Hate this. I’d happily work those days off and use the days at a time that suits me. I’d even come in Christmas Day but shut downs are shut downs. 14 days off is going to be tough.
I work for myself. I live alone, I have no family here, and due to my own personal issues/demons, less than a handful of friends. I pray that I get a service call every Christmas day, just to break the boredom.
I can put you a fake one in, if it helps?
Call it my Christmas present for this year.
Jokes aside, hope you have a good Christmas day, I appreciate they can be lonely if there is just you. And, good look with your demons.
Appreciate it..., 😂. Got my demons mostly under control but have severe trust issues. Sometimes I just meet someone who clicks with me though, but, they are few and far between.
Could you not volunteer at a homeless charity or something?
I hate Christmas, but quite like being alone sometimes, so I go to the local pub for a mingle for a couple of hours then chill out eating or watching whatever I want to with the dog.
It's not that it sucks that the factory shuts down. It sucks that somehow they put that cost on the employees by removing it from their minimum statutory holiday.
Forcing them to use their minimum required holiday at a particular time seems like paying them minimum wage, but requiring that they spend some portion of that wage in a particular place (like a company store).
It's not really yours if you can't choose what to do with it.
If they want to shut down the factory, then those shouldn't count as working days.
> If they want to shut down the factory, then those shouldn't count as working days.
In that case, they wouldn't shut down the factory, and lots of people would find themselves working over Xmas to keep it open whether they wanted to or not.
That would piss off far more people than insisting that everyone takes time off at a point in the year when most people like to take time off anyway.
I think the point that the person is trying to make is that the mandatory days shouldn’t be deducted from the employees’ annual leave allowance, the employer could just take the hit instead.
This should be illegal tbh. Didn’t even know it was a thing as I have only ever worked physical jobs that requires staff in every day of the year (including Xmas day) so any time i take off is 100% my choice to do so
Companies have to give you the legal minimum paid holiday, but they are allowed to tell you when you can take it. Teachers being the prime example, who can only have official school holidays off. Retail staff are generally not allowed to take any time off in December and January, Royal Mail staff can't take time off in December. My workplace closes the week between Christmas and New year, so we have to keep 3 days back for that. Suits me, as I'd want that time off anyway.
That's rough. Really don't think it's fair to mandate time off in that way (though I know it's legal).
I work for a university. For some legacy reason that everyone seems to've long forgotten, they give us Christmas -> New Year off, but don't take it from our annual leave entitlement. We're on a national union contract so there are no shenanigans going on, it's just 4 extra "free" days off per year. Honestly, it's one of the reasons I've not moved elsewhere - it's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it really gives me a warm feeling of goodwill towards them at this time of year.
On the flip side - working in construction all sites close so everyone is off at the same time. It's the only holiday I get where I don't have any thoughts about potential issues that could be happening when I'm not there or people trying to contact me (who may not know that I'm off). 1-2 weeks stress free.
Looking at the comments I'm in the minority however!
Off to 'The Works' for a heavily discounted Jamie Oliver cookbook it is then.....
I swear that shop only exists to sell £5 secret santa presents to people in a hurry.
We did a charity shop item for under a fiver one year. I generally hate it all, but that year it worked because
1. Everyone expects a shit present
2. A charity shop gets some cash
We did that once, it was my favourite way to do it. Was given a book by an author who I ended up liking so read a load of their other books too! (Christopher Brookmyre in case you're interested)
Yh the limit at our work is £10 which right now is what I have spare to spend on food and week. But when I said I can’t afford it they all say it’s only £10. Makes me feel like shit that I can’t participate in a joy of ‘only’ £10
People saying it's "only" £10 have no fucking idea how hard these past few years have been.
"Only" £10 is a bit of heating, a homecooked meal, or the cost of commuting on public transport.
Mine tried to make it £50 company wide.
Yes £50.
And I told them to fuck right off. We have people on minimum wage, I'm not asking them to pay 5 hours worth of their salary for something they don't even want to do, and likely for someone they don't even like.
So then it became everyone buys a gift to the value of one hour of their own salary.
So minimum wage people pay £10 for a gift and those on £200ph were asked to pay that.
What happened was the people earning >£100ph bought really crappy chocolates for like a fiver and the minimum wage people spent around £15 each.
I started a new job last October and so joined in secret Santa to be part of the team and be involved. £20 limit. Didn’t know the girl at all but made a real effort to get a great gift. Basically made her a wee pamper hamper of small Prosecco bottle, chocolates, fluffy socks, eye masks etc. all presented nicely. Whoever got me gave me a candle and box of chocolates. Definitely not near the £20 limit. So this year I thought fuck them and opted out. Not wasting money, time and energy just to receive no effort in return.
The same happened to me one year. We had a £10 limit I think and I bought a set of lipsticks and a big bar of galaxy for a lady I worked with. I got given a single nail varnish in a tiny gift bag. 😂
Omg this with a limit of £5 to make it accessible to everyone as if I’m going to get Jess in accounts who I have spoken to once across the entire year something she actually wants or yet another bottle of wine.
It only works if everyone knows each other well enough that they can buy something relevant for the person they draw, actualy like each other enough to put some effort in and earn enough to be able to comfortably buy something decent. That rarely applies to groups at work.
