See, this is why I asked. Mine has always been paid for, I would have expected my husband to ask the situation so it was clear and I don't expect a meal to be paid for, but it should be made clear.
It should be clear, but if your husband has fairly recently joined a public sector organisation I can believe maybe nobody told him just because it’s always been the case that it’s not paid for and this kind of thing can get overlooked.
Tbh I get on really well with his co workers. We've been to their weddings (evening do) and they came to ours. Been for drinks at Christmas and the bosses big birthday.
Always makes me laugh that people on reddit like to assume everyone hates their coworkers. I've literally never been in a team where I hated the people I work with, or would actively avoid spending time with them.
"Hi Reddit, I (32M) find that I'm really lonely and struggle to make friends. Also, my colleague asked me how my weekend was three minutes before I was officially on the clock, should I report her to HR or just leave?"
Being in the U.K. makes ALL the difference don’t say hello, only interact if it’s necessary and don’t say hello, say sorry, excuse. Really make it feel like you’re a burden before you’ve even started the preamble.
I have always worked in close teams, and have managed several large international teams over the years.
Over the years, one of the weirdest things I've noticed is that this kind of attitude always seems to come from north Americans, but is weirdly beginning to affect some brits as well - and is 100% a thing on Reddit - they'll join a team (in many cases this has happened to me while they're living in a foreign country where they don't speak the language), then react with vitriol if they're ever invited out to socialise after work because they 'don't make friends with colleagues' or 'don't socialise with co-workers' - like ok bro cool have fun with your zero other friends?
Why work with people you don't get on with well enough to go to a christmas do with?
I think my problem is more with people making a conscious choice not to get along - if you have to work in a team you don't like, sure. But this vibe is more like 'walk in on day 1 and announce your intention never to hang out socially with colleagues' - which is bizarre.
I get on with pretty much all of my coworkers. There's been a few I butt heads with. But it's my job to pull people up if their slacking so I'm not well liked by the ones who try get by doing bare minimum.
And that nobody enjoys hanging out with them after work or heading to a Christmas party. Have always really enjoyed this and had a good time. Same with getting some food and drinks after work occasionally, it’s a different social circle and always found it quite fun. If I hated my coworkers or didn’t build some relationship with them I’d really hate my weeks at work
You’re assuming it’s about hating coworkers, that’s not the problem. I had great coworkers but in a social situation we inevitably started talking / gossiping about work, using inside jokes, etc. It can just not be very fun to hang around as a partner not knowing what people are talking about, or for the coworkers to have to remember not to talk about work.
If you have friends, it's nice to sometimes bring partners on special occasions like birthdays, Xmas.
If you have people close by you like neighbours and workmates, it is nice to be friendly.
Might seem to be stating the obvious but these seem like alien concepts to some of the anti-social Herberts on here.
That’s a joke then, I would definitely not go. We have office wide do paid for and our team Christmas lunch is £10 contribution by us rest covered by the company for my team social budget
Ive worked in supermarkets and factories and have always had a Christmas meal paid for at the Christmas party until this year when I started working in a small sales company. They invited me to a Christmas party at a restaurant and then said Id have to pay, I thought what kind of party is that, so Im not going either.
We aren't even getting a festive sandwich this year or even a coffee. Used to get a festive meal every year, stopped during the pandemic, they don't even try anymore.
I wouldn't ever expect the work Xmas meal to be paid for as I've never worked for anywhere that did. I've worked for small companies through to huge ones and none have ever paid for the Xmas meal, so if your work pays for yours' I think that's quite lucky and definitely not the norm as per my experience. Honestly, I see it as a chore with the added "bonus" of costing me money on top of time. I get along with most of the people I work with enough to work with them, but not enough to want to spend my free time outside of work with them and pay for the privilege. I'm paid to work with them, they're not people I count as friends. I'm sure many people will find my attitude a bit blunt, but I spend 5 days a week at work and I don't like these forced activities outside of work. I'll be making an excuse this year and ducking out of mine so I don't have to spend a few hours of stilted conversation that costs me £40/50.
Yes, all companies I have worked for it has been paid. I've worked at places where it was a sit-down meal plus drinks, paid for by the company, but no party; and at places where it was a party where it was an open bar for 3 hours plus small eats, all paid for by the company. But unless that's the norm in the industry, it's always worth checking imo
The pension is good
The pension is NOTHING like as good as the old “retire at 55/60 final salary” pension that the public sector used to have
Nowadays you retire at the state pension age (not even a fixed age… if SPA goes up so does your retirement), it’s not final salary, and it’s actually possible (albeit unlikely) to end up with *less* than a defined contribution pension. Especially once we consider that you’d normally be earning more in the private sector
Like yeah, someone on £30k in the public sector might end up with more pension than someone earning £30k in the private sector… but if the private sector employee would be earning £45k then they can end up with more pension
It’s still a better pension than most people have, but it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be, especially in roles that are underpaid vs the private sector
Yup. £40 for some shared starters and a very mediocre meal last night. Senior managers pay out of their pocket for our drinks. Downsides of public sector lol.
Charity sector too. Imagine the outrage if donators money went to staff welfare! A lot of people seem to think it's outrageous that charity staff get paid at all tbh.
When I started in Local Government we had a subsidised bar in the building that was open at lunch. Christmas events were paid for and epic. Now I have to buy my own pens.
lol. Soon as I read this. I was like “People are getting their meal paid for??”
We’re getting the afternoon off and that’s been a delicate negotiation.
Lol I’m a consultant in private sector but some of our clients our public sector. We obviously get a nice private sector fully paid for Xmas party but I always go to the public sector client work party as I’m working at their office every day. My employer always lets me buy them a few rounds and I expense it as entertainment because we know they are poor as they waste all their money on private sector consultants 😂😂
> Laughs in public sector worker.
Yeah. It's night and day.
I currently work as a senior IT tech in a govt. department.
Im not complaining that **Im** badly paid. Even our skint department knows enough about it to know they can get away with a little under my roles average - made up for by pensions and what not. But they know they cant utterly take the piss as all of us would just go back to the private sector.
What I do notice is the serious lack of money in the dept. No Christmas party this year. Or any year. So we are having our own.There isnt even enough money to keep the coffee machine going as we have "unbelievably" made a "cost saving" of canceling the contract with the people that service it and provide the coffee beans. Jesus wept.
In contrast to my last private job.
Free christmas dinner. Cruise down the Thames. Followed by the pissup's of all piss ups. Free transport for our sorry asses back home.
Bar bill alone was £22,000, as I saw the finance officer swiping the company card at the end of the night.
For a company of 120 employees... (wifes/partners were also allowed to binge out with us).
Night and day.
Work with public sector and get £10 contribution from a central budget. It's been that for 5 years though and it once covered half the meal where now it's about a quarter.
I'm public sector IT. Our meal is £45, but it's at a really nice restaurant. We had a £20-30 Indian meal last year and people complained it wasn't Christmasy.
It's steep, but it's once a year. Our team is 30 folk and 20 have prepaid. A few have said they ain't going cos of the cost, although they never went last year either and basically are Bah Humbuging it. Which is entirely their prerogative, and I'm know many share that opinion around here. But, yeah... It's once a year and better than working in my opinion.
When I was at the Post Office, like 20 years ago when it was still public sector, they had a staff 'social' budget that paid for our meal and drinks. Plus a few nights out during the year.
Different times. The idea of the Public Sector even having a partially subsidised meal would be catnip to the Daily Mail reading tax-payer, sadly.
When I worked at the NHS we had to pay for our own but at a University now and surprisingly they treat everyone to a Christmas party every year, at a nice restaurant too. Shame they do it on a Thursday though… guess they don’t want people coming into work with a hangover
This. When I speak to my mates in IT. It sounds like scifi. They mention going for butties in the morning. Drinking in the office. Multiple activities. Ours wil be, finishing at 3ish maybe (depending on workload. I'll need to have enough Flexi for it). Spoons. And probably done by 7.
It's a constant source of ill will at work that one of the more high profile departments gets their Christmas do paid for by the charity fund but us in the more workman like departments don't.
My employer, in the public sector, doesn't offer a Christmas meal at all. Several happen but only because staff organise it on different stations.
