'We got a digital cake': 40+ Terrible holiday bonuses that employees received from their cheap bosses

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 14, 2023 11:00 AM EST

Which bonus would you rather have: a subscription for a monthly jelly delivery, or a pair of socks? There's not a correct answer to that question, but those are two real things that some workers got as holiday bonuses. 

I never knew that a subscription to a jelly of the month club was such a popular gift. Numerous people cited that as a present their workplace gave them in this post from r/askreddit. That's a cool gift, I suppose, it's good to broaden your horizons and try new things. But you know what's cooler than getting some peach jam in the mail next month? Several hundred dollars in cash, that's what. You'd be hard-pressed to find an employee who would disagree with that. (Plus, what if your employee doesn't like jelly, or has an allergy, or doesn't want the clutter of 12 extra jars of jelly sitting around their home?)

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  • The people here were responding to 
    u/strakerak's question: “What cheap/terrible holiday “bonuses” are people starting to receive from work this year?” I expected to read about people receiving $5 gift cards or simply just cards, but the replies are so much more interesting than that. Give it a read down below. After that, a car dealership decided to put a cap on their salespeople's commissions, and the sales team was broiling mad over it. 

  • 01
    'Company sent one box of candy/snacks for our 14 person team' ENJOY
    via Michelle on Unsplash
  • 02
    What cheap/terrible holiday "bonuses" are people starting to receive from work this year?
    via u/nimfrank
  • 03
    itassofd Boss sent out a $10 Starbucks gift card the day he laid off 10% of our staff. "It's not a layoff, it's a coffee break" is now a banned phrase on teams/slack.
    via u/itassofd
  • 04
    DustySaloon5 Don't get an official bonus, but might get a tangerine from the boss
    via u/DustySaloon5
  • 05
    See Whisper Campaigns One year work bought everyone a ham. Didn't matter if you couldn't eat ham. They were delivered to your desk mid-day. There was not enough room in our fridge to store them all. It was weird. Every year prior to that we got cash.
    via u/WhisperCampaigns
  • 06
    FemshepsBabyDaddy I used to work at a retail store that gave everyone who worked on Black Friday a free, uncooked thanksgiving turkey. Yes, they gave us a turkey to cook for thanksgiving the day after Thanksgiving.
    via u/FemshepsBabyDaddy
  • 07
    thisfriend We got a $25 dollar bonus for Thanksgiving. But it is on a check separate from our pay checks. Since I have extra taxes taken from each check I get, it all went to taxes.
    via u/thisfriend
  • 08
    ricochet48 Office is shutdown from Christmas through New Years (and nobody is expected to work or check email at all, aside from Finance that has a quick payroll to run). Honestly pretty solid as nobody has to take PTO. Terrible perks I've received in the past though... I can think of a pizza party that was basically mandatory, while people were attempting to travel right before Christmas. The company wanted us to socialize at the worst time.
    via u/ricochet48
  • 09
    moonrulesnmbr1 I got a $30 Door Dash voucher! Bought almost all of my lunch for 1 day. We only pulled in like $500 million in revenue last year, times are really tough. Edit: when I say revenue, I meant profit.
    via u/moonrulesnmbr1
  • 10
    blackest_francis I worked for an overnight delivery service (not FedEx, more local) in 1998 during the big UPS strike. We worked like 40 hour weeks for a month, our business quadrupled, and the company made millions. When it ended, the owners of the company sent out bonuses to everyone: a $5 Chili's gift certificate.
    via u/blackest_francis
  • 11
    Cue everyone leaving the shop after the meeting, and the floor being carpeted with gift certificates. Two weeks later, we got a note in our pay envelopes that they heard of our...displeasure with the bonuses and gave us an extra $200 that week. Even in 1998 you could walk into a Chili's and maybe take a deep breath for five dollars. Greedy
    via u/blackest_francis
  • 12
