Expected Donation to Bosses Xmas Fund!!!!

GracieP

KiKi wrote: »

I imagine the poster took into account the fact that 10 people are paying in which does, indeed, make a total of £112.50 per boss.

KiKi

Ah! That makes sense.:o

Though of course that means the bosses give roughly £10k of their profits to their staff as a Christmas gift. Or £2,500 from each of the bosses.

I do think that buying the bosses gifts it weird but the bonuses situation makes it very different, imo.

notsayingaword

GracieP wrote: »

What? 45/4=11.25, that's £11.25 per boss. Did you do the calculation on a calculator and add a decimal point to the 4?

Tbh, the whole thing is a bit bizzare but bonuses, unless in the contract, are discretionary and certainly not part of the salary, especially the £150 cash in hand. I'd just not rock the boat on this, it isn't worth it.

10 employees are expected to contribute!

GracieP wrote: »

Ah! That makes sense.:o

Though of course that means the bosses give roughly £10k of their profits to their staff as a Christmas gift. Or £2,500 from each of the bosses.

I do think that buying the bosses gifts it weird but the bonuses situation makes it very different, imo.

OP shouldn't be made to contribute even if she does get a generous bonus. That just seems like blackmail - pay up or you won't get a bonus! And as they're accountants I'm sure they find a way around it without paying too much tax on it .

KiKi

GracieP wrote: »

Ah! That makes sense.:o

Though of course that means the bosses give roughly £10k of their profits to their staff as a Christmas gift. Or £2,500 from each of the bosses.

But OP gets £650 bonus in total, which means £6500 paid out (assuming they all get the same). Which is £1625 per boss...

Sorry, I feel like I've only come on here to correct your maths...! I promise that wasn't the case...!!

KiKi

GracieP

KiKi wrote: »

But OP gets £650 bonus in total, which means £6500 paid out (assuming they all get the same). Which is £1625 per boss...

Sorry, I feel like I've only come on here to correct your maths...! I promise that wasn't the case...!!

KiKi

Isn't the £500 they get a net payment? Won't there have been a bigger payment from the bosses which was taxed? Or are bonuses tax free? I don't know, I've never had one.:(

Eta; Just checked it, it's fully taxable, so depending on the tax rate the OP pays it would be costing the bosses close to £1000 per staff member.

vaio

GracieP wrote: »

..... Just checked it, it's fully taxable, so depending on the tax rate the OP pays it would be costing the bosses close to £1000 per staff member.

which brings us in full circle back to my post #22

vaio wrote: »

I’d say it is a bit off but if it’s what everyone does then go along with it

The bosses spend a grand or more on your Christmas bonus(es) (and as they are accountants, I’d be very surprised if at least one and probably both weren’t discretionary) so giving them back £45 seems like a small price to pay for not standing out from the crowd and causing ill-feeling among your colleagues, neither of which is a good thing to do in the current economic climate

OP....what are your thoughts?

belfastgirl23

I agree with the OP that it's a lot of money if you're on a budget. But I'd also be wary about rocking the boat. I'd try talking quietly to a few colleagues and saying that things are really tight this year and would there be any chance of making the contribution a bit smaller. And see whether there might be a groundswell of opinion to support this view. But I don't think I'd go in single handed on it. It could well be that some others would be relieved to have it raised as well.

System

Am I missing something here? Surely the Xmas bonus is coming out of the company (and being accountants they will make sure that it is fully tax deductible) and not the bosses pockets.
It is therefore coming out of the profits that the OP helped generate.

donquine

!!!!!! wrote: »

Am I missing something here? Surely the Xmas bonus is coming out of the company (and being accountants they will make sure that it is fully tax deductible) and not the bosses pockets.
It is therefore coming out of the profits that the OP helped generate.

Assuming the bosses are in fact not employees but fully fledged equity partners, the profits of the business belong to them. The bonus in the OP's pay packet therefore is coming out of their pockets, along with income tax and National Insurance. The cash bonus on Christmas eve might come out of their extracted income, rather than paid through the business, so there may not have been any National Insurance paid on it, but there will be at least income tax. All of this has a cost - and it is a cost borne by the partners.

I think it's risky for anyone to assume a bonus is guaranteed each year and 'part of [their] salary' - there is generally some fine print involved making it wholly discretionary and related to your performance. If the OP refuses to pay up and annoys her co-workers, she may well begin to find it difficult working with them and this may reflect on her, rather than them. Poor at teamwork? How is that performance related bonus looking now?

Small offices can be lovely to work in when the balance is right, however it does not take very much to upset it and for working life to become downright unpleasant. I do speak from experience.

£45 is a drop in the ocean compared to the bonus the OP is expecting to receive. If there was no bonus, I wouldn't chip in more than a couple of quid, but I think the OP's circumstances are special.

pinkfluffybabe

donquine wrote: »

£45 is a drop in the ocean compared to the bonus the OP is expecting to receive. If there was no bonus, I wouldn't chip in more than a couple of quid, but I think the OP's circumstances are special.

In which case, why don't the employers just keep £45 back off each bonus! It's totally ridiculous to expect people to chip in so much to a gift - it's the worst type of peer pressure when you don't know what others circumstances are. Yes, the OP gets a good bonus, but for all they know, this could be keeping them above water rather than being for luxuries.

Any circumstance where people are forced to give, or to give a certain amount is wrong in my opinion. Doesn't matter that they get a bonus - surely that wouldn't stop if the bosses didn't get a gift (and if it did, it says a lot about their morals).

Gemmy_2

£45!!!! :eek:

Thats shocking!