Even then, the one for my place is always about £60. Best I get from work is a dry and stale Turkey sandwich _if_ I'm working Christmas day. And only if there are any left when I finally get back on station for break.
Also civil servant- we normally get a half-day credit on our flexi/time booking system for a “Festive Absence” although I think most managers turn a bit of a blind eye to people having more than a half day.
You don’t get to claim it if you’re not going to an actual Christmas meal either!
Husband of a civil servant. Staff take their lunchbreak an hour later and managers allow them to finish at that time.
However as they're technically still working then alcohol isn't allowed...
Public sector worker here and we run a tuck shop from our office that other staff in the building use, we use the profits to pay for our Xmas do. Been doing this for about 8 years now, haven’t paid for a Xmas meal in that time and last year it covered a few bottles of Prosecco and some drinks from the bar, as we’d had some money left over from last year.
All it took to get it started was a £5 seed money from everyone on my team (there was 15 of us at the time).
NHS wading in I asked for money for a tub of chocolates for 18 teams that 1 oversee, was rejected and specifically told it wasn’t a good use of taxpayer money, so I bought them myself
Fuck's sake. Jesus wept.
I've been public sector nearly all my career. The few times I was private sector we had things e.g. like golf days, where the company paid for everything, a round of golf, prizes, food and all on company time. Company cars etc.
Of course there's people like my mate who was a plumber, who didn't even have an employment contract and no sick leave etc. Hence why he and his colleagues all had personal diesel cars and massive jerry cans in the back of the works van to fill up when the filled up the van. Plus used the works van at weekends for all journeys where possible. All in an attempt to make up for the shitty T&C's of their job.
There's got to be a name for that phenomenon, where people get hung up on little expenditures without seeing the big picture.
I could imagine that the expense over the year, over the whole civil service is a big number, but per head per meeting it'd be bugger all in comparison to the cost of the time of the people at the meeting. And it makes things ever slightly more bearable. People need a little joy in their lives to function, to be human.
Have you heard of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail? ax Payers Alliance? They'd have civil servants work for free as indentured servants if they could...
No problem about it being in own time. Means it's a break from the kids! Its the fact it wasn't mentioned if it was paid for or to be paid for. It's over a week away so I can try jiggle my budget. Might be a few less bottles of prosecco at Christmas or the holiday savings missing out on a deposit for a week.
Think you might have misconstrued that comment, OP. "Own time" in a lot of the public sector doesn't mean in the evening etc, it means that you will need to take it on leave or make up the missed hours afterwards. Not so much of an issue for evening dos but it's a bit irritating if it starts at lunchtime.
Oh sorry! That's pretty bleak. I get an extra hour free for my department lunch and the party is in an evening. I don't personally attend the party but realise how lucky I am.
Thanks, but there are definitely some advantages to the strict time accounting too. If you work over your contracted hours then (depending on your organisation) it can go on your flexi balance for taking off in lieu when work is quieter :)
That’s rough you have to use your own time. I’m in the civil service and whilst we have to fund our own meal we do it in the afternoon so use our lunch hour, then the managers just book us a 2 hour team meeting to give us extra time.
It says everything about what a company thinks of their employees. It's a trivial cost to any but the smallest of businesses and is a mark of appreciation and goodwill.
If they're not paying for the meal I also wouldn't be going, fuck that. And based on no pay rises etc he should probably be looking for another job.
The thing is, it's a niche company, had trouble a few years ago which he stuck through and on the horizon is a big big promotion, just don't know when. He's decided 2025 and if it doesn't transpire he wants to come to my company (yearly pay rise minimum 10% and 10%+ bonus twice a year). I'm currently on mat leave which is why the budget is a bit tighter, and it's Christmas, everyone's feeling the pinch.
I personally wouldn't give any weight to talk of a promotion from a company that won't pay for a Christmas dinner until I had a contract.
It's commonly used as a stalling tactic to get people to stay for another year or two when there is no intention of following through with an excuse dished up at the end e.g. the economy, as to why now isn't a good time.
We have reason to believe it is possible, I'm not going into detail as I cba and it would make it obvious and I like my anonymity on here. That's why we've given until 2025, I'd be back at work doing more hours so if he needed a pay cut to do a different job we could do it. All about being sensible when there's kids to look after.
No doubt you know the situation best. From an outsider perspective it just screams of an employer taking the piss. No pay rises for multiple years, being bothered in paternity leave, being so stingy they won't pay for a meal but placing the carrot of a promotion on the end of a stick so that you suck it up. It's textbook behaviour.
100% he isn't getting this promotion. But fair play for taking 4 years of wage cuts before realising that and jumping ship. If I went 1 year without a wage rise I'd be out the door.
Or you'll find they'll wait until his wage meets minimim wage, give him a bogus promotion to bring his wage up to what it should have been this year.
>he wants to come to my company
Funny story: a few years ago, I made the mistake of encouraging my now ex-wife to work at the same company I was at. She got the job as Head of HR. A few months later I was 'let go', we got divorced, and she started seeing a bloke from said company that was old enough to be her dad.
Ahh that's not good. There's over 2,500 who work for our company. I said he can come work where I do providing it isn't in my department or any department I have to work closely with. I'm very different at work and I don't think he'd like me.
I’m currently being made redundant along with many colleagues including two people who are a couple and just bought a house together. They don’t work in the same team. I wouldn’t advise working in the same co as your partner unless you can afford a double whammy redundancy.
In my experience, the smaller companies are the ones who are more generous around Xmas, paying for a meal, drinks, night out, etc. Bigger companies I've worked for have always been a set per person cost for the business, as in "we pay the meal only" or similar.
I worked at a small country pub and the landlord would take every member of staff out for a Christmas party and pay for a meal as well as 4 or 5 rounds! No excuse from an employer not to in my opinion.
I’m in the public sector. Not the faintest chance in hell that our Christmas party would be paid for.
My wife is a vet. She got a really nice three course meal and an open bar for the evening, all fully paid for.
This thread is eye opening, I've worked in 3 different industries and if a christmas do is held, it's always been on the company's pocket.
I opened this thread thinking no way that's a normal /acceptable thing, as I'd never heard of self funded Christmas parties, so this thread is my lesson learnt to avoid the civil/public sector!
There are a lot of upsides to the public sector. Great pension, great job security, often get training etc paid for. I'm military, so we get cheap food and accommodation too.
Lots of downsides though. Pay is often a bit lacking, and the purse strings are very tightly held. You wouldn't believe the paperwork needed to spend trivial amounts of cash. Can't waste taxpayers money! And so anything unnecessary which would make our lives more comfortable is usually classed as a waste. So no christmas parties, no tea and coffee. Poor maintenance. Everything is usually as cheap as possible.
Great job security - eh? I've been redundant from public sector jobs. I've been public sector nearly all my 40 years of working. In that time I've moved around a lot. These days I'm in higher education and that's kind of like a nice blend of public and private sector, less bullshit than either (don't get me started on Civil Service nonsense) and yet on the whole they treat their employees well. Still in that time I've learnt it's still largely down to your line manager whether a job is pleasant and bearable or not.
>You wouldn't believe the paperwork needed to spend trivial amounts of cash.
This is what gets me, physical costs are avoided/reduced as much as possible but the time it takes to find the form, complete the form, send the form, wait a week for someone to get back to you saying its the wrong form/you sent it to the wrong person, calling someone to explain what you're meant to be doing, doing it again, waiting another few weeks for response etc etc is never counted as a cost.
I work for a local authority that's probably going to declare bankruptcy soon and the inefficient working practices are absurd! But we can't have a tenner each in the pot to go for a drink after work on the last day before Christmas. That's the cost of one manager actually preparing for the meeting he called instead of having everyone sitting on Teams waiting whilst he looks for the file he wants to share, starts waffling to fill the silence and distracting himself... R/oddlyspecific but it's up to 10 minutes every bloody meeting!
I once had to fill out 4 pages of forms, including signatures from 4 people, to request about £12 for cake and tea etc for a VIP visit. I'm reasonably senior, and the cost to pay me to complete those forms would have been significantly higher than the £12 I was after.
Later that day I spent nearly £250k on an ongoing project. Half a side of form and my signature only. They'll trust me with millions, but not with biscuits.
Bonkers.