    Schmidterling Company's own merchandise we got all year for free. Now we can order them in our internal shop. Very nice by them to let us do advertisement for the company and call it Christmas gifts. Oh, and there are also a lot of layoffs shortly before Christmas. I feel blessed to work here in case my boss reads that.
    via u/Schmidterling
  • 13
    allegate One year bonuses were almost cancelled because of another award. Basically, there was a competition in spring for four hours of PTO if certain goals were met. The goals were met, 200-odd employees got a free half day off from work. Ends of year comes around and district says hold tf up, what do you mean you want to give bonuses? You spent your bonus money on that PTO. See, turns out that the rules changed from that time
    via u/allegate
  • 14
    off being a non-cash award to it actually having value and no one told the peons on the front line. Luckily the management were able to force the hand and everyone got their bonuses as well, but that PTO thing has not been used since. Which because it was a better- than-most motivator. I mean, who tf cares about pizza when you can take half a day off?
    via u/allegate
  • 15
    Efficient-Regular-96 We got a digital cake. As in a clip inserted into an email as a thank you. There's a grocery store across the street.
    via u/Efficient-Regular-96
  • 16
    (13) 4eyedcoupe Jelly of the Month Club....I guess I'll never be able to get my family that in-ground pool.
    via u/4eyedcoupe
  • 17
    Paintgod93 Christmas party that no one wants to go to
    via u/Paintgod93
  • 18
    PitoyaTUX I got told my position was obsolete and will no longer have a job come January. Also a card!
    via u/PitoyaTUX
  • 19
    Gary_The_Strangler I used to work at a pool supply company right after highschool. One year the CEO kept going on and on about how great of a gift the employees would be getting from him. He wouldn't let up on how awesome it was going to be. For context, I had recently gotten my yearly evaluation. My district manager explained that he was not allowed to mark more than one category as 'above average' for any one person and 'excellent' could only be given to one person
    via u/Gary_The_Strangler
  • 20
    for one category per district. I was promised a .25$ raise. When I got the paperwork, the .25$ was scratched out with pen and a .19$ was written in its place. I figured, hey, this guy will not shut up about how great this gift is and how we're more profitable than ever. Maybe they tried lightening the yearly raise so we would get two smaller raises that would be >= the original. We got one day off. It has to be pre-approved three weeks in advance, it couldn't be between dec. 20th and jan.
    via u/Gary_The_Strangler
  • 21
    10th, it couldnt be on a Friday or weekend, and we would be required to come in if asked. The CEO took a vacation for all of December and January.
    via u/Gary_The_Strangler
  • 22
    18-53 ge Intelligent-Ear-7248 I get a candy cane
    via u/Intelligent-Ear-7248
  • 23
    patricles22 Lol we just get asked to contribute our own money to buy the customer service team gift cards
    via u/patricles22
  • 24
    Imtifflish24 Company sent one box of candy/snacks for our 14 person team.
    via u/Imtifflish24
  • 25
    Brew_Girl10 I feel that. We received a tin of popcorn for the entire staff to share with a handwritten xmas thanks on a sheet of paper. It was the best sales ytd
    via u/Brew_Girl10
  • 26
    TostadoAir I was handed a stack of holiday cards and told to sign all of them. Once I was done I was told I was the last one to sign so I could choose mine.. really felt the thoughtfulness of 20 people rapidly signing cards.
    via u/TostadoAir
  • 27
    ScottyTheBody84 We get a mandatory work party which will cost each of us 25 dollars
    via u/ScottyTheBody84
  • 28
    kisubra my friend got socks, bc all the bonus budget was spent on a company holiday party
    via u/kisubra
  • 29
    cleanmickie Got an $100 Amazon card! At least it's something I can use that I can buy stuff I need lol
    via u/cleanmickie
  • 30
    ojralphsasha We get to keep our jobs and not be laid off. Real statement from upper management
    via u/ojralphsasha
  • 31
