike, that when the employee gets a voucher (or other benefit-in-kind), its monetary value appears on their P11D. If management takes you out for a meal, however, they get a tax-free allowance per head to cover the cost. To be honest, I'd rather pay the extra and have the meal without the management.The French ones, in particular, are prone to speechify at length; if the wine doesn't put you to sleep, then they will..

The 'thirteenth month' that was mentioned in Post 19 was originally probably not a bonus for those staff on German contracts; rather, as they would probably not have had tax deducted at source over the year, it would serve to pay the tax bill. A similar idea applies with those of my colleagues who are on French contracts; whilst all the Social Security, Mutuals and so on are deducted monthly, the individual has to fill in their tax return and pay it themselves.

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One company I worked for used to take us out to an all-paid for dinner for Christmas, and on 24th December, we would go down the pub for a beer (or three) all paid for by the company, and we would then knock-off till 2nd January.

The other company I (still) work for did give us a bonus in the way of vouchers, then they gave us a turkey for a couple of years, and this year we got £15.00 for our committed dedication this year.

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Sorry, I did forget my £10 pensioners bonus and my Winter fuel allowance of £100.

 

Funny how these amounts must have seemed quite large when they were first paid; still it's something to put against the annual fuel bill - electricity £1500 and oil for the boiler £1400.

 

Mustn't grumble, I suppose, as another £3 a week State Pension increase will arrive in April to squander on food* and riotous living :jester:

 

Still if I go to the correct branch of the Co-op* - that's for those who are following my ramblings on this page :senile:

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