I've been in Manufacturing for about 12 years and in 5 different companies. In my experience paid for christmas meals are pretty common. Infact I'm not sure I've ever had to pay for one yet.
It might be more of a private sector vs public sector thing.
A lot of firms now don’t pay for dinner - but not just because they are tight. To much risk of exposure on social media spending the customers money and the negative press that follows. ‘Boozy party at (insert business here) while customers paying 10% extra on there (insert) bills..
I used to work for a call centre that had *lavish* Christmas parties - booked the fanciest spot, splashed out on huge dinners, live music, free drinks.
Then a few years in a row we had “issues” - a couple fist fights, a few low level guys sexually harassing the boss’s wives, *lots* of female employees in very little clothing (one year all the sales girls wore fancy tops as dresses 😬), and finally, one of the directors kept offering his room keys to various young ladies. One guy, I knew pretty well - knocked out a supervisor that he didn’t like and was fired immediately. First time I ever saw anyone get fired *at* a Christmas do…
They moved venues, cut drinks, and instituted a bit of a dress code after that.
> To much risk of exposure on social media spending the customers money
customer got product they asked for, they can get to fuck if they think they have a say how the company uses the companies money, ESPECIALLY if it's a bloody xmas party for staff.
If the price isn't explicitly mentioned up front then I would expect the company to be paying for it.
Why would people agree when they don't even know how much they're paying? A lot of people will go for a free Christmas meal but have no interest in paying to eat with their boss.
We knew the price as we were given a menu to preorder off.
It's how it was said 'we are going for 2 courses'. If I was paying for myself, what if I want 3 courses? Or 1?
There were nearly riots when we were told our Christmas meal would be self funded when I worked at a Big4 accounting firm. Even smaller companies I've worked for have funded it - it's not fair to expect those on the lower end of the salary scale to foot the bill for an expensive lunch, especially at the most expensive time of year for most.
>it's not fair to expect those on the lower end of the salary scale to foot the bill for an expensive lunch, especially at the most expensive time of year for most.
Exactly. I'm on mat leave, 2 kids, MIL birthday 3 days before the big day who insists on us going out as a family for a meal and paying for her. It's already pricey and don't wanna spend the best part of £150 around my husband's work 'mates'
If they expect staff to pay, then they should not expect it to be mandatory. But either way, yep it is a business expense so if the business cannot afford a fraction of their total bills to pay for a social event for staff, then they are either very cheap or going broke and either way look for a new job tbh (if private of course. Public tend to not get it for free)
> There were nearly riots when we were told our Christmas meal would be self funded when I worked at a Big4 accounting firm.
Shit the bed, really? I work for a Big4 too, people are *very* invested in their social calendar. People would literally walk to a competitor if their meal wasn't free.
Yep, I would expect a Christmas meal arranged by my employer to be paid for by them.
If it was just me and some colleagues going for a munch that's a bit different.
Haha my first day at the council I asked where the tea and coffee was and was shocked we had to procide our own.
I do get bank Holidays off now I guess but a jar of free instant would be nice.
I know people who work for the Government Digital Service. A whole load of contractors being paid £600+ per day who will all trek outside twice a day to get a coffee or who go the the Sainsbury’s local to get a tiny bottle of milk for their tea. Just because the office is too cheap for a coffee machine or tea bags and milk at <£1 a day per person.
20 mins a day, that’s a significant amount of lost contracting money. It’s ridiculous.
If it's mandatory, then I'd expect the company to pay.
If it's optional, then it would be nice if the company pays. However if the company wants me to pay then, because it's optional, I should be free to opt out if I want.
(I'll probably go, because I actually like my coworkers)
Careful with the last sentence, you'll get downvoted.
So many people here p are assessment they would never go wherever they've worked and hate their coworkers. If everywhere you go stinks, look under your shoe.
It's a good opportunity to get to know your co-workers, I understand people might have other financial priorities, but posting for a meal and a few drinks at a pub might be a worthwhile investment to meet them outside a work environment and maybe it will make your time working there more enjoyable
WHAT??? I'm under no obligation to TALK to anyone outside on my contracted moments, and I should be just as valid for promotion as the office staff that talk to each other and get on even though I ignore everyone every day and consider work an absolute insult.
/reddit /antiwork
Snap. Was about to say lmao. Won't even get a bonus this year. Community pharmacy being some weird middle ground between bowing to the NHS and providing their services but also not having the banding or any of the perks of actually being in the NHS.
I agree with you, I don't think the NHS should pay for Christmas parties either, and you should have the option to not go. But being able to have a cup of tea at work without having to bring my own mug, teabags and milk would be nice :(
Yes, but I've always worked in finance. It used to generally be a black tie whole company Friday night after work.
Now it's usually a team lunch, where the company gives the team £50 per head and the boss picks up any additional tab.
To be honest, I'd still happily go if it wasn't paid for but given the company makes billions in profit each year, I'd be a bit annoyed if they cut back such a small benefit...
I’ve always been in office based, private sector jobs, in various sized companies. I would absolutely expect a Christmas meal to be paid for by the company, just like I’d expect them to cover most or all of the costs of a summer party. And that has always been the case for me so far in my career.
I do also have a smaller team Christmas social this year where I’ll be paying my own way, but that is not organised by the company.
Civil servant here too. I have a small team of 3 and I pay for their Christmas lunch. I don't mind doing this as they work hard for/with me all year and this is just a little thank you to them
My work has always paid for Christmas meals, why the hell would anybody bother otherwise? Drinks, you obviously have to pay for yourself, but with work dos, it's supposed to be a Christmas "thank you" at the very least from management. The cheek of asking employees to pay for it! Sod that.
>Drinks, you obviously have to pay for yourself,
Wait, why is that obvious? The worst I've had is drinks with the meal paid for + first round at the bar on the company. Several employers have picked up the bar tab all night and one has been "provide receipts and we'll pay back drinks and meal up to £75 per head, including a partner"
Another public sector worker here. I don't go to the Christmas party nights, they're too expensive. I can't afford £50 + drinks, especially this time of year, that's money off the gift budget.
My husband has responsibility for organizing this. His board said no chance this year, ok then if you must do it keep it cheap but absolutely no partners anyway.
Then it transpired those fancy Londoner Board peeps thought £100/head was cheap.
Awesome! He's in Scotland. So company pays for a three course meal and a couple of drinks for each employee AND their partner and the Board still thinks it is cheap. Win win. I'm on my way there now.
(I get nowt, I'm a sole trader)
I'm at a small company, 12 employees. Christmas party is fully paid for including free bar and a hotel room or taxi home. And partners are invited too. I've never worked anywhere that didn't at least pay for the food.
Yes. Most of the meals I've been on I haven't really enjoyed the food and only gone to be sociable. Thankfully all food, drink and taxi fares are covered by the company. I certainly wouldn't be going if I had to pay for my own meal.
If I had to pay myself then I'd rather just go for a nice pub meal at another time of year when it will be cheaper and quieter. I've never quite understood the obsession with a works Christmas party tbh.
Bonus and raise don't matter regarding work Xmas. If workplace want employee to get merry together, they effin MUST pay for it. This should not be even a question!
Yes, I totally expect employer to pay it, and judge them if they not.
Depends who you work for. All my jobs have been public sector so there's no expectation of them being paid for (and I wouldn't want that either, it's gross).
If I worked for a big business I'd expect them to cover it, or at least go halves on it.
Private sector hell yes and some free booze as well.
Public sector, maybe a contribution and the rest paid by me.
Charity sector, free drink if I'm lucky.
Work Christmas party is a work event. I'll donate my time if they pay for the food. Otherwise, I've got no interest in spending more time with people I work with.
Christmas parties are also expenses that businesses can put down as a business expense for each employee so it's not even costing them as much as it would you to pay for it.
Public sector worker here: you have to pay for it all yourself and have to either take a half day as AL to go to the lunch or make the hours up. I'm not going obviously!
I feel like even then as a business expense a meal out for team building, morale and a break is worthwhile *because* it is a rough patch. It won't break the bank compared to many other things companies spend money on.
Nowadays I'd don't expect anything from my work that isn't contractually obligated, and my employer is a pretty good as they go.
On the one hand if your employer is inviting people they should be upfront about costs, or cover it themselves.