    $99 Moveyourbloominass My sister got robbed of her $24,000 bonus. Her best year to date with the company in 20 years. Employers
    via u/Moveyourbloominass
  • 32
    vintagedevil67 I work for a company worth almost $2 billion. We each get a $20 gift card. It used to be $15, so things are looking up!
    via u/vintagedevil67
  • 33
    Miserable Isopod2341 A plastic water bottle with the company logo
    via u/Miserable Isopod2341
  • 34
    maggie--muggins Literally nothing. No time off either. The hospital never closes and no one wants to give nurses anything for their troubles
    via u/maggie--muggins
  • 35
    angelaelle T-shirt with company logo. Notebook with company logo. Cookies with no company logo
    via u/angelaelle
  • 36
    ZormkidFrobozz 200+ employees where i work. We each got a generic, unsigned, non-personalized boxed Christmas card on a blank envelope with a $10 fast food gift card. Except some of the gift cards were the reloadable type and had no money put on them. So basically some us were given a small handful of garbage.
    via u/ZormkidFrobozz
  • 37
    etherealcaitiff My work switched from yearly bonuses to biannual bonuses for this year. We got our first bonus in September and we have heard nothing about the 2nd. I don't know why I expected anything else to happen.
    via u/etherealcaitiff
  • 38
    itsfish20 Instead of giving us a bonus they are giving us the Fridays before Christmas and New Years off. I guess it's nice and having a 4 day weekend two weeks in a row will be relaxing but I'd rather get an actual bonus
    via u/itsfish20
  • 39
    GRN225 I'll get fresh baked cookies the boss' wife made for Christmas. They'll sit on my desk while I'm on vacation from 12/23 until 1/2. They'll be hard as a rock and I'll throw them away when I get in on 1/3.
    via u/GRN225
  • 40
    Rich-Sleep1748 Discontinued merchandise my company makes. Merchandise that I neither need or want
    via u/Rich-Sleep1748
  • 41
    VT_Transplant We are getting a piñata at the holiday party. So we can crawl around on the ground for candy while the boss watches. Fun.
    via u/VT_Transplant
  • 42
    laissezfaire_4me Times are tough for my small business job (/s). Bosses are already hinting that we might not be getting bonuses or raises this year, but of course they are still leaving on holiday for two months. I hate this place.
    via u/laissezfaire_4me
  • 43
    band-of-horses I got 220 corporate "points" which I can exchange for a $50 amazon gift card or a variety of products.
    via u/band-of-horses
  • 44
    SwifferSeal Instead of getting 4 weeks of PTO next year, I get 2!
    via u/SwifferSeal
  • 45
    Working-Ferret-8476 2023: No Appreciation 2022: No appreciation 2021: mandatory "drive in a circle around the parking lot and management will toss your gift in your open car window." Gift was three pieces of candy whose wrappers were entirely in Spanish (we're close to Canada), two company- branded pens, and our holiday calendar for 2022. 2020: No Appreciation 2019 and before: full catered lunch buffet with an entire course of desserts.
    via u/Working-Ferret-8476
  • 46
    jarfin542 I got a 3 week layoff and the potential to win a $25 Amazon gift card in a raffle. The period of the layoff makes me ineligible for any company bonus. 2 weeks ago, we had a company wide meeting where the owner said it was the most profitable year they have ever had and there would be no layoffs.
    via u/jarfin542
  • 47
    chaosisapony Our office tradition is that each supervisor gives us $20 gift cards. Then the employees group together and buy each supervisor a $100 gift card. It's ridiculous. But this year is special. This year one supervisor has decided they don't want to participate because they "can't afford it" after taking their $100 gift card from the staff already.
    via u/chaosisapony
  • 48
    _marxdid911 we got a giftcard to walmart for 20$ but because they had to tax us for it it was actually 18. i didnt even bother collecting it
    via u/_marxdid911
  • 49
    dotcomaphobe My wife got a flyer with a QR code so she can pick her own gift from a list of five company-branded items (sweatshirt, speaker, water bottle, etc.). Only the checkout link is broken, so she can't actually order anything.
    via u/dotcomaphobe

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