Sorry, I mention Xmas in this message

Barneysmom

lunar wrote: »

Our works christmas involves the following

Night out (£30 for meal and 1 drink) + transport + drinks + clothes
Secret santa (£10)
raffle tickets for ward you are expected to pay £5 for this
Raffle tickets/charity donations for everyones childrens school, about £20
Donation of items for hamper to raffle, must be from m&s
Donation of other raffel items
Contribution towards patients gifts, they ask for £5
Bring food for patients christmas party
lunch in the hospital dining room £15
If you work christmas day you still have to bring all food yourself and everyone wants to go ott with this
Then to top it all off, 1 full day of your unpaid time to set up patients party, shop for it, clean after it, and be ecpected to be able to assist 1 years worth of patients on the ward al at the same time.

I know i sound really mean, but if you try and avoid even one part of it, even a single raffel ticket you are condemmed! i love christmas but its beyond a joke at work. And for all this our boss didnt even get around to sending us a card last year! (that reminds me, we have to all put in £4 for a gift for him)

That's shocking!! :eek: lunar. I feel for you, I really do.
It must cost you over £150 then you lose a day's pay too.
I think I'd phome in sick that day!
Well done to you, the patients must love you so much xxxx

nearlyrich

Buzzbox wrote: »

We luckily get our christmas party paid for by the company and I don't intend on buying anything to wear!

Hope no-one takes a camera or it could be embarrassing for you LOL


We have 2 christmas parties I didn't enjoy either last year and probably won't be going this year I have some good excuses lined up.;)

JWM

I find a small fib much easier than saying I can't afford it, so this year DH's do is on the same night - so I have to babysit!

Other than a few saying 'can't some else look after him' (who - the postman? Random mad stranger? You???) I've been let of the hook.

Once made a comment about not being able to afford a lunch out (v posh place) and they all looked at me like I'd got 3 heads! Still mustn't be harsh, my workmates are all at least 10 years younger than me, no family, renting and pay for everything on the plastic.

They'll learn......hope its not the hard way though.

debtmuncher

how annoying...i hate it when people force stuff on you. just last night at work i was reading the memos and one said from the manager that everyone was to contribute something to the raffle box (havent a clue what thats all about). i hate the "must" attitude, that gets my back up because if it had just said "any items for raffle box appreicated" or similar i would be more than happy to put a couple of items in but the "must do" makes me go "no i wont":mad:

a similar thing was requested a month or so ago....we have a lot of dealings wiht the local chemist so it was requested by the manager that everyone was to contribute £3 to him doing a sponsored run :mad: i didnt though!

lunar

we dont loose money off our wage for it but end up going in on a day off, who wants to go to the hospital when they dont need to?

To be honest its my own fault, i cant say no. i really dont want anybody to know about my debts or money problems. I do factor it into my budget though and keep money aside for it all!

SunderlandBlackCat

This thread got me thinking....

When I 1st left school (mid 80's) & started work the Christmas do was always paid for as a thank you from the firm & the main difference between companies was some didn't pay for getting yourself to the do & back home. The parties were local & fairly basic but firms also used to do things like a kids day at the cinema with a present when the cartoons & film were finished. Most people I knew who were working seemed to have the same experience.

When did this sort of thing stop being the norm & get replaced by over elaborate parties miles away from work that you have to pay for yourself? The last one I can remember my employer paying for was 1993.

Primrose

Well done for having the courage to stand up for your principles. The Christmas Office Party has been a bone of contention with many people over the years and I suspect if more people were totally honest, they would rather not spend large sums of money they can't afford spending yet another few hours in the company of people they would rather not be mixing with.
Stick to your guns. Simply say "I can't afford it and I'm not going but I hope you all have a lovely time". And let that be the end of it.

Jenny2008

Oo I know totally what you mean!

I started a new job a few years ago just before Christmas. Now bearing in mind I didn't know any of my new colleagues, I was informed that they all put £10 each into each person's Christmas present collection. There was 12 people working there, so that was £120 to be forked out to people I didn't even know!! It was more than my budget for presents for my family!!

Of course, it did mean that I would have got a present worth £120 too. I mean, how pointless is that?? So when I was asked what I wanted with my collection, I asked for cash It didn't go down too well, but I didn't give a stuff!

It turned out that they did the same for birthdays, so every year I was forking out £240 in presents for colleagues who meant nothing to me, then getting it back again as I always asked for cash ... totally pointless!

Toffee_Penny

My Boss still keeps coming up with ideas around July/September of a medieval themed party night which costs about £80+ for some soup, mead and god knows what and getting dressed up as Kings and Queens for a xmas party in some castle like location. Get real!! :mad:

It sounds crap, sorry but I ain't paying no £80+ for soup and a stale bread roll whilst dressed like a wench and getting piddled off listening to some bearded fella in the corner playing a flute!!

How much does it cost to hire out a costume these days? Alot dearer than Primark or George I bet. We keep putting our foot down every year to that suggestion and bagged ourselves a bargain this year for £28 we got an all inclusive deal at a hotel with dinner and disco and as much wine as we can steal!!

I don't really go out much throughout the year so to me I really look forward to the works do, I get on well with everyone too and I suppose this does help!