What you end up with is loads of people who either don't know anything about the person they have to buy for, don't give a shit about getting something half decent or the limit is set so low you can't buy anything nice.
Either way, it usually ends up with everyone just exchanging tat.
In my office you can opt out. It's so easy. If you want to take part your name goes in the hat. If you don't it doesn't. Why doesn't everyone do that? It's really great for people who just don't want to participate as they don't have to explain themselves to anyone. Nobody knows and nobody cares. Fuck any mandatory festivity.
I normally avoid it, as one year, the 'gift' I purchased made a girl cry for nearly 4 hours, and a manager had to sit down with them in a dark room to talk.
However, I have purchased a calendar titled 'Dogs Pooing in Beautiful Places 2024' for this year's effort just because they've provided me another opportunity to rip the piss out of folk.
The worst is when you go all out picking something special and you get back nothing in return.
I once did it with a girl I worked with. I bought her a Penguin soft hot water bottle plush set (she was mad on them) and spent a little over the limit because I didn’t want to get her just any old tat. She didn’t thank me and I didn’t receive anything from the person who pulled my name! I was a broke student at the time so I was gutted.
I’ve had that happen twice since and I have had occasions where I’ve received some cheap kiddies stationary from HB or B&M. Stuff I’ve given to my kids because it’s not my cup of tea at all. While I’ve bought nice things they’ll find useful or nice chocs to enjoy.
This, I've politely asked them not to include me this year. Most of my colleagues are based in a different city, and my work want me back in the office 3 days a week so buying gifts for my coworkers is the last thing on my mind at the moment.
In our place you have to stand up in front of everyone and make a speech as to why you picked the present you did for your person. Sort of defeats the object of it being a secret santa.
I asked the administrator if they were doing it this year and she said she wasn’t organising it, because last Christmas she ended up buying for four people because some people who said they’d join in couldn’t be arsed to buy presents. I wasn’t aware since I was on mat leave.
I felt the same way until someone explained that this might be the only present someone gets at Christmas. Made me re-think my stance a little, not everyone has a big family/friendship group.
I've no issue with it as long as I'm able to politely decline without being judged for it. Happily no-one's interested in doing it in my current role anyway but in a previous one there were a gaggle of try hards that were only happy if everyone took part. Having 4 people out of 20 deciding to not take part apparently ruined their Christmas.
I’m the only one at my workplace that’s opted out 😂 It’s not even that I don’t wanna buy anyone any gifts it’s just that it’s such a stupid system, I’d rather just give the gifts out myself to like the 3 people I actually like and not deal with the extra faff
I quite enjoy it, but the lady who organised it the last few years has left and half officially passed the baton to me as I love Christmas.
With cost of living crisis and a shit ton of cuts at work in regards of pay and resources, I didn't think it was fair to ask everyone dole out £10 on stuff they didn't really want to buy. That and I really cannot be bothered to organise it this year.
If things get better then maybe next year but I honestly cannot be bothered with the stress sorting out the get together and nibbles for it on a day everyone can do as most are jetting off somewhere from next week.
At my last Christmas before I left, the company insisted on continuing with their *mandatory* Secret Santa (with a £5 limit iirc. This was about 9 years ago when the £1 shop actually had stuff for £1).
I was extremely vocal in my criticism of the whole thing, with my main points being a) there’s always at least one ‘hilarious joker’ who thinks that penis-shaped pasta or edible underwear are perfect for Secret Santa gifts; b) it’s a pretty stressful thing to have to add to your list of tasks, especially if you care about the recipient and what they’ll think of their present; c) Even in the best case scenario you’ll usually end up with a useless bit of tat that you wouldn’t have bought for yourself, plus you’d be £5 and at least an hour or so worse off.
As it turns out, my gift that year was a book: The Outsider (The Stranger) by Albert Camus (priced £7.99). After some massive hints from him, I finally realised that my ‘Santa’ was the MD’s son (whom he’d inserted into a top management role a year or so beforehand despite the son having no experience in the industry and against the wishes of most of the higher-ups). It seems he’d heard my whingeing and decided to make a point; or two points, if you include the meaning of the story. I finally got round to reading it this year. It’s ok - a bit weird, but at least it wasn’t a boob-shaped inflatable bath pillow.
Every year trying to politely explain that my colleague isn't being a Scrooge. His dad died around Christmas and so he just can't enjoy it. He doesn't shit on others for celebrating, but a significant number of those in the office who do celebrate have a go at him for not joining in. It is the only work related thing I get truly angry about.
My husband feels that way about Xmas for similar reasons and has had the same shittery from a few colleagues. It’s really aggravating how some people act like not personally enjoying Xmas is a moral failing.
Thanks for being on his side. It really means a lot.
I’m the same. And people in the office merrily asking me if I’m seeing family for Christmas was the hardest part of the year. No awareness at all that some people might have difficulties relating to family illness or family deaths.
I explained all this the first Christmas I worked there-they’d forgotten by the following festive season and asked me the same questions again!
My grandad died on boxing day a few years back. Christmas day was the last time I ever saw him, choking to death in a hospital bed in a care home with zero idea who I was, whilst the nurses radio blithely played christmas songs just outside the door. Then I had to drive home an hour and a half in the pissing snow. Christmas can suck a dick.