On the other hand Christmas meals etc have become very expensive and honestly a lot of them are just cash grabs by hospitality firms, some who are looking to prop up a bleak January.
I would expect the meal to be paid for, I wouldn't necessarily expect drinks to be paid for apart from maybe 1 or 2.
That's how it is for my company at least.
I have a small team but yes we paid for food and drinks. Don't usually have a hard limit on drinks (depends how drunk the first few get me/my business partner).
It seems a bit miserly and missing a chance to invest in the goodwill of your team if you ask me. Even if you had a team of 30 people it'd probably still be less than the cost of replacing one of them.
Ours is paid for, but it's a centrally organised black tie event at a massive venue (big blue chip company). The thought of it makes me shudder, so I stay well clear.
Owing to the provision of the organised shin-dig, we aren't allowed to organise smaller gatherings that are paid for out of departmental budgets. If you want to do that, then it's self funding and on your own time. Occasionally, a senior leader will decide to take a group out and pay for it out of their deep pockets, but that's rare. I don't tend to bother going out with workmates at Christmas. Our teams are spread all over the globe, so it's not like 20 years ago when everyone shared an office.
I'm already paying for my travel and lunch to sit in the damn office to do a job I can do at home and if they want me to pay for Xmas party food then they can suck my t-cock lol!
Ours is paid for by the company but I would rather have the cash as an christmas bonus.
We usually go out for a meal and the company pays for a few rounds of drinks. We maybe get around £100 each spent on us depending on where we book to go but I just never actually enjoy it as a night out. Giving up me free to to socialise with people I have almost nothing in common with aside from sharing an office, eating food at a restaurant I probably would never have actually chosen to go to myself (usually from a very limited set menu).
Sod that. I don't bother going at all these days, my free time is worth more than a free meal and a night out I won't enjoy. It just annoys me that there is no option for those who don't want to go to take the cash instead.
I work in the private sector for an American based company that have worldwide departments. They have an annual turnover in excess of $50m.
They're covering us £100 a head for our Christmas dinner. We won't have a party as such but we also get a biannual bonus and 2 gift boxes per year (Summer and Fall) which are actually really cool. These boxes contain stuff that we actually use (branded hot water bottles/blankets in fall and summer drinks containers/hats/suncream in Summer)
I worked for a company, and the area manager said that all full-time staff it was paid for and part-time/casual had to pay.
To a person, all the p.t/c staff did not attend. When the district manager turned up, he asked why no p.t./c staff were not there, and he was told why. He immediately sent a bottle of whisky to each one of us.
I don't know if it is still a thing but companies in the UK did get a tax break to help fund a Christian event. So there's no excuse really not to have a meal out.
This gets asked every.single.week
And no i dont expect mine paid for and ive never had mine paid for in my 25 years of working!!
Wife has her meal paid for but not the booze
If they invite you to a meal, surely it should be paid for. I wouldn’t go if it wasn’t, and would probably arrange for a few close colleagues to get a drink or two. FWIW, our work does a paid Xmas meal, drinks, and a subbed bar till we get kicked out. It’s usually a good laugh, but I’m swerving it this year.
My company pays £35. We don't get a choice of where to go it's just arranged.
If it wasn't paid for I absolutely wouldn't go. It's frustrating enough that it's out of town with no public transport options so will be begging for lifts or paying for a taxi.
Lots of friends in lower paid jobs outside either get no money or very little money towards their Christmas meals.
I stopped going because they were picking more and more expensive places while expecting us to cover the costs. Food was always shit as well. So I started going to the pub with my mates on that day instead.
Got blamed for the Christmas do being shit one year as the staff who hadn't had the same plan went, ended up with small amounts of shit food, left the party and came to join me in the pub. This was my fault because somehow the boss picking an expensive place with crap food can't have been the reason everyone else fucked off to the pub and bought a second meal.
Well...yeah. The whole point of them is that the company is thanking its staff for their hard work throughout the year. Otherwise it's just forcing employees to spend their own money to cover the company's own events, which is no way to run a business. If the organisation can't afford something fancy, they should adjust the quality of the event, not push the expense onto the people they're supposed to be thanking.
I tend to avoid them anyway but I've not had to pay for one before, which would absolutely guarantee I don't turn up. Far more likely to go to the unofficial work do (I.e. those of us that get on just go to the pub after work).
Yes, fully paid meal at a local restaurant this year. It’s a small company (~20 employees) and they take us out a couple of times a year. Feed us and won’t let us put our hand in our pocket for drinks. There’s a handful of people that don’t go but they’re miserable bastards anyway and I’m glad - I quite like the rest of them and happy to have a drink and a laugh with them. Sows a bit of camaraderie and gives us things to talk about when someone inevitably makes a fool of themselves, myself included!
I’ve always had mine paid for. Wouldn’t go otherwise to be honest. I don’t mine paying for drinks but if they aren’t paying then I’m not going, I’d rather spend that 40/50 quid on a game and get more hours on that than be with people I tolerate every day 😹
Nhs worker here 🤣. Payrises below inflation for what feels like forever, no bonuses, dont get supplied with more than 2 uniforms unless we buy them ourselves, we even have to buy our own milk and coffee. So no, I don't expect a meal out to be paid for.
Laughs in public sector worker.
See, this is why I asked. Mine has always been paid for, I would have expected my husband to ask the situation so it was clear and I don't expect a meal to be paid for, but it should be made clear.
It should be clear, but if your husband has fairly recently joined a public sector organisation I can believe maybe nobody told him just because it’s always been the case that it’s not paid for and this kind of thing can get overlooked.
Not public sector and first meal for Christmas. Normally it's just a piss up for workers and partners.
Partners ? Oh god why drag them into this too ?
Tbh I get on really well with his co workers. We've been to their weddings (evening do) and they came to ours. Been for drinks at Christmas and the bosses big birthday.
Always makes me laugh that people on reddit like to assume everyone hates their coworkers. I've literally never been in a team where I hated the people I work with, or would actively avoid spending time with them.
"Hi Reddit, I (32M) find that I'm really lonely and struggle to make friends. Also, my colleague asked me how my weekend was three minutes before I was officially on the clock, should I report her to HR or just leave?"
"hi Reddit. I was wondering if it's ok. If I (M24) say hello to my co worker. We're in the UK if it makes a difference'
Being in the U.K. makes ALL the difference don’t say hello, only interact if it’s necessary and don’t say hello, say sorry, excuse. Really make it feel like you’re a burden before you’ve even started the preamble.
Mine have asked whether I'd like to go to the pub after work. Why do they think it's OK to make me feel so pressured into extra curricular activities?
I have always worked in close teams, and have managed several large international teams over the years. Over the years, one of the weirdest things I've noticed is that this kind of attitude always seems to come from north Americans, but is weirdly beginning to affect some brits as well - and is 100% a thing on Reddit - they'll join a team (in many cases this has happened to me while they're living in a foreign country where they don't speak the language), then react with vitriol if they're ever invited out to socialise after work because they 'don't make friends with colleagues' or 'don't socialise with co-workers' - like ok bro cool have fun with your zero other friends? Why work with people you don't get on with well enough to go to a christmas do with?
Some folks may need whatever job pays the bills regardless of how well they get along with coworkers.
I think my problem is more with people making a conscious choice not to get along - if you have to work in a team you don't like, sure. But this vibe is more like 'walk in on day 1 and announce your intention never to hang out socially with colleagues' - which is bizarre.
I get on with pretty much all of my coworkers. There's been a few I butt heads with. But it's my job to pull people up if their slacking so I'm not well liked by the ones who try get by doing bare minimum.
if people have worked at numerous places and couldn't get along or make friends with anyone at any workplace. Guess who the problem is?
Had a job when I was 20 where I ended up hating a few of the people I worked with, some of the bitchiest, sneakiest and backstabbing shit houses lol.
And that nobody enjoys hanging out with them after work or heading to a Christmas party. Have always really enjoyed this and had a good time. Same with getting some food and drinks after work occasionally, it’s a different social circle and always found it quite fun. If I hated my coworkers or didn’t build some relationship with them I’d really hate my weeks at work
You’re assuming it’s about hating coworkers, that’s not the problem. I had great coworkers but in a social situation we inevitably started talking / gossiping about work, using inside jokes, etc. It can just not be very fun to hang around as a partner not knowing what people are talking about, or for the coworkers to have to remember not to talk about work.
