Annual Christmas Party/ Bonus Thread: 2018 Edition

Even by newspaper standards, that's brutal.

 

Work at a small daily newspaper. No bonuses (at least since I started working there, in 2009), but to our managing editor's credit, he and his wife pay for and arrange a catered dinner for the newsroom, held at 5:30 so both the reporters and the sports/copy desks can attend. Delicious Mexican food from a local restaurant.

We all appreciate it ... and grumble about the paper not spending one dime on us, but that's the newspaper biz for you.

 

Two stories about past employers. When I worked for a weekly paper in Michigan's U.P., the owner took us all out to lunch the Friday before Christmas. She passed out Christmas cards that had $50 bills in them for our bonus. And she also (through the local high school band fundraiser) gave each of us a box of citrus fruit for the holidays.

The only other newspaper I worked for that ever gave bonuses put a second check in the regular every-other-week pay envelope you received before the holidays. A quick chat among employees revealed that the amount on the checks was different, ranging from $50 to $100. From what I could tell, there was no rhyme or reason as to who got what, such as seniority. I found this out when I said it was nice to get $50 extra, and the person I told it to looked embarrassed.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

 

Just realized that tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of a heinous example of newspaper corporate cruelty -- my former shop told people three days before Christmas that they were being laid off. In fairness, the jobs didn't go away until February, but still. ... I'd accepted another job about a week before it happened, but it was tough to watch from the sideline.

 

This was my first holiday outside of journalism in three decades. I now work for a public agency and we had a catered dinner for 125 employees and guests where more than two dozens gifts were given out in a drawing — from flashlights and water bottles to gift cards to four bikes and a TV.

Last year as the only person in a newspaper bureau I was told I could expense a meal because it wasn’t practical for me to drive 70 miles round trip for the lunch at the main office.

 

I now work in the casino industry.
Previous job, for only second time in 5 years, 300 checks to all employees.
Current job, 50 gift card to area supermarket chain

 

I work for a nonprofit, as part of a small staff. For years, we would go out for a nice dinner for Christmas. Then, it was lunch. Then, an overly social spouse offered to host a potluck at her home and it’s been that way ever since.

 

That's how it was at my old newspaper. Started out with a nice catered meal at a local banquet hall with a DJ and door prizes. Then it was a meal at a local buffet. Then, it was lunch in the upstairs meeting room. Then, it was a pitch-in in the meeting room. It eventually became lunch at my & my wife's house, since we both were in the newsroom and we lived two miles from the office.

 

I understand hating on the owners and suits. But, I must say the publisher later told me he worked the Christmas bonus and party into the yearly budget, so he knew ahead of time they'd be doing it. Unlike bean counters at much larger papers.

 

I've been out of journalism for about six years. I never got a bonus, but a few years we had a really nice catered meal.

In current job for the first three years, we'd be bused to the local zoo for a catered dinner and tour of christmas lights. Last few years, due to rapid growth, we've done an on-site brunch that's family friendly.

The best part though, there's been a money bonus every year and free honeybaked hams.

 

Our Christmas party was at the publisher's house in Grosse Pointe
It was a fancy affair with the huge shrimp boat, with huge shrimp cocktail, the centerpiece
During the strike, we picketed the Christmas party, which was interesting
The times were strict
Party started at 5, ended at 9
By 9, everyone was gone, though most of us went to after parties
After the strike, they kept the party, but move it to a hotel and made it a for kid's event
They also gave us $25 gift cards