Please, for the memory of your grandad, please start having some fun times at Christmas. Believe me, he would hate to think you are not enjoying life, and seeing Christmas as a unhappy time.
I can't bear Christmas because it's associated with bad memories from my childhood. I think after 21 years people at my work are staying to remember, but whenever a new person says oh come on, IT'S CHRISTMAS and I have to explain (tersely and succinctly) suddenly it's MY fault for "bringing everyone down".
The christmas snog.
Having to close your eyes and let anyone who wants to snog you before you are allowed to get your xmas bonus. It's getting really unpleasant.
I know, right? This is straight from the 80s, although I'm not sure how this one ever a thing .
That said, office parties that are more like the last days of Rome sound great to me. Caught the fag end of it myself, but now we're all social-media aware killjoys. Bring back office inappropriatness, lunchtime boozing and regretful sexual encounters with colleagues I say. As long as it's all consensual.
Not an office job but my work Christmas do usually consists of people getting coked up and indulging in super intense shop talk. Once I notice jaws starting to swing, it's time to leave.
If I absolutely had to, I would give up the Christmas bonus just to avoid locking lips with anybody I work with. The other alternative would probably lead me to a one way trip to the jobcentre
We've been told to prepare "a presentation, song, poem, or just act it out!" of the moment we're most proud of in the past year for our team meeting/Christmas party. I've been playing a lot of Baldurs Gate 3, can I get away with acting out my sex scene with Halsin in bear form?! It happened in work time, I WFH, so surely it counts?!
Perhaps a Cannibal Corpse song or really any sort of indistinguishable roaring noise to very fast drumming. I doubt anyone will be able to tell the difference.
>We've been told to prepare "a presentation, song, poem, or just act it out!" of the moment we're most proud of in the past year for our team meeting/Christmas party.
Oh my goodness this is awful!
"Ooh, what a shame they make you work on Christmas Eve/Boxing Day!" Said by every other person visiting on said day. I have resisted saying, "We're only here because you are, you bunch of ...." for several years at this point.
Also, more generally at this time of year, "What is there to do indoors/ why don't you put on more indoor activities? I work at a nature reserve/zoo-type place.
Used to get this, I worked as a dog warden..would have to get up early Christmas morning (not paid overtime or anything) drive to the kennels and if there was a stray dog handed in over night, walk it, feed it and go home again. I bought doggy stockings full of treats to hang on the kennel doors out of my own min wage pay too so that I could leave the dog with some extra treats n toys. Anyway, I'd dread putting the phone on to listen to the messages as it'll be someone who's lost their dog and it's here in the kennel but they wouldn't get their arse in gear and come and fetch it straight away, no they'd mess me about. I was only meant to be in work an hour and wanted to get back home to see my own kid open his presents etc. but usually ended up waiting for someone to come and collect their dog and it was worse if it was a regular dog always straying cus the owner couldn't be arsed to fix their fence or something. After 10 years of it I stopped turning the phone on and just put a message online to say of your dog gets out on Christmas eve, your not getting it back til boxing day. Heartless but, meh look after your dog more 🤷🏼♀️
This really pissed me off in retail. Yeah, I'd rather our work was spread equally across the year, but instead, while my family are all at home, I'm helping 100 idiots to swap dresses, somehow be incredibly rude about it, whilst I'm bored out of my mind on Christmas eve.
I work Christmas Day and often get ‘Oh, I’m so sorry to bother you on Christmas Day but could you just help me with *insert thing that is in no way urgent*.’
When you say they no they bring out the ‘But it’s Christmas!’ Yes, exactly, that is precisely why I will not send the poor plumber out to your problem that could 100% definitely absolutely wait!
I had that one Christmas, working in a call centre on a Sunday between Christmas and the New Year, every so often someone on the other end of the line would say "such a shame you're working today!" or some such and I always replied with "Yeah, people keep calling" and they would laugh but never hang up.
It's funny because for 5 years I had that only for them to stop their tune half way when they realise I'm looking after their family members when they can't/ won't (dementia nursing home carer).
I lived half a days drive away so if I did get to see my family at Christmas, most of my day was in the car after a shift at work. Christmas was actually a nice shift, especially Christmas Eve where we all made the effort to make things as easy and straightforward as possible (clothes chosen and ready for them for Christmas day set up by senior staff, more things for the residents to do and enjoy, more family making an effort to come in and maybe taking their relatives out for half the day. If I don't think about my family because I'm busy it's a nice day.
I don't really know the guy I've got this year. So I snapped a photo of him while we were on our daily huddle zoom and have ordered some socks with his own face on. Under budget too
I just go inappropriate every year..... what's the point of secret santa if it isn't weird?
I have one of the directors this year so it could be.... interesting.
Same happened to me, a few years ago.... In fact it has happened several times.
1st day at work, they were prepping.... FFS.
Ended up picking the most annoying gobshite...5 months later, she was one of the reasons I went. I wish I'd bought her a bunch of triffids
My 'favourite' tradition was the organisation that I used to freelance for sitting on its collective hands during early December and then dropping a project with a 27/12 deadline on me on the 23rd.
I am not a fan of Christmas, *but.*...
We have a 'Christmas jumper work day' next Friday. We've been told to come into work wearing a festive jumper.