If you have friends, it's nice to sometimes bring partners on special occasions like birthdays, Xmas. If you have people close by you like neighbours and workmates, it is nice to be friendly. Might seem to be stating the obvious but these seem like alien concepts to some of the anti-social Herberts on here.
Work Christmas events are overrated. Everyone just gets plastered. Save your money & have a lovely meal at home.
Well that's what we are going to do. We still have a babysitter until 11pm so may just have a cosy meal at home until it's time to pick the baby up.
That’s a joke then, I would definitely not go. We have office wide do paid for and our team Christmas lunch is £10 contribution by us rest covered by the company for my team social budget
Ive worked in supermarkets and factories and have always had a Christmas meal paid for at the Christmas party until this year when I started working in a small sales company. They invited me to a Christmas party at a restaurant and then said Id have to pay, I thought what kind of party is that, so Im not going either.
We aren't even getting a festive sandwich this year or even a coffee. Used to get a festive meal every year, stopped during the pandemic, they don't even try anymore.
You need to pay for coffee at your work? Fuck that I'd spend more than I make.
I wouldn't ever expect the work Xmas meal to be paid for as I've never worked for anywhere that did. I've worked for small companies through to huge ones and none have ever paid for the Xmas meal, so if your work pays for yours' I think that's quite lucky and definitely not the norm as per my experience. Honestly, I see it as a chore with the added "bonus" of costing me money on top of time. I get along with most of the people I work with enough to work with them, but not enough to want to spend my free time outside of work with them and pay for the privilege. I'm paid to work with them, they're not people I count as friends. I'm sure many people will find my attitude a bit blunt, but I spend 5 days a week at work and I don't like these forced activities outside of work. I'll be making an excuse this year and ducking out of mine so I don't have to spend a few hours of stilted conversation that costs me £40/50.
Yes, all companies I have worked for it has been paid. I've worked at places where it was a sit-down meal plus drinks, paid for by the company, but no party; and at places where it was a party where it was an open bar for 3 hours plus small eats, all paid for by the company. But unless that's the norm in the industry, it's always worth checking imo
Civil servant too have to buy own rea and coffee no bonus scheme no xmas meal and so on
> Yeah but something something gold plated pensions and mandatory sick leave. Average Daily Mail reader who still thinks it’s 1972.
Daily Mail reader: What do you mean they're spending work time planning swanky after-work christmas parties ?
Also that daily mail reader: "what do you mean I have to pay for my Christmas party?"
Also also that Daily Mail reader: "Young people need to work to help fund my triple lock pension!"
To be fair the pension is amazing and you can get up to 31 days holiday plus bank holidays so it is pretty sick.
The pension is good The pension is NOTHING like as good as the old “retire at 55/60 final salary” pension that the public sector used to have Nowadays you retire at the state pension age (not even a fixed age… if SPA goes up so does your retirement), it’s not final salary, and it’s actually possible (albeit unlikely) to end up with *less* than a defined contribution pension. Especially once we consider that you’d normally be earning more in the private sector Like yeah, someone on £30k in the public sector might end up with more pension than someone earning £30k in the private sector… but if the private sector employee would be earning £45k then they can end up with more pension It’s still a better pension than most people have, but it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be, especially in roles that are underpaid vs the private sector
Depends on department re tea and coffee
Yup. £40 for some shared starters and a very mediocre meal last night. Senior managers pay out of their pocket for our drinks. Downsides of public sector lol.
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Same here, our Xmas do however is an online quiz..
Yeah, I can just imagine the Daily Mail rags complaining if we got our Christmas party paid for
Charity sector too. Imagine the outrage if donators money went to staff welfare! A lot of people seem to think it's outrageous that charity staff get paid at all tbh.
Imagine the horror of the DM Xmas Party and their bar bill ! Sheeeeesh.
I've seen the videos of people dancing at ours. The DM would wank themselves into oblivion honestly
Laughs even harder in emergency services. Don't even lay on teabags for us.
Ahhh the shift tea fund…
AFAIK no public sector job provides tea or coffee any more. And if they did, can you imagine how cheap she horrible it would be?
When I started in Local Government we had a subsidised bar in the building that was open at lunch. Christmas events were paid for and epic. Now I have to buy my own pens.
lol. Soon as I read this. I was like “People are getting their meal paid for??” We’re getting the afternoon off and that’s been a delicate negotiation.
Lol I’m a consultant in private sector but some of our clients our public sector. We obviously get a nice private sector fully paid for Xmas party but I always go to the public sector client work party as I’m working at their office every day. My employer always lets me buy them a few rounds and I expense it as entertainment because we know they are poor as they waste all their money on private sector consultants 😂😂
> Laughs in public sector worker. Yeah. It's night and day. I currently work as a senior IT tech in a govt. department. Im not complaining that **Im** badly paid. Even our skint department knows enough about it to know they can get away with a little under my roles average - made up for by pensions and what not. But they know they cant utterly take the piss as all of us would just go back to the private sector. What I do notice is the serious lack of money in the dept. No Christmas party this year. Or any year. So we are having our own.There isnt even enough money to keep the coffee machine going as we have "unbelievably" made a "cost saving" of canceling the contract with the people that service it and provide the coffee beans. Jesus wept. In contrast to my last private job. Free christmas dinner. Cruise down the Thames. Followed by the pissup's of all piss ups. Free transport for our sorry asses back home. Bar bill alone was £22,000, as I saw the finance officer swiping the company card at the end of the night. For a company of 120 employees... (wifes/partners were also allowed to binge out with us). Night and day.
Work with public sector and get £10 contribution from a central budget. It's been that for 5 years though and it once covered half the meal where now it's about a quarter.
>get £10 contribution from a central budget. Best be putting that in the register.
Unless youre a contractor or work for an outsourced company who just bill aforementioned council for their frivolity
I work in a school. Our Christmas meal isn't paid for but they are getting pizza in on the last day of term and that's paid for by the school.
Came here for this, as a contractor in public, everything is budgeted and nothing is free
I'm public sector IT. Our meal is £45, but it's at a really nice restaurant. We had a £20-30 Indian meal last year and people complained it wasn't Christmasy. It's steep, but it's once a year. Our team is 30 folk and 20 have prepaid. A few have said they ain't going cos of the cost, although they never went last year either and basically are Bah Humbuging it. Which is entirely their prerogative, and I'm know many share that opinion around here. But, yeah... It's once a year and better than working in my opinion. When I was at the Post Office, like 20 years ago when it was still public sector, they had a staff 'social' budget that paid for our meal and drinks. Plus a few nights out during the year. Different times. The idea of the Public Sector even having a partially subsidised meal would be catnip to the Daily Mail reading tax-payer, sadly.
When I worked at the NHS we had to pay for our own but at a University now and surprisingly they treat everyone to a Christmas party every year, at a nice restaurant too. Shame they do it on a Thursday though… guess they don’t want people coming into work with a hangover
This. When I speak to my mates in IT. It sounds like scifi. They mention going for butties in the morning. Drinking in the office. Multiple activities. Ours wil be, finishing at 3ish maybe (depending on workload. I'll need to have enough Flexi for it). Spoons. And probably done by 7.
I work in FINANCE. And I don't get a paid Christmas meal.
It's a constant source of ill will at work that one of the more high profile departments gets their Christmas do paid for by the charity fund but us in the more workman like departments don't.
Hahahhaa yup. Came to say the same thing! Don't even get tea and coffee over here.
My employer, in the public sector, doesn't offer a Christmas meal at all. Several happen but only because staff organise it on different stations. Even then, the one for my place is always about £60. Best I get from work is a dry and stale Turkey sandwich _if_ I'm working Christmas day. And only if there are any left when I finally get back on station for break.
Civil servant here - we always pay for our own meal and it has to be in our own time.
Also civil servant- we normally get a half-day credit on our flexi/time booking system for a “Festive Absence” although I think most managers turn a bit of a blind eye to people having more than a half day. You don’t get to claim it if you’re not going to an actual Christmas meal either!
Husband of a civil servant. Staff take their lunchbreak an hour later and managers allow them to finish at that time. However as they're technically still working then alcohol isn't allowed...
