Suave

Well, most government employees (specifically federal ones), and the 3x number was from some information I read which specifically regarded secretaries. The workers in Alberta get screwed over thanks to Klein. Profs also make a pretty hefty wage no matter which way you slice it.

__________________
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

Suave

Which is still hella good.

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"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

Psycho Dad

I've worked for the same company for 20 years. We work 6 hours on the last day before Christmas and get paid for 8. Nothing spectacular, but I suppose they don't even have to give us that. Other than that, the benefits are good and the job security is excellent, so I'm not going to bitch.

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Don't always trust the opinions of experts.

krwlz

Ill agree with the general consensus... Bonus's arnt deserved, take what you get, and be appreciative you got anything.

Grasshopper Green

I get a ten dollar gift card to the company I work for. The previous job I had gave 4%, which usually ended up being close to a weeks pay; I was quite happy with that.
I used to work for a small business and got a $75 dollar bonus, which was based on merit (and I got the largest one). The business wasn't exactly thriving, so it felt good to know that all of my butt busting was appreciated.

I don't think bonuses should be expected, they are a nice perk. The current place I work for does give a full days holiday pay for Christmas, Easter, New Years, July 4th, Memorial Day, and 2 "free days" a year, which is always a nice surprise in the pay check.

thenewguy

I'll follow the trend - it's a bonus to have a job these days, especially in the tech sector (especially in Seattle). I'm unsure if I'll get a bonus, but I know I'll get to work and be paid for that work.

I used to have a job where I felt that I was owed something. Fortunately, a friend told me that it was just a job and the only expectation I should have was a small pile of dead presidents/inventors on a regular basis. He said that if I was always free to find another job, but to expect more than a paycheck was asking for disappointment.

So I stayed at that job and felt like I was owed something and got fired for having a shitty attitude - the only time I've ever been fired from a job. Then I got the job I always wanted (where I don't necessarily get a bonus) and I understood what my friend said.

Janey

ya, back then (my base was 94K) But it was in Canadian $$$. Not that I am complaining, but to make it I had to work in the US alot, which wasn't what I wanted...I wish I made 280K sushi, that would get me a lot of raw tuna! You had me scratching my head a bit there. Nowadays, I bill more than that, but since i am on the payroll of my corp, I get payed the most I can make in the minumum tax bracket (about 33k)

sushiboy

LOL


You are right...what the hell was i calculating?

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bendsley

I get a weeks pay extra both in December and June.

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"You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter let him in. Sees a guy in a suit making a closing argument. Says, "Who's that?" St. Peter says, "Oh, that's God. Thinks he's Denny Crane."

mikec

hahaha, I was wondering the same thing

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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

Averett

I got a $60 gift certificate for the mall from the folks in my department yesterday. They love me

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Absence is to love what wind is to fire. It extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.

Stompy

I think the main difference here from what most people are posting is... I work for a much smaller company where I have personally known each and every person in management for 1/3 of my life.

As hash_browns said, we've been working here since we were in our mid-teens..

I know if I worked for a big corporation I probably wouldn't get one - that's expected.. but not from such a small and personal environment like this.

I know people are saying "be appreciative you even got anything/have a job", but... they are the ones taking advantage of US in terms of pay/extra compensation. They should be appreciative they have people like us keeping the company afloat. Like I said, I can easily get a job anywhere else (and it would RUIN the company).. but being a place where I personally know people on a level more than "just a job", it's kinda BS that it even remotely turns up like this.

It would be equivalent to working for your best friend knowing helping him pull in a few million a year and you only get a slight fraction of that.

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I love lamp.

Faygo

I get 2 bonuses per year. They are both approximately the same as 2 weeks pay.

Bobaphat

Our bonuses always correspond to how the firm did that year. This year I got $1600 (pre-tax) and a $200 visa gift card. We alway get a gift card of one type or another, but the bonuses vary widely. This was a good year.

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--size matters not-- yoda

aurigus

My first year we each got Gamecubes for our bonus, so thats ~ $150. I sold it on ebay a few months later since I already had an Xbox. The next year, we were taken out to eat at a nice place, so it went down a bit. Then this year, I don't think we are getting anything - it kind of sucks.

My wife get's 2 weeks pay for her bonus every year.

Its better than nthing, but I still wish I got something at the end of the year for working my ass off.

MSD

Sell it on ebay for $103.


Now that I got that response out of the way, I must ask what the hell a "Christmas Bonus" is, and how I would go about obtaining one from a past employer, and whether or not I should expect one from somewhere I started working 4 days ago.

bh20

Since I started working at my current job 2 1/2 years ago, I've worked every single national holiday. Doesn't really bother me any, the hours I work on holidays are pretty flexible... I can go in and leave early, or go in and leave late, just so long as the work for the day gets done.