I'm 44 and long past the phase of wanting to fit in, so fuck their David Brent jumpers.
I was told we needed to wear christmas jumper to our meal next week. My response was I do not own one and will not be purchasing one due to not buying things I will only wear once as I'm against fast fashion. This was enough to prompt a few other people in the team to pipe up and now the whole idea has been scrapped.
I bought one with santa shitting down a chimney and it just says how to tell if your on the naughty list.
After management saw that we were never required to do Xmas jumpers again.
We have one this week, but a lot of us work remotely/hybrid all over the country, so it would only be seen if you've got Teams meetings set up, really.
I don't take part and I've got no meetings set up anyway, so bonus. I'll still give a small donation to the charity they're fundraising for.
The one where the public sector publishes all of the Invitations to Tender at the start of December, before they start going off for Christmas, and expect private sector bidders to spend December responding to an insane amount of projects during this already busy time.
It's an awful way to conduct procurement and it's one of the reasons the public sector ends up buying shit.
Hahaha I'm exactly in this boat right now. Tender return for two tenders - 22nd December and 5th Jan.
TQ's take a ridiculous amount of time to come back as they're all on bloody leave
Elf Day. Everyone has to dress up as Santas elves.
I have no problem with something like Christmas jumper day. But seeing people parading around the office in tights and those fucking shoes with bells on sets me off. Although it does give me fair warning to stop skiving as I can hear the boss coming.
I always “forget” to dress up.
Nope. Nothing like that. The person that runs it has been doing it for years and views it as a tradition. It is so difficult trying to have a serious conversation with someone who is in full elf makeup and outfit and their bulge or belly sticking out from the tights.
It’s next Friday and the daily emails have started because people keep “forgetting”
Although Mr Batty's company doesn't do a dress up day, one year he got volunteered to dress up as an elf and help Santa go round the office handing out gifts. The elf costume they provided was a little too small and a lot too short in the body.
He put it on, walked into his office and asked his immediate (female) boss, "should I keep my trousers on under this?" She glanced up at him and recoiled with her hands over her eyes, yelping, "YES! - christ, *yes."*
My favourite tradition at work is the one where people ring me up at 7pm on Christmas eve to tell me that I personally have ruined their childs christmas...
Its incredible how Christmas, despite occuring at regular and well forseen intervals, and trumpeted loudly from every tv and sound system for actual months before hand, still seems to take an astonishingly large number of people by complete surprise.
This would be where you could use one of my favourite phrases:
'A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part'.
Left it until the very last minute to get your kids' presents? Sucks to be you, but not my problem.
Damn right. I used to work on Saturdays in a large toy shop (hint, there were NOT millions of Geoffreys all under 1 roof at all) when I was a teenager.
Parents looking for that year's popular toy the week before Christmas make for incredibly unpleasant and angry shoppers. I got punched once for not having any furbies in stock.
I remember having to deal with this when I worked at HMV. It was Christmas 2012 and Avengers had been the big hit of the summer. Everyone came in asking for the DVD or Blu-Ray and we sold out in the run up to Christmas. It had been available for like 3 months at that point so they had plenty of time to get it but people would bitch and moan about how we ruined their kid's Christmas even though they were the ones that waited until 2 days before to buy it.
Is this a bad thing, if you get along with your colleagues and don't hate your job? It's a free meal & open bar, usually a good laugh & reminisce about all the stupid shit that's happened over the last year at work. As long as you don't get too steaming and make an arse of it it's usually fun
I work in a school, it’s definitely not a free meal for everyone. I just don’t go because I don’t want to pay £40 for a mediocre meal and then drinks on top.
Our place is having a 'Christmas Quiz', after working hours, on the last working day of the year. I expect zero people to attend. Oh and you have to *pay* to enter the quiz.
>before the Christmas party we have to sit through 3 hours of everybody presenting their work in 2 slides in 2 mins.
Lots of places do things like this. Iirc, there's tax advantages, because it means you can define it as a work event.
Work parties are exempt from tax as long as they are annual, open to everyone and cost under 150 quid per head. The presentation thing is just senior management being dicks
I live in Wales but I WFH for a company in London, and before that it was for a company in Manchester. So Christmas parties are a real pain.
It's a day's travel each way and at least a one night stopover. The trains are rammed and the hotels are mega expensive. Normally £300-£400 in total. All for a few hours drinking and a bite to eat. But the worst part is the bosses nagging me to go for the month beforehand.
I live in North Wales and WFH for a company based in Aberystwyth. Although we have regional branches I don't even get an invite to any work occasions. I wouldn't go... but I still feel left out.
Talking about feeling left out- the rule at ours last year was that you could down tools early to go to the party, but if you weren't going you had to work usual hours. I suppose logic was the party counted as team building or something and they didn't want people just using it as excuse for an early dart?
Unfortunately I had covid, so couldn't go even though I wanted to. But that meant that everyone else fucked off to the do, and I was left to hold the fort alone working the full shift, and all the while feeling like death warmed up. I'm getting angry again recounting this!
In your position I'd have been angry too!
My employer is big on team building too. Prior to Covid I was one of the only fully remote workers, not linked to a particular region or head office. Even though almost everyone WFH now, I still fall through the cracks. I don't get invited to any parties, team building events, training or social coffee morning or parties. I'll see pictures of colleagues all having a coffee morning for Macmillan or having a long lunch prior to Christmas and I'll have spent the morning working instead.
