Office employee refuses to wish management a “Merry Christmas” until they acknowledge a seniority-based Christmas bonus policy, requiring 5 years of employment to get company branded merch: 'I'm just pointing out the ridiculousness'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Dec 18, 2025 10:00 AM EST

A $25M company wouldn't give its new employees even a lowly Christmas pizza party to celebrate the end of the year. Instead, they made workers wait until they had five years of seniority to rummage through the company's merchandise bucket. Thaaaanks…

Company loyalty is a rare thing these days. Because of that, when business do have loyal workers, they should be rewarding those tried-and-true hard workers with a little something to sweeten their employment deal, right? In an age where pensions, extended PTO benefits, and even a gold star from your boss is a rarity, the Christmas bonus is a fabled tradition of yore. So when this prospective employee first started working for a big company and noticed they still did bonuses, they were psyched! 18 months in, and after they were snubbed of their gift the first year, they didn't realize until now that the bonuses were only for employees working with the company for over 5 years. 

Apparently, 5 years of loyalty was all that earned you a Merry Christmas in this office, so the worker initiated a tongue-in-cheek protest, refusing to wish management a happy holiday until after at least 5 years of work.

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  • Woman in her office crossing her arms in defiance.
    via Pavel Danyiluk
  • No Christmas for 5 years.. At the place I work at, you have to have been at the company for 5 years before receiving a Christmas hamper. The hamper is mainly the company's own products, so nothing too extravagant. I believe 5 years is too long. I would probably feel differently if
    via BexRox247
  • it was a bigger gift, like a monetary bonus or something. So.... because of this, I refuse to wish higher management "Merry Christmas" or any Christmas wishes, for 5 years. One
    via BexRox247
  • of the operations managers wished me Happy Christmas last year, and I didn't reply with the normal "You too". This was actually harder than I thought it would be, as I am British and extremely
    via BexRox247
  • polite. He commented something along the lines of, "Do I not get a "Merry Christmas?" So I replied that he would have to be my boss for 5 years before I wish him a happy Christmas. He told me that was a bit
    via BexRox247
  • petty. I'm wondering if it is petty, or if I'm just pointing out the ridiculousness? Edit to add - I would just like to confirm, that I absolutely love my job.
    via BexRox247
  • They are a large company (Net £25mil+ and around 200 employees) I have been there about 18 months. I am also really polite and respectful to people at work and I have a great relationship with my managers. I don't
    via BexRox247
  • ever have contact with anyone above the operations manager, hence why he's getting the brunt of it. The rest of the time I'm my usual lovely self. I think the hardest thing will be keeping it up
    via BexRox247
  • for the full 5 years. Not sure my British-ness will be able to cope. If I thought my job would be on the line... I definitely wouldn't do it.
    via BexRox247
  • Woman working diligently in her office.
    via Pavel Danilyuk
  • Coder Joe1 "Have a great Festivus."
    via Coder Joe1
  • Any-Text-3784 Yes, it is petty. Yes, it is glorious and dare I say appropriate.
    via Any-Text-3784
  • JJQuantum Dude if you don't like the company then don't work there. If you do want to work there then have a good attitude instead of being a petty ass.
    via JJQuantum
  • OP BexRox247 Aaaaw bless....
    via BexRox247
  • Educational_Dust_932 Yes it is petty. But that is what we are here to enjoy.
    via Educational_Dust_932
  • Truebeliever-14 It's petty and funny as hell.
    via Truebeliever-14
  • Why YouSoMad4 If its petty for you, why wouldnt it be petty for the company? And if thats accepted, why are they not admonishing the company alongside you?
    via Why YouSoMad4
  • VanillaCola79 You didn't make the rule, you just abide by it.
    via VanillaCola79
  • Realistic_Store9122 Very petty but not sure that's a battle I'd pick with my new manager...
    via Realistic_Store9122
  • Electronic_World_894 Petty but also fair. It may harm your career if you keep it up, but I don't know your work culture enough to know that.
    via Electronic_World_894

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Protest employee bonus work tongue in cheek holiday bonus work bonus
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