Avoiding Collections At Work!

greengrass

Well I dont take my purse with me anymore, there is always some sort of collection going on its stupid. No body was interested in sponsoring me for race for life so I have quit giving to collections, unless I want to that is. They have just had £10 off each member towards an office fridge, I wish I hadnt give that now and put it towards R4Life instead. Do I sound mean???

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Best thing to do is not take any money to work! Even if you are pressurised into putting money in, you can't because you haven't got any! I regularly have no money at all in my purse (like the Queen!) and its quite a refreshing feeling because you really have to think about what you are about to spend it on. It is usually too much hassle to go to the cashpoint and then have the trauma of breaking into a £10 note! Having said that, I have a credit card in case of emergencies but you can't put that in a collection.

You could say, 'I haven't got any money, I'm saving up for a house/car/kids stuff/ xmas' etc. If they don't understand then its their problem, I hate it when people feel they can spend your hard earned cash. I give to 2 charities as a direct debit, only small amounts, when the charity tin comes along you could always say you already donate and prefer to do it by DD as the charity can claim tax back

heather38

when i went back to work after my maternity leave finished and i was asked to pay into the kitty for the girl who was covering my leave!! i refused as i didn't even know her!
i just don't put into anything now, i tell people that i can't afford it as i've just had a baby and they stopped asking.

ppolly

Oh, I can sympathise with this one - one of my places of work I left (to have a baby) on really poor terms with everyone - due mainly to a difficult pregnancy as I was not at all well for about 6 months- I'd contributed to everyone's leaving/marriage/birthday collection over 5 years. I got a pack of 3 basic babygros and a card. :cool: I did not return....
Having said that I got a very generous book token at my most recent job when my contract ended.
Personally I think a card and a very voluntary contribution from those who know you well is plenty. Being currently unemployed and hoping to start my own business I am happily free of all the office politics, and thank goodness the office Chirstmas party.

LizD_2

Well, considering I must have put a good £10.00 - £15.00 (Peanuts, really, but it's the principle) into kitties at my last place of work (2 years, longer than some folk!), then never even got so much as a card from the miserable gits when I left, I'd tell them to 'sod off'!

Saying that, another place I worked did a birthday kitty where you each paid a £1.00 when a birthday came around, then you effectively got it back when it was your turn.

ceridwen

greengrass wrote: »

Well I dont take my purse with me anymore, there is always some sort of collection going on its stupid. No body was interested in sponsoring me for race for life so I have quit giving to collections, unless I want to that is. They have just had £10 off each member towards an office fridge, I wish I hadnt give that now and put it towards R4Life instead. Do I sound mean???

No - you dont sound in the slightest bit mean. Your employer does though - I am astonished at an employer expecting staff to club together for anything that is a work expense (ie theirs). Employers should provide fridges for their staff - as far as I can recall all my various employers have. They want it - they pay for it (I am wondering whether under health and safety they should provide one? Dont know position on that one).

Your money would be much better spent going to charity - rather than straight back to your employer. Or - indeed - kept in your own pocket.

dubgirl

Hi, it is reassuring to know that there alots of others out there dealing with this issue. in my office it seems that there is at least one collection a month for some reason and I begrudge paying out for someone I dont know or dont like! I now only put in a max of a £1 if anything. Also the office "expects" people to buy everyone cakes if it is your birthday and we now seem to have got into the habit of buying cakes when you return from holiday! Needless to say I have not done this and refuse to do so - it is just getting ridiculous.

Waxy_Bean

Where I work, the ten of us in the team have a kitty (£2/year) for cards (which we all sign), but also do collections for significant events - significant birthdays, babies, weddings, leaving the team. We only tend to put £2-3 in the collections though and buy a small present.

Also our company has an online noticeboard where people can post big events - weddings, babies, leaving the company - details of which are emailed round in an end of day round up. We can choose to reply to these and get included on the circulation list for the collection and card, or not to! This works really well as in a company like ours where people move around a lot you can get involved in collections for excolleagues you get along with, or ignore those for people you don't know.

floyd

dubgirl wrote: »

Also the office "expects" people to buy everyone cakes if it is your birthday and we now seem to have got into the habit of buying cakes when you return from holiday!

We do this where I work but its a good excuse for us all to sit together and have a cuppa because we all work independently during the day and don't get the chance to chat.
Mind you, no-one really notices if someone doesn't bring anything in, its not that sort of place

scuzz

We've scrapped paying out here. Instead the petty cash tin's raided to get a card which everyone signs.

I'm sure if someone had a "special" birthday - 30,40 etc - then we'd put money in.