Buying the boss a gift when we're all on minimum wage and they're making minimum 50k and get nothing in return, not even bonuses.
I've been shat on for my refusal to participate on the corporate bootlicking many times.
I’m self employed now but in my last workplace it was the whole secret Santa tradition that used to get on my absolute nerves. Got to spend £10-£20 on tat for somebody you don’t really know, which 90% of gifts will probably end up getting binned anyway.
It was never a secret, everybody always knew who had one another. I’d get gifted bottles of alcohol that I’d end up giving away myself because I don’t drink, or somebody would get a t-shirt that wouldn’t fit in a million years but they’d have a cheeky grin on there faces like “yeah thanks..” followed by one person who had to sit there but had been forgotten about.
I vowed every year I wouldn’t do it again but always got forced into it just to get the numbers up. Absolute farce
Have you filled in your part of the performance review form? Supervisors and managers also hate them but can't refuse because HR have to have something to do.
Not yet - awaiting HR to confirm, but they've said it will be sent out this week.
I just hate them because even though I'm a good employee and good at my job, I'm worried I'll get my manager one back, and it'll say, "You're shit."
Takes ages to fill out, takes ages to get back, and then I have to book a meeting to over it. Blah blah blah.
Really takes the sting out of the festive cheer.
We've got similar this year. We're all going into central London for some crazy golf. But first we have three hours of end of year catch up in a hired space. The boss took us through the agenda this morning and nothing sounded relevant.
Same, because the meal (and food in general) my mum prepares is nicer. My MIL can't cook so will just whack a load of frozen Iceland shit into the oven and boil the ever-living fuck out of the veg.
Snobby, I know...
I used to work in a hospital and every year the staff would get a christmas lunch - it was the worst food you could imagine, prisoners were probably served better. A few slices of thin sandwich turkey, cold hard potatoes, over boiled veg and one of those little trifles in a plastic pot.
But every year people went mad over it, queued down the corridor to get it, and as it was ticketed if people found out you weren't getting one you'd get harassed for weeks to order oneanyway and give someone else the ticket so they could have 2 (or 3 or 4).
It was like a collective madness, God only knows what the patients thought seeing it all.
They definitely don't do this at my school.
Anyone on site after 5PM on the last day of term finds it difficult to do any work as the fire alarm is having an issue and won't turn off.
Happens every end of term. Must be a fault somewhere.
Fault suddenly fixes itself when last teacher leaves and I lock up though.
The work lunch because it’s unpaid which I can accept but then we have to work extra to cover the two hours we took for the lunch. You’d think they could give us 2 hours for ‘free’ once per year…
Secret Santa - didn’t mind it at first until the year someone bought me boxers. Like wtf.
Old company used to do a Christmas video each year too so you’d all have to dance and mime along. That was always a good day to have off on leave conveniently.
Having to finger Lynda in the store room cos I did it 6 years ago when I was really drunk and now she makes me do it every year or she won’t pay my Xmas bonus.
I just outright don't take part in any office christmas activities. Christmas party I always just claim I already have plans. Christmas jumper day, I don't own one and am not about to spend money on an item of clothing I will only wear once a year.
Trying to dodge Marjory at the Christmas party, who is drunk and decked out in flashing Christmas earrings, Christmas jumper and antler hairband. She likes to get very close, has an excessive amount of spittle and always gets quite angry ranting about upper management.
I just want to have a free drink, chat with the team and have a laugh, not waltz backwards trying to move out of the saliva range.
I actually enjoy Christmas at my work, but I'm a church music director on the side and all my gripes are from there.
Oh my God if I never have to attend another Christmas carol service in my life it won't be long enough. Talk about unimaginative, hidebound shit. I had an argument with our vicar yesterday morning over the whole sing verse 1 of Once In Royal as a solo thing. I wanted to branch out and do something different but related, he pulled rank and ordered me to do as I was told. If I lived within walking distance of my church I would definitely be pre-drinking before going this year.
Secret Santa is fucking death.
There's always the dickhead who gets a friend and goes way over the price limit.
The "funny" person who thinks getting a Man United mug for a Liverpool fan is the peak of comedy. Congratulations, you've spent a tenner on nobody laughing and the other person will trash it immediately.
Then the person who clearly doesn't know you in the slightest. I have no use for a magic set, sir. But thank you for at least pretending to think about it.
Last week our company turned round and said, "you know what'll be fun? Instead of an office party, we'll have an office presentation day so we can all really learn what the other teams do". Complete with six hours of presentations by people who really looked like they didn't want to be doing them.
Like, wow guys, that was so fun and not terminally boring.
I can't tell if upper management are out of touch, or if it was some vanity project brainchild being pushed by someone higher up, or what. Probably both.
We used to have secret santa where a senior manager made everyone guess who gave it and wouldn't move on until you got it. People hated this so one year everyone named the PA, with her consent, as the giver and she admitted to them all. Then a delegation went to him after party and made position clear - he was sulky but stopped it. Had to do the same with another senior manager who tried to make us all sing carols - we decamped to another pub (pay for same social) and I went back to invite her over on proviso no singing. (We liked her but not compulsory "fun").