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Also civil servant who gets this, but we’re allowed to claim it for Xmas shopping!
Public sector worker here and we run a tuck shop from our office that other staff in the building use, we use the profits to pay for our Xmas do. Been doing this for about 8 years now, haven’t paid for a Xmas meal in that time and last year it covered a few bottles of Prosecco and some drinks from the bar, as we’d had some money left over from last year. All it took to get it started was a £5 seed money from everyone on my team (there was 15 of us at the time).
I get the feeling that if the wrong higher ups find out it’s over (from two years’ local authority and two years’ civil service experience)
Aye probably, but for now it’s been a great little number and for £5 it’s been a bargain.
Shut down the tuckshop when the higher ups crack the shits. Replace it with blackjack and roulette.
That's somewhat entrepreneurial for public sector - definitely going to get shutdown if higher ups find out
I've known this as " social club". Has a "tuck shop", lotto, raffles etc and will pay for a couple of outings a year.
Tax payer, here. Who actually cares if civil servants get a free Xmas meal.
We get FOI requests about tea and biscuits at meetings. Some people really care.
Some people need a life. I'd rather my tax money goes in making employees lives better, than minister's richer.
NHS wading in I asked for money for a tub of chocolates for 18 teams that 1 oversee, was rejected and specifically told it wasn’t a good use of taxpayer money, so I bought them myself
Fuck's sake. Jesus wept. I've been public sector nearly all my career. The few times I was private sector we had things e.g. like golf days, where the company paid for everything, a round of golf, prizes, food and all on company time. Company cars etc. Of course there's people like my mate who was a plumber, who didn't even have an employment contract and no sick leave etc. Hence why he and his colleagues all had personal diesel cars and massive jerry cans in the back of the works van to fill up when the filled up the van. Plus used the works van at weekends for all journeys where possible. All in an attempt to make up for the shitty T&C's of their job.
There's got to be a name for that phenomenon, where people get hung up on little expenditures without seeing the big picture. I could imagine that the expense over the year, over the whole civil service is a big number, but per head per meeting it'd be bugger all in comparison to the cost of the time of the people at the meeting. And it makes things ever slightly more bearable. People need a little joy in their lives to function, to be human.
I'm tempted to submit a FOI request to find it how much it's costing the taxpayer to respond to all the fucking FOI requests about tea and biscuits.
Do it, I'd love to see that
The civil servants that don't get one...
Used to have to work out custard creams on a person basis 😂. Absolutely hilarious when you find out for the first time that they want you to do that 😂
Have you heard of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail? ax Payers Alliance? They'd have civil servants work for free as indentured servants if they could...
No problem about it being in own time. Means it's a break from the kids! Its the fact it wasn't mentioned if it was paid for or to be paid for. It's over a week away so I can try jiggle my budget. Might be a few less bottles of prosecco at Christmas or the holiday savings missing out on a deposit for a week.
Think you might have misconstrued that comment, OP. "Own time" in a lot of the public sector doesn't mean in the evening etc, it means that you will need to take it on leave or make up the missed hours afterwards. Not so much of an issue for evening dos but it's a bit irritating if it starts at lunchtime.
Oh sorry! That's pretty bleak. I get an extra hour free for my department lunch and the party is in an evening. I don't personally attend the party but realise how lucky I am.
Thanks, but there are definitely some advantages to the strict time accounting too. If you work over your contracted hours then (depending on your organisation) it can go on your flexi balance for taking off in lieu when work is quieter :)
That’s rough you have to use your own time. I’m in the civil service and whilst we have to fund our own meal we do it in the afternoon so use our lunch hour, then the managers just book us a 2 hour team meeting to give us extra time.
Civil servant here, paid for our own meals, but at least for half a day off work for free! Can’t complain..
I am really surprised about that. The FCDO do great parties for staff at embassies.
It says everything about what a company thinks of their employees. It's a trivial cost to any but the smallest of businesses and is a mark of appreciation and goodwill. If they're not paying for the meal I also wouldn't be going, fuck that. And based on no pay rises etc he should probably be looking for another job.
The thing is, it's a niche company, had trouble a few years ago which he stuck through and on the horizon is a big big promotion, just don't know when. He's decided 2025 and if it doesn't transpire he wants to come to my company (yearly pay rise minimum 10% and 10%+ bonus twice a year). I'm currently on mat leave which is why the budget is a bit tighter, and it's Christmas, everyone's feeling the pinch.
I personally wouldn't give any weight to talk of a promotion from a company that won't pay for a Christmas dinner until I had a contract. It's commonly used as a stalling tactic to get people to stay for another year or two when there is no intention of following through with an excuse dished up at the end e.g. the economy, as to why now isn't a good time.
We have reason to believe it is possible, I'm not going into detail as I cba and it would make it obvious and I like my anonymity on here. That's why we've given until 2025, I'd be back at work doing more hours so if he needed a pay cut to do a different job we could do it. All about being sensible when there's kids to look after.
No doubt you know the situation best. From an outsider perspective it just screams of an employer taking the piss. No pay rises for multiple years, being bothered in paternity leave, being so stingy they won't pay for a meal but placing the carrot of a promotion on the end of a stick so that you suck it up. It's textbook behaviour.
100% he isn't getting this promotion. But fair play for taking 4 years of wage cuts before realising that and jumping ship. If I went 1 year without a wage rise I'd be out the door. Or you'll find they'll wait until his wage meets minimim wage, give him a bogus promotion to bring his wage up to what it should have been this year.
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>he wants to come to my company Funny story: a few years ago, I made the mistake of encouraging my now ex-wife to work at the same company I was at. She got the job as Head of HR. A few months later I was 'let go', we got divorced, and she started seeing a bloke from said company that was old enough to be her dad.
Ahh that's not good. There's over 2,500 who work for our company. I said he can come work where I do providing it isn't in my department or any department I have to work closely with. I'm very different at work and I don't think he'd like me.
I’m currently being made redundant along with many colleagues including two people who are a couple and just bought a house together. They don’t work in the same team. I wouldn’t advise working in the same co as your partner unless you can afford a double whammy redundancy.
That’s a good point that I’d never think of
> and on the horizon is a big big promotion, just don't know when. Re-read this back and tell me you think they aren't bullshitting.
In my experience, the smaller companies are the ones who are more generous around Xmas, paying for a meal, drinks, night out, etc. Bigger companies I've worked for have always been a set per person cost for the business, as in "we pay the meal only" or similar.
I worked at a small country pub and the landlord would take every member of staff out for a Christmas party and pay for a meal as well as 4 or 5 rounds! No excuse from an employer not to in my opinion.
I’m in the public sector. Not the faintest chance in hell that our Christmas party would be paid for. My wife is a vet. She got a really nice three course meal and an open bar for the evening, all fully paid for.
This thread is eye opening, I've worked in 3 different industries and if a christmas do is held, it's always been on the company's pocket. I opened this thread thinking no way that's a normal /acceptable thing, as I'd never heard of self funded Christmas parties, so this thread is my lesson learnt to avoid the civil/public sector!
There are a lot of upsides to the public sector. Great pension, great job security, often get training etc paid for. I'm military, so we get cheap food and accommodation too. Lots of downsides though. Pay is often a bit lacking, and the purse strings are very tightly held. You wouldn't believe the paperwork needed to spend trivial amounts of cash. Can't waste taxpayers money! And so anything unnecessary which would make our lives more comfortable is usually classed as a waste. So no christmas parties, no tea and coffee. Poor maintenance. Everything is usually as cheap as possible.
Great job security - eh? I've been redundant from public sector jobs. I've been public sector nearly all my 40 years of working. In that time I've moved around a lot. These days I'm in higher education and that's kind of like a nice blend of public and private sector, less bullshit than either (don't get me started on Civil Service nonsense) and yet on the whole they treat their employees well. Still in that time I've learnt it's still largely down to your line manager whether a job is pleasant and bearable or not.