This year since X-mas falls on a saturday, they're giving employees holiday pay for X-mas eve. Which is all fine and dandy except for the fact I don't get shit for working X-mas day... ah well. I'll be gearing up for the New Years eve/day workathon...

But yeah, no bonus.

(can't wait until my band makes it)

yabobo

I've been with this place for 9 seasons now. I never expect a bonus.Before working
here never received one. This year no one expected a bonus because we are deep in the red. Not our fault,we had a very high mortality rate from our clients. Lost 90 of 345
members. some how I received a 325 gross bonus. But I'm not working 4 days this week so there it is. And rumor has it I'll be reduced to part time come January 1st as part of the restructure and cost saving plan.
I have a handicap wife and daughter plus her 20 month old to support. I'm not very skilled
So I don't see how we will make it..i've got the blues for sure.Need a winning lottery ticket fast..Or good by internet and everything else......

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Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

Frowning Budah

Nothing for us this year. That wouldn't be so bad except I know some of the bosses got "award" checks that in my opinion many didn't deserve and I also know that promises were made, and not kept to some of the workers.

Boo

I received $300, 5 days before I quit. The $3500 I got last summer was a production bonus. Too bad they cannot provide a healthy environment to work in. I was planning to stay for 25 years. Too much BS, ass kissing, favoritism and poor planning for me. BTW, I lost almost $4000 in pay this year. I worked harder and at a higher position and lost money..... go figure. All that and free hats!

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Back button again, I must be getting old.

viejo gringo

My bonus this year was TWO great healthy grand kids for xmas....
and the SHE is beautiful..(he's ok)..

clavus

I work for a company that has about ten employees (including the three owners). I pretty much kept the whole company afloat a couple times in the last two years. It is safe to say that I am important to the organization.

My bonus was zero. It was exactly what I expected. I earn everything I make, and get nothing more.

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Ass, gas or grass. Nobody rides for free.

scout

I don't even know where to start with this one. I used to work in the field but recently I was moved into the office as a supervisor of sorts. Up until this year I had no idea that every two months the company officials {family owned so thats Mom, Dad, Son and Wife} write themselves bonuses of $15,000-30,000 per family. That's wonderful and I'm glad we are making that much money. However, the employees get $500 apiece before taxes {15 employees} and they wait until Christmas Eve to give it to you, however they [owners] got their bonuses last month so they could Christmas shop HAHA. So it works out they people that don't need the money get theirs but those that are dependant upon the money for shopping didn't get theirs until the last minute. Last year after the company officials {mom,dad,son and wife} wrote their bonuses in November we were suddenly broke and everyone got a lecture about how we didn't make any money and another year like that and they would have to close the doors blah yada blah blah blah and the standard $500 dollar bonus was cut in half. I found out later from a friend that works in the office that they had over a quarter million in the bank. What a joke. The last place I worked the bonus was usually the equivalant to two weeks pay which was anywhere from $1500 to $2000 and it was given out the Monday after Thanksgiving so you could actually use it and not get into savings to Christmas shop.

Bratwurst

I have worked for two different not for profit organizations over the past five years. The first year I worked I got a bonus equivalent to 2 weeks pay. Since then, I haven't gotten a single bonus. But I have tripled the amount I take home in yearly salary in those 5 years. So I can't complain too much. My wife doesn't have to work anymore.

rockzilla

The best Christmas bonus ever was from Red Lobster. We were all given certificates that entitled us and up to two family members to 20% off on a meal at any Red Lobster over the holidays. There was no way in hell I was going to eat at Red Lobster on my free time, I would have preferred being given a slap in the mouth.

sushiboy

I am a small business owner, and I certainly pay myself more than my employees, even though they do more work than I, but it is my company. Bonuses are merit based, they aren't part of most job contracts, even though most people expect them.

In my short life, I have learned that you must be happy in what you do for a living, and if you are happy, then stuff like your bosses getting paid more than you won't bother you.

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shakran

I'm sorry, but you're just plain wrong. In fact, you pretty much have the reverse of how it actually is. My uncle is a federal attorney. He makes $105k per year and is close to retirement. In the private sector it's common for starting salaries to be in that range. A lawyer with 40 years in a law firm is making a LOT more than he does.


Government employees are, by and large, paid below the average pay for their field.

Konichiwaneko

If you believe you deserve that much stompy then just leave. Do like you say you want to in the other few post above. In no way am I trying to be negative in this post, but honestly it's how I feel.

If you want more money, and they aren't providing, then just find another job. That's what our country is good for.