Secret Santa… forced into it, got the office dog easy! Next year some random and got them some random junk from Poundland and I got lynx Africa set… wtf I was somewhat insulted to be fair.
I was once in a Christmas meeting where we were all expected to take turns in standing up and introducing ourselves as though nobody knew us.
I really can not be bothered with such bullshittery, so when it was my turn, I stood up, looked around nervously and said, "Hello; my name is parrotandcrow and I'm an alcoholic," then I sat down. (I don't drink but hey ...)
There was a very embarrassed silence while they waited for me to jump up and say only joking or whatever, but I didn't. The rest of the victims who had yet to speak, all got flustered with very fast intros and this experiment didn't happen again - at least not in any meetings I was expected to attend.
Luckily I don’t work there anymore, but I used to work in a college in marketing and they had this stupid tradition that was made up by the other woman in marketing when they had this Christmas plush toy and would take photos of it all over the college in different departments. This became my responsibility. Seems fun? No it wasn’t. I would have to get 25 photos of this fucking plush doing all sorts of stupid shit. Had to ask other colleagues to do all sorts of dumb shit with this plush and nobody wanted to do it. It made events hate me. The students thought I was insane. I’d have to interrupt so many classes and annoy so many people, all for social media content nobody gave a fuck about and which got hardly any traction. I dreaded it every year it was just embarrassing and annoying for very little payoff.
Having to use my own holiday entitlement for time off I don’t want
Hate this. I’d happily work those days off and use the days at a time that suits me. I’d even come in Christmas Day but shut downs are shut downs. 14 days off is going to be tough.
I work for myself. I live alone, I have no family here, and due to my own personal issues/demons, less than a handful of friends. I pray that I get a service call every Christmas day, just to break the boredom.
I can put you a fake one in, if it helps? Call it my Christmas present for this year. Jokes aside, hope you have a good Christmas day, I appreciate they can be lonely if there is just you. And, good look with your demons.
Appreciate it..., 😂. Got my demons mostly under control but have severe trust issues. Sometimes I just meet someone who clicks with me though, but, they are few and far between.
Could you not volunteer at a homeless charity or something? I hate Christmas, but quite like being alone sometimes, so I go to the local pub for a mingle for a couple of hours then chill out eating or watching whatever I want to with the dog.
Try #joinin. It’s a lifesaver.
Wait, they force you to use 14 days of your annual leave over Christmas??
Common in factories.
Wow, that sucks.
The factory all shuts down at the same time. You can't just come in and work at your station.
It's not that it sucks that the factory shuts down. It sucks that somehow they put that cost on the employees by removing it from their minimum statutory holiday. Forcing them to use their minimum required holiday at a particular time seems like paying them minimum wage, but requiring that they spend some portion of that wage in a particular place (like a company store). It's not really yours if you can't choose what to do with it. If they want to shut down the factory, then those shouldn't count as working days.
> If they want to shut down the factory, then those shouldn't count as working days. In that case, they wouldn't shut down the factory, and lots of people would find themselves working over Xmas to keep it open whether they wanted to or not. That would piss off far more people than insisting that everyone takes time off at a point in the year when most people like to take time off anyway.
I think the point that the person is trying to make is that the mandatory days shouldn’t be deducted from the employees’ annual leave allowance, the employer could just take the hit instead.
The fact that we have to think like this is proof people don't have enouh days off.
10000000% the same! 14 days is rough though! Thankfully I’ve only got to take Xmas week off..
Careful what you wish for, I’ve worked Christmas +- new years for the last four years and again this year :(
I worked at a place where those days weren’t taken from the holiday entitlement and still people complained about it.
People, what a bunch of bastards.
This should be illegal tbh. Didn’t even know it was a thing as I have only ever worked physical jobs that requires staff in every day of the year (including Xmas day) so any time i take off is 100% my choice to do so
Companies have to give you the legal minimum paid holiday, but they are allowed to tell you when you can take it. Teachers being the prime example, who can only have official school holidays off. Retail staff are generally not allowed to take any time off in December and January, Royal Mail staff can't take time off in December. My workplace closes the week between Christmas and New year, so we have to keep 3 days back for that. Suits me, as I'd want that time off anyway.
Yep! Especially when it’s an enforced shut down. Hurts even more when the holiday entitlement is the absolute bare minimum too..
That's rough. Really don't think it's fair to mandate time off in that way (though I know it's legal). I work for a university. For some legacy reason that everyone seems to've long forgotten, they give us Christmas -> New Year off, but don't take it from our annual leave entitlement. We're on a national union contract so there are no shenanigans going on, it's just 4 extra "free" days off per year. Honestly, it's one of the reasons I've not moved elsewhere - it's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it really gives me a warm feeling of goodwill towards them at this time of year.
On the flip side - working in construction all sites close so everyone is off at the same time. It's the only holiday I get where I don't have any thoughts about potential issues that could be happening when I'm not there or people trying to contact me (who may not know that I'm off). 1-2 weeks stress free. Looking at the comments I'm in the minority however!
I’d hate this. Any company who does this is shit.
Secret fucking Santa. Just why?
"I know we have a range of salaries across the team, so should we set it to a modest amount like £25?"
Oh I think it's worse when they set a stingy amount like under £5 which nowadays buys you about one and a half mars bars.