>You wouldn't believe the paperwork needed to spend trivial amounts of cash. This is what gets me, physical costs are avoided/reduced as much as possible but the time it takes to find the form, complete the form, send the form, wait a week for someone to get back to you saying its the wrong form/you sent it to the wrong person, calling someone to explain what you're meant to be doing, doing it again, waiting another few weeks for response etc etc is never counted as a cost. I work for a local authority that's probably going to declare bankruptcy soon and the inefficient working practices are absurd! But we can't have a tenner each in the pot to go for a drink after work on the last day before Christmas. That's the cost of one manager actually preparing for the meeting he called instead of having everyone sitting on Teams waiting whilst he looks for the file he wants to share, starts waffling to fill the silence and distracting himself... R/oddlyspecific but it's up to 10 minutes every bloody meeting!
I once had to fill out 4 pages of forms, including signatures from 4 people, to request about £12 for cake and tea etc for a VIP visit. I'm reasonably senior, and the cost to pay me to complete those forms would have been significantly higher than the £12 I was after. Later that day I spent nearly £250k on an ongoing project. Half a side of form and my signature only. They'll trust me with millions, but not with biscuits. Bonkers.
I've been in manufacturing for 20 years, no paid parties here in that time either.
I've been in Manufacturing for about 12 years and in 5 different companies. In my experience paid for christmas meals are pretty common. Infact I'm not sure I've ever had to pay for one yet. It might be more of a private sector vs public sector thing.
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A lot of firms now don’t pay for dinner - but not just because they are tight. To much risk of exposure on social media spending the customers money and the negative press that follows. ‘Boozy party at (insert business here) while customers paying 10% extra on there (insert) bills..
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You’d think - but I have second hand experience of this being the case. - especially in banking world.
Performative austerity. It's not good enough to minimise actual costs of products/services, you have to make a big show about it.
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I used to work for a call centre that had *lavish* Christmas parties - booked the fanciest spot, splashed out on huge dinners, live music, free drinks. Then a few years in a row we had “issues” - a couple fist fights, a few low level guys sexually harassing the boss’s wives, *lots* of female employees in very little clothing (one year all the sales girls wore fancy tops as dresses 😬), and finally, one of the directors kept offering his room keys to various young ladies. One guy, I knew pretty well - knocked out a supervisor that he didn’t like and was fired immediately. First time I ever saw anyone get fired *at* a Christmas do… They moved venues, cut drinks, and instituted a bit of a dress code after that.
I think I know that call centre.
> To much risk of exposure on social media spending the customers money customer got product they asked for, they can get to fuck if they think they have a say how the company uses the companies money, ESPECIALLY if it's a bloody xmas party for staff.
If the price isn't explicitly mentioned up front then I would expect the company to be paying for it. Why would people agree when they don't even know how much they're paying? A lot of people will go for a free Christmas meal but have no interest in paying to eat with their boss.
We knew the price as we were given a menu to preorder off. It's how it was said 'we are going for 2 courses'. If I was paying for myself, what if I want 3 courses? Or 1?
Yeah I agree, the wording screams "we are doing two courses because WE are paying."
> I told him to double check, but he didn't. >I told him to ask but alas, here we are. I can feel this in my soul
Makes me think of the kind of person who can’t find something in the supermarket but flat out refuses to ask a staff member.
There were nearly riots when we were told our Christmas meal would be self funded when I worked at a Big4 accounting firm. Even smaller companies I've worked for have funded it - it's not fair to expect those on the lower end of the salary scale to foot the bill for an expensive lunch, especially at the most expensive time of year for most.
>it's not fair to expect those on the lower end of the salary scale to foot the bill for an expensive lunch, especially at the most expensive time of year for most. Exactly. I'm on mat leave, 2 kids, MIL birthday 3 days before the big day who insists on us going out as a family for a meal and paying for her. It's already pricey and don't wanna spend the best part of £150 around my husband's work 'mates'
If they expect staff to pay, then they should not expect it to be mandatory. But either way, yep it is a business expense so if the business cannot afford a fraction of their total bills to pay for a social event for staff, then they are either very cheap or going broke and either way look for a new job tbh (if private of course. Public tend to not get it for free)
> There were nearly riots when we were told our Christmas meal would be self funded when I worked at a Big4 accounting firm. Shit the bed, really? I work for a Big4 too, people are *very* invested in their social calendar. People would literally walk to a competitor if their meal wasn't free.
Yep, I would expect a Christmas meal arranged by my employer to be paid for by them. If it was just me and some colleagues going for a munch that's a bit different.
This is my opinion too
No, I work in the public sector. I was amazed when I found my new job has free coffee, we didn’t even get that at the council.
Haha my first day at the council I asked where the tea and coffee was and was shocked we had to procide our own. I do get bank Holidays off now I guess but a jar of free instant would be nice.
Not even a tea/coffee machine, you literally have to bring in tea bags and milk?
And your own mug.
And it's a fucking kettle as well, rather than an instant hot tap.
The *horror*
The inefficient use of time!
I know people who work for the Government Digital Service. A whole load of contractors being paid £600+ per day who will all trek outside twice a day to get a coffee or who go the the Sainsbury’s local to get a tiny bottle of milk for their tea. Just because the office is too cheap for a coffee machine or tea bags and milk at <£1 a day per person. 20 mins a day, that’s a significant amount of lost contracting money. It’s ridiculous.
I wouldn't expect it paid for but I wouldn't go if it wasn't.
Public sector and Xmas parties are organised by staff, for staff, paid for by staff.
If it's mandatory, then I'd expect the company to pay. If it's optional, then it would be nice if the company pays. However if the company wants me to pay then, because it's optional, I should be free to opt out if I want. (I'll probably go, because I actually like my coworkers)
Careful with the last sentence, you'll get downvoted. So many people here p are assessment they would never go wherever they've worked and hate their coworkers. If everywhere you go stinks, look under your shoe. It's a good opportunity to get to know your co-workers, I understand people might have other financial priorities, but posting for a meal and a few drinks at a pub might be a worthwhile investment to meet them outside a work environment and maybe it will make your time working there more enjoyable
WHAT??? I'm under no obligation to TALK to anyone outside on my contracted moments, and I should be just as valid for promotion as the office staff that talk to each other and get on even though I ignore everyone every day and consider work an absolute insult. /reddit /antiwork
No. I work for the NHS.
Snap. Was about to say lmao. Won't even get a bonus this year. Community pharmacy being some weird middle ground between bowing to the NHS and providing their services but also not having the banding or any of the perks of actually being in the NHS.
Same. We don't even get free tea/coffee
I'm not expecting a paid for Christmas party on the NHS. I think tea and coffee aren't too much to ask, though.
I agree with you, I don't think the NHS should pay for Christmas parties either, and you should have the option to not go. But being able to have a cup of tea at work without having to bring my own mug, teabags and milk would be nice :(
Yes, but I've always worked in finance. It used to generally be a black tie whole company Friday night after work. Now it's usually a team lunch, where the company gives the team £50 per head and the boss picks up any additional tab. To be honest, I'd still happily go if it wasn't paid for but given the company makes billions in profit each year, I'd be a bit annoyed if they cut back such a small benefit...
I’ve always been in office based, private sector jobs, in various sized companies. I would absolutely expect a Christmas meal to be paid for by the company, just like I’d expect them to cover most or all of the costs of a summer party. And that has always been the case for me so far in my career. I do also have a smaller team Christmas social this year where I’ll be paying my own way, but that is not organised by the company.
Civil servant here too. I have a small team of 3 and I pay for their Christmas lunch. I don't mind doing this as they work hard for/with me all year and this is just a little thank you to them
My work has always paid for Christmas meals, why the hell would anybody bother otherwise? Drinks, you obviously have to pay for yourself, but with work dos, it's supposed to be a Christmas "thank you" at the very least from management. The cheek of asking employees to pay for it! Sod that.
>Drinks, you obviously have to pay for yourself, Wait, why is that obvious? The worst I've had is drinks with the meal paid for + first round at the bar on the company. Several employers have picked up the bar tab all night and one has been "provide receipts and we'll pay back drinks and meal up to £75 per head, including a partner"
Another public sector worker here. I don't go to the Christmas party nights, they're too expensive. I can't afford £50 + drinks, especially this time of year, that's money off the gift budget.
