'For Christmas we got a coupon for a cup of coffee...from the coffee shop in the building. The coffee was already free': Employees share the worst "bonuses" their jobs have ever given them

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Mar 11, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

Getting a bonus means different things to different people. For the average Joe, a bonus will help them add a little more padding to their emergency fund or finance Christmas presents for their kids so they don't have to go into debt for Santa. I recently learned from reading Disney Wars that bonuses are extremely different for high-level entertainment executives. In 1998, Michael Eisner got a $5 million bonus on top of his salary, which was somewhere around $750K. I don't know if any of y'all have ever gotten a bonus that's more than five times the sum of your actual salary, but it seems pretty unusual unless you're at the very top of your game. Maybe they do it for tax reasons or because it's a bad look to give an employee a salary of $5 million. Whatever their reasoning, I wouldn't mind benefiting from an arrangement like that. 

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  • While Disney executives reap the benefits of one end of the spectrum, many employees get thumb tacks and paper clips for their bonuses. The following employees shared the worst bonuses they've ever received from their companies, some of which are not equal in value to a shiny new nickel. 

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    2 PEDERAL RE THE UNITED STA 8868145250 2
    via Frank van Hulst (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    What's the worst "Bonus" a job has ever given you?

    ohhhhfcukkkk 5h ago I worked at a big auction house for people with lots of money, doing manual labor. For Christmas we got a coupon for a cup of coffee.. from the coffee shop in the building. We had free coffee. I still have the coupon, it's a nice reminder of what I walked away from
    via u/ohhhhfcukkkk
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    88cowboy ⚫2h ago I worked for a fortune 20 company and won a $5 gift card from Starbucks from being #1 in the week long immersion meeting.
    via u/88cowboy
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    Fill-Chapo • 5h ago We had 11 workers quit on the spot because they wanted to have a meeting with the COO about their wages and schedules but he shut them down. Office was scrambling to replace them, it was chaos. Later that week they ordered pizza for everyone "to show their appreciation for their workers". Pizza doesn't pay my bills
    via u/Fill-Chapo
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    Healthy_Property4385 • 2h ago We had ice cream for "staff appreciation" day after a hiring/raise freeze. It didn't make me feel better
    via u/Healthy_Property4385
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    Brjsk • 5h ago Although we've made record profits we can't give you guys a raise or bonus but management will get both
    via u/Brjsk
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    JPMoney81 •2h ago Retail? My wife got told that they couldn't afford bonuses because of tough economic times in the same meeting the company boasted about the record sales of the past year. All the managers got bonuses.
    via u/JPMoney81
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    Mochigood • 2h ago I worked at Macy's for the holidays one year. We had a record Black Friday, so they got us Little Caesars (one slice per person) while managers had a catered lunch from one of the nicer restaurants nearby. Compare that to when I worked for a Hyundai cousin. We met a production goal, so we had an excellent dinner served to us by the management, as well as a two weeks pay bonus.
    via u/Mochigood
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    theonlybuster • 5h ago The biggest piece of cake... Worked at a company for 9yrs and through some of its toughest times. I often worked unpaid overtime and went above and beyond. These were some of the highlights the boss pointed out while giving a recognition speech about me. He ended it with "most families save the biggest piece of chicken for the
    via u/theonlybuster
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    bread-winner, so keeping with that tradition, I'm offering you the biggest and first slice of cake". After being recognized in such a manner, I waited for about a month for an actual monetary bonus. Upon receiving nothing, I put in my notice citing the speech and lack of actual reward for my efforts.
    via u/theonlybuster
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    just-another- 5h ago A Christmas card with signatures of the management team. It was Walmart ... why the h_I do they think the associates would want a picture of the management team? We didn't even want to see the managers when we were working.
    via u/just-another-
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    Acceptable_Prize_544 • 5h ago More work for doing good work
    via u/Acceptable_Prize_544
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    bondsman333 I worked for a small sales based company. They were pushing hard for the first 'Million Dollar Month' and kept saying they would make it worth our while! We assumed a big bonus, a trip, a fancy steakhouse... something!
    via u/bondsman333
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    When we finally hit it... we each got a bobble head of one of the executives. We decided to trade them- the CEO was worth less than the CFO and HR was worth the least. It became a big running joke until HR sends an email out saying we have to stop.
    via u/bondsman333
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    ConsciousnessWizard • 5h ago A chocolate box with 5 small chocolates. To thank us for the release of a product that doubled the company's revenue.
    via u/ConsciousnessWizard
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    New_Bunch_6806 •5h ago • Edited 3h ago Not me, but years ago, I worked in a call center and can win awards from doing most calls in an hour. This one girl wore long skirts only. She won a ticket to wear jeans but with her culture she doesn't do that. She wore a jeans long skirt and tried turning it and was told it doesn't work on skirts.
    via u/New_Bunch_6806
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    Whe tried explaining to them that she couldn't wear jeans and that the award given to her was meaningless since she couldn't use it. They basically told her that was a her problem. So she rebelled by having longer phone conversations.
    via u/New_Bunch_6806
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    Curvy Tigergirl • 5h ago My old retail job gave us all turkey vouchers for Thanksgiving. When we went to redeem them turned out they were actually $5 off if you bought a turkey worth $25 or more.
    via u/CurvyTigergirl
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    MrsSchnel • 2h ago My old office gave everyone a frozen turkey. I don't know whose genius idea it was but they rolled in a chest freezer and handed out frozen turkeys as everyone is leaving for the day.
    via u/MrsSchnel
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    KDlight • 5h ago Pizza for the team
    via u/KDlight
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    Baa Baa Turtle • 3h ago Ice cream sandwiches. We didn't get raises because "it was a tough year" and "your department didn't increase revenue" (we were R&D). Our competitors brought an ice cream truck and parked it next door and were giving out free ice cream and applications and you could talk to their HR. They were specifically targeting our R&D team. Most of my coworkers went because it was a fancy ice cream truck they had seen but never bought from because it was expensive.
    via u/BaaBaaTurtle
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    My director freaked out and told his EA to go get ice cream and told people not to go. She came back with Value brand ice cream sandwiches. And only like 6 boxes. (There were 120 engineers in our department) I only remember the managers going over and getting them. About two thirds of my team left within the next six months.
    via u/BaaBaaTurtle
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    workscs •5h ago Target, my annual review got me a.. 8 cent raise! Oh and if they increase the minimum wage you don't keep the 'bonus' haha
    via u/workscs
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    saucisse • 5h ago Not me but my mom, who was an elementary school teacher: one year they got...keychains. KEY CHAINS. The teachers put them in a big envelope and sent them back.
    via u/saucisse
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    Material_Cucumber630 • 5h ago 5 scratch-off lottery tickets. No winners.
    via u/Material_Cucumber630
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    Latter_Machine_7576 • 5h ago I was the top sales person for a public company- I got a trophy
    via u/Latter_Machine_7576
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    mackinoncougars • 4h ago A poinsettia AFTER Christmas was over. They used them to decorate the restaurant and then the 'bonus' was they handed them out to employees instead of properly caring or disposing of them.
    via u/mackinoncougars
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    TheLastMan ⚫5h ago A membership to Jelly of the Month Club. It got my family arrested. Don't ask.
    via u/TheLastMan
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    PurplezKool • 4h ago Y'all are out here getting bonuses?
    via u/PurplezKool

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management presents jobs bonus manager job terrible-bosses bad jobs bosses work bonuses no money managers bad bosses bad job money
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