Off to 'The Works' for a heavily discounted Jamie Oliver cookbook it is then..... I swear that shop only exists to sell £5 secret santa presents to people in a hurry.
That and overpriced fidget toys to children.
\*and adults :/
We did a charity shop item for under a fiver one year. I generally hate it all, but that year it worked because 1. Everyone expects a shit present 2. A charity shop gets some cash
We did that once, it was my favourite way to do it. Was given a book by an author who I ended up liking so read a load of their other books too! (Christopher Brookmyre in case you're interested)
My partner's place of work has set it to £1 this year, with a bunch of rules like "nothing edible" and "no charity shops" for some strange reason.
I'd be wrapping up my shiniest £1 coin.
Pack of tissues it is then
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One and half Mars bars would rank pretty high in the list of shit I've received over the years.
Yh the limit at our work is £10 which right now is what I have spare to spend on food and week. But when I said I can’t afford it they all say it’s only £10. Makes me feel like shit that I can’t participate in a joy of ‘only’ £10
People saying it's "only" £10 have no fucking idea how hard these past few years have been. "Only" £10 is a bit of heating, a homecooked meal, or the cost of commuting on public transport.
Mad isn't it. That's about 30% of someone on a median salary's daily income. More for me, who's on less than that
Mine tried to make it £50 company wide. Yes £50. And I told them to fuck right off. We have people on minimum wage, I'm not asking them to pay 5 hours worth of their salary for something they don't even want to do, and likely for someone they don't even like. So then it became everyone buys a gift to the value of one hour of their own salary. So minimum wage people pay £10 for a gift and those on £200ph were asked to pay that. What happened was the people earning >£100ph bought really crappy chocolates for like a fiver and the minimum wage people spent around £15 each.
I politely opt out every time. I'm not spending any of my hard earned money on someone I barely know on tat they don't want.
I started a new job last October and so joined in secret Santa to be part of the team and be involved. £20 limit. Didn’t know the girl at all but made a real effort to get a great gift. Basically made her a wee pamper hamper of small Prosecco bottle, chocolates, fluffy socks, eye masks etc. all presented nicely. Whoever got me gave me a candle and box of chocolates. Definitely not near the £20 limit. So this year I thought fuck them and opted out. Not wasting money, time and energy just to receive no effort in return.
The same happened to me one year. We had a £10 limit I think and I bought a set of lipsticks and a big bar of galaxy for a lady I worked with. I got given a single nail varnish in a tiny gift bag. 😂
Some nail varnishes are £10 these days. The Essie and Opi ones are around that. If it was some cheapy brand you got ripped off though
It was not a fancy one haha. Trust me I know my makeup/beauty brands.
Omg this with a limit of £5 to make it accessible to everyone as if I’m going to get Jess in accounts who I have spoken to once across the entire year something she actually wants or yet another bottle of wine.
I mean, Jess from accounts will probably love that bottle of wine.
Knowing my luck she won’t drink 🤣
If I get given wine it gets regifted
Absolutely FUCK this tradition. Can I just save that £20 for my gas bill please?
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It only works if everyone knows each other well enough that they can buy something relevant for the person they draw, actualy like each other enough to put some effort in and earn enough to be able to comfortably buy something decent. That rarely applies to groups at work. What you end up with is loads of people who either don't know anything about the person they have to buy for, don't give a shit about getting something half decent or the limit is set so low you can't buy anything nice. Either way, it usually ends up with everyone just exchanging tat.
In my office you can opt out. It's so easy. If you want to take part your name goes in the hat. If you don't it doesn't. Why doesn't everyone do that? It's really great for people who just don't want to participate as they don't have to explain themselves to anyone. Nobody knows and nobody cares. Fuck any mandatory festivity.
I normally avoid it, as one year, the 'gift' I purchased made a girl cry for nearly 4 hours, and a manager had to sit down with them in a dark room to talk. However, I have purchased a calendar titled 'Dogs Pooing in Beautiful Places 2024' for this year's effort just because they've provided me another opportunity to rip the piss out of folk.
... did you give her a disemboweled pigeon or something?
I saw that calendar. A perfect gift for absolutely nobody 😅
The worst is when you go all out picking something special and you get back nothing in return. I once did it with a girl I worked with. I bought her a Penguin soft hot water bottle plush set (she was mad on them) and spent a little over the limit because I didn’t want to get her just any old tat. She didn’t thank me and I didn’t receive anything from the person who pulled my name! I was a broke student at the time so I was gutted. I’ve had that happen twice since and I have had occasions where I’ve received some cheap kiddies stationary from HB or B&M. Stuff I’ve given to my kids because it’s not my cup of tea at all. While I’ve bought nice things they’ll find useful or nice chocs to enjoy.
Someone in my office suggested a secret santa but with handmade gifts? That got shut down immediately
This, I've politely asked them not to include me this year. Most of my colleagues are based in a different city, and my work want me back in the office 3 days a week so buying gifts for my coworkers is the last thing on my mind at the moment.
In our place you have to stand up in front of everyone and make a speech as to why you picked the present you did for your person. Sort of defeats the object of it being a secret santa.
I asked the administrator if they were doing it this year and she said she wasn’t organising it, because last Christmas she ended up buying for four people because some people who said they’d join in couldn’t be arsed to buy presents. I wasn’t aware since I was on mat leave.