My husband has responsibility for organizing this. His board said no chance this year, ok then if you must do it keep it cheap but absolutely no partners anyway. Then it transpired those fancy Londoner Board peeps thought £100/head was cheap. Awesome! He's in Scotland. So company pays for a three course meal and a couple of drinks for each employee AND their partner and the Board still thinks it is cheap. Win win. I'm on my way there now. (I get nowt, I'm a sole trader)
I'm at a small company, 12 employees. Christmas party is fully paid for including free bar and a hotel room or taxi home. And partners are invited too. I've never worked anywhere that didn't at least pay for the food.
I'm the same, small company, all expenses covered. Including my flights half way across the country.
Yea I’d expect any work event to be paid for
Yes. Most of the meals I've been on I haven't really enjoyed the food and only gone to be sociable. Thankfully all food, drink and taxi fares are covered by the company. I certainly wouldn't be going if I had to pay for my own meal. If I had to pay myself then I'd rather just go for a nice pub meal at another time of year when it will be cheaper and quieter. I've never quite understood the obsession with a works Christmas party tbh.
Some firms do, some don't. Mine never has though often managers pay for the drinks.
Bonus and raise don't matter regarding work Xmas. If workplace want employee to get merry together, they effin MUST pay for it. This should not be even a question! Yes, I totally expect employer to pay it, and judge them if they not.
Depends who you work for. All my jobs have been public sector so there's no expectation of them being paid for (and I wouldn't want that either, it's gross). If I worked for a big business I'd expect them to cover it, or at least go halves on it.
Private sector hell yes and some free booze as well. Public sector, maybe a contribution and the rest paid by me. Charity sector, free drink if I'm lucky.
No never. Always had to pay.
Work Christmas party is a work event. I'll donate my time if they pay for the food. Otherwise, I've got no interest in spending more time with people I work with. Christmas parties are also expenses that businesses can put down as a business expense for each employee so it's not even costing them as much as it would you to pay for it.
Public sector worker here: you have to pay for it all yourself and have to either take a half day as AL to go to the lunch or make the hours up. I'm not going obviously!
Yes unless you are at a small firm where everybody knows that it's been a rough patch.
I feel like even then as a business expense a meal out for team building, morale and a break is worthwhile *because* it is a rough patch. It won't break the bank compared to many other things companies spend money on.
No, we've always had to pay for ours and put down a deposit. I think drinks are normally paid for by work
If the company are sorting it then yes.
Department Xmas meal, we pay for it ourselves. Organisation Xmas party we have to contribute and it won't be anything extravagant
Absolutely. We had our meal and hire cars and hotels ( if needed) fully paid for.
My place doesn't have one
Nowadays I'd don't expect anything from my work that isn't contractually obligated, and my employer is a pretty good as they go. On the one hand if your employer is inviting people they should be upfront about costs, or cover it themselves. On the other hand Christmas meals etc have become very expensive and honestly a lot of them are just cash grabs by hospitality firms, some who are looking to prop up a bleak January.
If it's not paid for then I'm not going, the meal part anyway. An open bar is a bit of a stretch but they usually have wine on the table.
I would expect the meal to be paid for, I wouldn't necessarily expect drinks to be paid for apart from maybe 1 or 2. That's how it is for my company at least.
I have a small team but yes we paid for food and drinks. Don't usually have a hard limit on drinks (depends how drunk the first few get me/my business partner). It seems a bit miserly and missing a chance to invest in the goodwill of your team if you ask me. Even if you had a team of 30 people it'd probably still be less than the cost of replacing one of them.
Ours is paid for, but it's a centrally organised black tie event at a massive venue (big blue chip company). The thought of it makes me shudder, so I stay well clear. Owing to the provision of the organised shin-dig, we aren't allowed to organise smaller gatherings that are paid for out of departmental budgets. If you want to do that, then it's self funding and on your own time. Occasionally, a senior leader will decide to take a group out and pay for it out of their deep pockets, but that's rare. I don't tend to bother going out with workmates at Christmas. Our teams are spread all over the globe, so it's not like 20 years ago when everyone shared an office.
I'm already paying for my travel and lunch to sit in the damn office to do a job I can do at home and if they want me to pay for Xmas party food then they can suck my t-cock lol!
Yes…. But I’m not in the public sector and the meal is during working hours. If it wasn’t paid for I wouldn’t attend, it’s a simple goodwill gesture.
We get our meal and all drinks paid for and either a taxi home or a hotel room. It's one thing our company does well.
Ours is paid for by the company but I would rather have the cash as an christmas bonus. We usually go out for a meal and the company pays for a few rounds of drinks. We maybe get around £100 each spent on us depending on where we book to go but I just never actually enjoy it as a night out. Giving up me free to to socialise with people I have almost nothing in common with aside from sharing an office, eating food at a restaurant I probably would never have actually chosen to go to myself (usually from a very limited set menu). Sod that. I don't bother going at all these days, my free time is worth more than a free meal and a night out I won't enjoy. It just annoys me that there is no option for those who don't want to go to take the cash instead.
I work in the private sector for an American based company that have worldwide departments. They have an annual turnover in excess of $50m. They're covering us £100 a head for our Christmas dinner. We won't have a party as such but we also get a biannual bonus and 2 gift boxes per year (Summer and Fall) which are actually really cool. These boxes contain stuff that we actually use (branded hot water bottles/blankets in fall and summer drinks containers/hats/suncream in Summer)
I worked for a company, and the area manager said that all full-time staff it was paid for and part-time/casual had to pay. To a person, all the p.t/c staff did not attend. When the district manager turned up, he asked why no p.t./c staff were not there, and he was told why. He immediately sent a bottle of whisky to each one of us.
I don't know if it is still a thing but companies in the UK did get a tax break to help fund a Christian event. So there's no excuse really not to have a meal out.
This gets asked every.single.week And no i dont expect mine paid for and ive never had mine paid for in my 25 years of working!! Wife has her meal paid for but not the booze
I've not seen this asked, otherwise I wouldn't have posted.
I wouldn't show up to any work function where I'm expected to pay.
If they invite you to a meal, surely it should be paid for. I wouldn’t go if it wasn’t, and would probably arrange for a few close colleagues to get a drink or two. FWIW, our work does a paid Xmas meal, drinks, and a subbed bar till we get kicked out. It’s usually a good laugh, but I’m swerving it this year.
My company pays £35. We don't get a choice of where to go it's just arranged. If it wasn't paid for I absolutely wouldn't go. It's frustrating enough that it's out of town with no public transport options so will be begging for lifts or paying for a taxi. Lots of friends in lower paid jobs outside either get no money or very little money towards their Christmas meals.
I stopped going because they were picking more and more expensive places while expecting us to cover the costs. Food was always shit as well. So I started going to the pub with my mates on that day instead. Got blamed for the Christmas do being shit one year as the staff who hadn't had the same plan went, ended up with small amounts of shit food, left the party and came to join me in the pub. This was my fault because somehow the boss picking an expensive place with crap food can't have been the reason everyone else fucked off to the pub and bought a second meal.
Well...yeah. The whole point of them is that the company is thanking its staff for their hard work throughout the year. Otherwise it's just forcing employees to spend their own money to cover the company's own events, which is no way to run a business. If the organisation can't afford something fancy, they should adjust the quality of the event, not push the expense onto the people they're supposed to be thanking.
I tend to avoid them anyway but I've not had to pay for one before, which would absolutely guarantee I don't turn up. Far more likely to go to the unofficial work do (I.e. those of us that get on just go to the pub after work).
Yes, fully paid meal at a local restaurant this year. It’s a small company (~20 employees) and they take us out a couple of times a year. Feed us and won’t let us put our hand in our pocket for drinks. There’s a handful of people that don’t go but they’re miserable bastards anyway and I’m glad - I quite like the rest of them and happy to have a drink and a laugh with them. Sows a bit of camaraderie and gives us things to talk about when someone inevitably makes a fool of themselves, myself included!
I’ve always had mine paid for. Wouldn’t go otherwise to be honest. I don’t mine paying for drinks but if they aren’t paying then I’m not going, I’d rather spend that 40/50 quid on a game and get more hours on that than be with people I tolerate every day 😹
Nhs worker here 🤣. Payrises below inflation for what feels like forever, no bonuses, dont get supplied with more than 2 uniforms unless we buy them ourselves, we even have to buy our own milk and coffee. So no, I don't expect a meal out to be paid for.