To me a bonus is a bonus. Nothing more. If I feel like i'm not compensated correctly, I'm not going to wait for a bonus to act. What's it going to do? Pass you for a year until the next year when the bonus doesn't match up again, and you go back into this situation?




I'm not one to talk in this situation though. I've had the oppurtunity to make a large amount of money but I chose not too because I wanted to do what I enjoy and thankfully it's been nice compensation. I can't talk about your situation, but if I felt like I wasn't paid enough and plus I hated what I was doing...this would be a different situation.

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Konichiwaneko

Not for profit with 2weeks pay of bonuses... something doesn't connect inside my mind.

Mind you if you guys are working I'm sure you deserve it, but just putting not for profit and bonus in the same paragraph just makes me have a childish grin.

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rockzilla

Non-Profit businesses need ways to attract and keep staff around too. I work for a charity, they pay better than most other places considering my job description and experience. Our bonuses are modest, but more than fair considering it's a bonus after all. Overall, they treat me better than any employer I've ever had.
Just because a company does charitable work doesn't mean that it's employees shouldn't be rewarded with a little extra cash at the end of the year. You need a lot of skilled help to run a charity and when you find someone that can do the job, it's best to hold on to them.

Strange Famous

Ive never got a Christmas bonus in my life. And I work for a part of DHL, so it isnt as if its a crappy little company. Maybe they are less common in the UK - I know (since I used to do the cashbook) that directors and middle management all get Christmas bonuses in my company (about 1/10 of annual salary), but people lower down than that don't tend to, at least I never have.

The way it goes I suppose, money goes money. The guys on 100K who dont really need it get a bonus, the administrator struggling on 12K - who could really use it gets nothing.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Konichiwaneko

Strange I do'nt mind others making more money, but I don't believe anyone else can really say "Someone doesn't need money". No matter how you can justify the person that makes 100k a year doesn't need a bonus, I'm sure they can justify that you, if you make less then that, don't need a bonus either.

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sob

That's the problem with bonuses, and the reason they're bonuses, not regular pay.

You give bonuses for a few years, then the company has a bad year. You either don't have the money to give out, or you know the management will be all over your ass for giving out that much money in a bad year.

And if you communicate that there won't be bonuses, you get "attitude."

Some employees will become impossible to get any work out of. Or only put out half as much work.

Then you have to fire them. If you're lucky, nobody you fired files a wrongful termination case with the labor board. Or says they were "harassed."

Bonuses are a no-win situation for the employer most of the time.

sob

Have you considered starting your own company that competes with this one?

If you have no wife or kids, the risk would be minimal.

An additional reward would be that you could learn from the way you've been treated, and pay your employees what they think they're worth.

Strange Famous

I am sure they would claim that they needed the money.

But would you not agree that someone who is just about getting by paying the mortgage and the bills needs the money more than a director who owns 4 houses and pulls in $200,000 a year?

The people who control the bonuses are of course the one's who benefit, they are happy for staff at my level to come and go and most of their efforts (certainly in a big group like I work in) are concentrated on protecting their own position.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

radioguy

i'm a teacher by day and received no bonus from the district, but i did get cool little gifts from the kids like drawings, homemade cookies, and stickers. it's cool getting stuff from kids.

my other job, radio, i received nothing. i don't know if some of the higher profile talent received bonuses, but not I, the weekend guy.

Konichiwaneko

I think it's political views here at the end. I can still say though I myself know that a "Bonus" isn't the cure all potion that seperates the laboreres from the top. SOB had it perfect, get a good bonus this year and get a bad one next year and you have a steamed employee.

Let me ask the people on the board this? DId you get your company a christmas bonus?

I personally spent $50 on various snacks and drinks for my coworkers. Why did I do this? NOt because I was expecting it, or they were...but because of good times. Bonus's shouldn't be one sided in my opinion.

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kutulu

Bonuses are basically written into company policy. It clearly states that bonuses will be given in December and raises in July. For what it's worth, we finally got our bonuses on the 28th. Everyone got about half of what they got last year and most of the employees are PISSED.

bad jane

i got a $20 gift card to the local mall. we all make fun of it, this hospital gives the absolute worst bonuses. at least this is one people will use. last year we got little wood replicas of the building!

compare that to some other hospitals in the area and it is sad. other places are giving starting bonuses around $300, and they offer higher salaries too. i wonder if this explains why we have such a tough time keeping staff....

but i have no intentions of quitting. i like the people i work with, i have some seniority on my floor so i only work the shift i want, and it is the closest hospital to where i live (not that an extra mile makes much difference in the grand scheme of things...but i'm lazy!)

sob

Without knowing all the details, that would appear to bear out my earlier post.