America's Worst Christmas Parties

Ant writes "Slate Magazine asked its readers to submit reports of horrible office Christmas parties, gifts, and bonuses. Of nearly 200 submissions, they've chosen quite a few tales for The Corporate Scrooge Contest Results ... and they're not pretty. From the article: 'A contract consultant sends word that the company to which he is currently assigned recently sent out an e-mail to some 2,000-odd consultants. The company would give away two $100 gift cards--to two of the brave souls who would commit to work 80 hours between Dec. 18 and Dec. 31. As our correspondent noted: "Hey, if you work Christmas, we'll put you in a pool of 2,000 other folks to maybe win a hundred bucks."'"

Comments

Bah humbug.

[IANAAC]

I'll get modded troll for this, but...

When I was working for corporations, I always expected a bonus, gifts, whatever at holiday time and was nearly always dissapointed.

Now that I've been working for myself the last couple of years, I don't make as much money as I did with corporations, but I'm generally a happier person, in that I can set my own hours (well, somewhat) and spend more time with my family and friends. That to me is far more useful than any trinket or bonus.

I've also come to realize that token gifts from the company NEVER meant anything, and was never anything I could ever use - the corporate logo paperweight fits that bill - much like the years of service gifts with the coporate logos on them.

Sure, when I got bonuses the extra money was nice, but really, it's not something anyone should come to expect.

Don't expect anything and you won't be dissappointed. They're already paying you to do you job.

Re:Bah humbug.

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

When advice on to how to deal with the current state of the employment market is summed up as, "They're already paying you to do you job," perhaps it is time for workers to get pissed off about people who deliberately misquote summaries.

Re:Bah humbug.

[rjshields]

It's actually quite sound advice. Take the scenario that you are contracted to a do certain number of hours, but often work over that for whatever reason, and then feel hard done by that you get nothing in return. If you just try a bit harder to stick to those contracted hours, you won't feel so bad. People might also respect you more for not allowing yourself to be treated like a bitch.

Re:Bah humbug.

[killjoe]

You are right. Every working person should realize that they are just cogs in a machine. You don't matter to your employer, you are just a body easily exchanged for another body or better yet some machine. You should do your job, collect your money and never ever give your employer anything beyond exactly what you are paid to do. By the same token demand to be paid for every minute you work and demand that your employer define exactly what is expected of you so that they are not asking you to do a bunch of stuff for free.

Remember your company is not a person. You don't owe it anything beyond your time and the terms of your employment. Anything else has got to cost more to your company. Also demand as much money as possible, they will never ever give you a penny above that.

Finally, unionize. Your employee is trying very hard to reduce your pay as much as possible, you need a way to fight for what you are due.

It's a war, fight to win.

Re:Bah humbug.

[karmatic]

Wow. Who are you working for? Might I suggest you work somewhere else?

I've worked 9 to 5 (IT and services), union and non-union (Airlines). Unions have their place, but they are always going to have overhead. When the jobs aren't in horribly short supply, you can typically negotiate way better on your own. Working for America West (union), the guys I worked with would always do the bare minimum of what they were required to do to get paid. The pay took this into consideration, and it wasn't very good. I was there to work (didn't really need the money, but the flight benefits were nice); my coworkers would get ticked that I would take break time to go help out people on other gates. I'm paid to work, not paid to sit around - despite what the union contract said. Merit didn't matter, promotions and pay were based on time served, and it was almost impossible to get yourself promoted, or fired.

I also went to work for Mesa Airlines (America West Express, same facilities and terminal. Non union.) From what I understand, they weren't allowed to pay more than America West (contractual obligations); however, it didn't really matter. On time for work - $0.25/hour bonus. Working during the summer - $100 bonus. Company did well - $100 bonus. I made way more than any of the America West guys did in the same position, and since my coworkers could be fired, we got a way better caliber employee. Since the union didn't get involved, it was a lot easier for motivated people to make more money, and get promoted. On the other hand, lazy people who are just there to pay their dues do tend to stay where they are.

Finally, unionize. Your employee[sic] is trying very hard to reduce your pay as much as possible, you need a way to fight for what you are due.
This, quite frankly, can be stupid advice depending on the state, and the company. I run a software company, and I hate unions with a passion. I'm in a right to work state for a reason (sadly, airlines are covered under the railway act, and can unionize). If you are a competent, hard-working, educated person, with a skill useful enough to justify your salary, you should not (generally speaking - there are some exception) need a union.

I do take offense to the "trying very hard to reduce your pay" quip. Not all employers are like this, and I most certainly am not one of them. Paying employees the same, regardless of the quality of the work they do, results in disgruntled, unproductive, unhappy employees who do the bare minimum required to not get fired. Why would you want to run a company you wouldn't want to work for? I choose to pay above average rates, for above average service. I'll pay for education, too. Employees who have fun, and are paid well for what they do are less likely to go to the competition, less likely to produce crap software, less likely to steal. I have one employee (a developer) who is utterly irreplaceable. He is one of the top people in his field. He also makes more than I do, because he adds more to the company than I do. I can be honest; he does things for the company that I can't. I have another employee who will be making a $25,000 USD bonus after this last contract we made. That's more than what he made in two years at his last job (not a US guy).

In short, while I don't know everyone, I do know me (and a few jobs I've worked). Not everyone is out there to screw you; however, large corporations tend to be really large for a reason (and it's not being nice). Learn a skill worth something, and go to work in a field where you can make a difference (whether for yourself, or someone else). Work with a group of people who care about each other, where it's not just about squeezing every last bit of productivity out of an employee before you discard his drained husk.

Of course, if the economy gets REALLY screwed up, unions may once again serve a useful purpose. When you have college graduates working at McDonalds (nationwide, so moving isn't an o

You missed the last part.

[IANAAC]

I said "They're already paying you to do your job."

If you wanted or expected more, you should have asked for it up front. It amazes me that people complain about not getting something they didn't ask for in the first place.

Ah, yes! My first Christmas bonus.

[flabbergasted]

I was straight out of graduate school. I took a job in the Northeast, and the company paid all of my moving expenses to relocate me from Texas to Massachusetts. Five and half months later I'm sitting in my office when the vice president comes around to give me a bonus check. Now I wasn't even expecting a bonus, so I was thrilled to get it! Then I opened the envelope and discovered that they had given me a bonus of $2400...from which they then deducted my moving expenses, leaving me with $59. In a matter of seconds, I went from being thrilled to get any kind of a bonus (no matter how small!) to feeling like I had been servered a piping hot bowl of cream of shit soup.

Wait a minute....

[TrappedByMyself]

Atheism is the new cool, but we're still expecting perks for Jesus day?