Work donation demands help ......

Iwantmorecash

In my place of work no one knows about my situation (i work in a finacial instatuion)
When people leave they buy them a leaving present. as you know EVERY penny counts and thsi month 3 people have/are leaving and they want £5 per person for each person who is leaving. You dont need to einstien to work out that is £15. When i comented that i couldnt aford it as i was skint the collctor said "ill lend it you and you can give it me later in the week because every one has GOT TO put in a fiver".
Now dont get me wron i dont mind giving but i think a fiver is over the top when 30 ish people at my place and £15 will now have to come from one of my other budgets......

Any thoughts?

inmypocketnottheirs

My advice would be don't give. You might not get anything if/when you leave, but think about how much you will have saved.

tru

I wouldn't give either. And I hate it when someone says this

every one has GOT TO put in a fiver

Why? And who says so?

If you like the people who are leaving and get on with them well, see if you can manage £1 each - if you really want to. Otherwise, just say no.

£150 for a leaving present???????

halloweenqueen_2

Is there a high turnover of people leaving? It would slightly different to want to give a prezzie to people who have been there many years but if there are poeple coming and going all the time it would be silly. Why do people insist on giving leaving presents,when every one is at work to earn! if its the thought that counts a nice card with every one signing it would do just the same? £5 seems high especially if there are a lot of people giving! Who buys the present - does anyone see a receipt?
I don't begrudge poeple giving money if they want to but it seems you are being forced into it.

Murtle

Don't give. By the nature of my work I often leave places and to be honest I'd rather they stuck at the card level not the present!! A small token gift would be nice, but as the calculation above suggests £150 per gift is OTT. The one place I stayed at the longest, gave me the "most spent on" gift and it was shocking. I'd rather they'd used the money to buy people drinks to say bye. No, I'm not unappreciative, but it's almost attempting to better each time. I'd bring it up with a few people around and just say that you won't keep giving to these collections. You don't have to explain why, but don't say you can't. Can't means they can help and you can pay back later. Won't means you're choosing not to give - end of story. On a similar note, we have loads of charity requests where I am, and I was asked to donate £5 to walk a mile...I declined. I choose who I donate to! Same with leaving presents, it doesn't have the same feel of we liked you so bought you a present when infact you know the people were press ganged into giving money they may or may not wanted to have given. Stand your ground and tell them to take a hike!!Good luckx

poorbutrich

I know what you mean - it's a really embarrassing situation....I worked for a company where there was high staff turnover, and I simply couldn't afford to contribute, so if it was someone I really liked, I'd get them something small and personal...

Iwantmorecash

Is there a high turnover of people leaving?

not sure only been there since April myself

On a similar note, we have loads of charity requests where I am, and I was asked to donate £5 to walk a mile...

we get that ALL the time too.... give a quid here and a quid there

Is there a high turnover of people leaving? It would slightly different to want to give a prezzie to people who have been there many years but if there are poeple coming and going all the time it would be silly.

one was the manager who had been there since DEC 05 and the other 2 where shifted in around when i started working there.

thaks for the tips so far i will TRY and be strong

linniestorm

The last place I worked was like that. Compulsory giving every pay day, and compulsory christmas and work dos! Only two free drinks and then you're still expected to stay out all night! !!!!!! that for a game of soldiers!

I'd just make up a car repair or broken boiler or something and say money is going to be tight over the next two months and you don't want them to have to wait that long for it back! Then give em £1 or £2 for each one and you've saved a tenner near enough!

FatJock

Hi,

I agree with the other posters on this subject. If you cant afford to give then dont feel pressurised into giving monies that you need for other more important things.

We've had a mass cull of staff where I'm working at the moment. About 7 people where leaving from the area I am working in and I was asked to contribute to leaving presents for everyone of them. I politely refused everyone. At the end of the day I'm not made of money, especially when these collections are also on top of birthday's, maternity, retirement and charity donations.

If you ain't got it then don't give it.

Cheers
FatJock

catriona79

Oh and I thought only my work were like that!
Leaving presents - 5 each, birthday presents - 5 each, charity runs etc all the time, you are expected to give a fiver to them too.
The worst thing is that I feel pressured, and then there is no joy of giving, just an awful feeling that you have to give, even if you don't want to or can't. Plus, most of teh other women in the office are middle aged, so earn much more than me and have husbands with well-paid jobs.
Last week somebody brought in some charity event raffle tickets, went round with them and so I got a few. But later that day a helpful lady (manager) in order to help that person collect more money, went round with a box of charity badges, talking to every single person very loudly, so that you felt bullied into buying it. I really resent that type of behaviour. Althought I am not in debt, I am in my first job now and still studying, while my OH is a full tiem student. Simply can't afford to give so much.
Anyway, to the loud lady, I replied equally loudly and confidently, that no thanks, I've already got the raffle tickets. She looked at me and smiled/smirked. Made me feel really awful.
Anyway, what a rant!.... Glad to see this topic brought up though, makes me feel that i am not so unreasonable as i thought. It is always hard to refuse to give to a charity. I am going to be giving when we are both working, because I think I should, but not just yet...

leni

we're quite lucky in that we put £2 in each for birthdays (5 of us) and in 4 years, only 1 person has left and she was moving abroad and we were all upset she was going so we gave her £10 each which she was gobsmacked at (think it's because we were cheap skates at birthdays!) but seriously - don't be pressured into it! Or next time you do the collecting and that way no one will know if you never put in!