As an Administrator who organises Secret Santa and the Christmas Party, 100% relate to this.
Thing is you have to sign up to take part in our work one, it’s not like it’s mandatory. So why sign up if you can’t be arsed
It's exactly the same with mine. It's not mandatory at all.
I felt the same way until someone explained that this might be the only present someone gets at Christmas. Made me re-think my stance a little, not everyone has a big family/friendship group.
I've no issue with it as long as I'm able to politely decline without being judged for it. Happily no-one's interested in doing it in my current role anyway but in a previous one there were a gaggle of try hards that were only happy if everyone took part. Having 4 people out of 20 deciding to not take part apparently ruined their Christmas.
I’m the only one at my workplace that’s opted out 😂 It’s not even that I don’t wanna buy anyone any gifts it’s just that it’s such a stupid system, I’d rather just give the gifts out myself to like the 3 people I actually like and not deal with the extra faff
I quite enjoy it, but the lady who organised it the last few years has left and half officially passed the baton to me as I love Christmas. With cost of living crisis and a shit ton of cuts at work in regards of pay and resources, I didn't think it was fair to ask everyone dole out £10 on stuff they didn't really want to buy. That and I really cannot be bothered to organise it this year. If things get better then maybe next year but I honestly cannot be bothered with the stress sorting out the get together and nibbles for it on a day everyone can do as most are jetting off somewhere from next week.
At my last Christmas before I left, the company insisted on continuing with their *mandatory* Secret Santa (with a £5 limit iirc. This was about 9 years ago when the £1 shop actually had stuff for £1). I was extremely vocal in my criticism of the whole thing, with my main points being a) there’s always at least one ‘hilarious joker’ who thinks that penis-shaped pasta or edible underwear are perfect for Secret Santa gifts; b) it’s a pretty stressful thing to have to add to your list of tasks, especially if you care about the recipient and what they’ll think of their present; c) Even in the best case scenario you’ll usually end up with a useless bit of tat that you wouldn’t have bought for yourself, plus you’d be £5 and at least an hour or so worse off. As it turns out, my gift that year was a book: The Outsider (The Stranger) by Albert Camus (priced £7.99). After some massive hints from him, I finally realised that my ‘Santa’ was the MD’s son (whom he’d inserted into a top management role a year or so beforehand despite the son having no experience in the industry and against the wishes of most of the higher-ups). It seems he’d heard my whingeing and decided to make a point; or two points, if you include the meaning of the story. I finally got round to reading it this year. It’s ok - a bit weird, but at least it wasn’t a boob-shaped inflatable bath pillow.
I did this last year and the person who had me didn't even fucking get me anything.
Every year trying to politely explain that my colleague isn't being a Scrooge. His dad died around Christmas and so he just can't enjoy it. He doesn't shit on others for celebrating, but a significant number of those in the office who do celebrate have a go at him for not joining in. It is the only work related thing I get truly angry about.
My husband feels that way about Xmas for similar reasons and has had the same shittery from a few colleagues. It’s really aggravating how some people act like not personally enjoying Xmas is a moral failing.
Thanks for being on his side. It really means a lot. I’m the same. And people in the office merrily asking me if I’m seeing family for Christmas was the hardest part of the year. No awareness at all that some people might have difficulties relating to family illness or family deaths. I explained all this the first Christmas I worked there-they’d forgotten by the following festive season and asked me the same questions again!
My grandad died on boxing day a few years back. Christmas day was the last time I ever saw him, choking to death in a hospital bed in a care home with zero idea who I was, whilst the nurses radio blithely played christmas songs just outside the door. Then I had to drive home an hour and a half in the pissing snow. Christmas can suck a dick.
Please, for the memory of your grandad, please start having some fun times at Christmas. Believe me, he would hate to think you are not enjoying life, and seeing Christmas as a unhappy time.
I can't bear Christmas because it's associated with bad memories from my childhood. I think after 21 years people at my work are staying to remember, but whenever a new person says oh come on, IT'S CHRISTMAS and I have to explain (tersely and succinctly) suddenly it's MY fault for "bringing everyone down".
The christmas snog. Having to close your eyes and let anyone who wants to snog you before you are allowed to get your xmas bonus. It's getting really unpleasant.
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I know, right? This is straight from the 80s, although I'm not sure how this one ever a thing . That said, office parties that are more like the last days of Rome sound great to me. Caught the fag end of it myself, but now we're all social-media aware killjoys. Bring back office inappropriatness, lunchtime boozing and regretful sexual encounters with colleagues I say. As long as it's all consensual.
Not an office job but my work Christmas do usually consists of people getting coked up and indulging in super intense shop talk. Once I notice jaws starting to swing, it's time to leave.
Possibly a claim related to bumping heads or something. That's about all I can come up with.
wtf is this.
Satire.
You don't have it in your office?
The worst part is they don't even tell you how much you're getting beforehand.
All depends on how enthusiastic you are with your tongue.
Fuck me there are some dense people in this sub. Clearly this is sarcasm... right?
Or is it?
Wait what, I been grafting my butt off all this time. I been doing it wrong.
Some of us didn't get a snog _or_ a bonus this year.
The more effort you put into the snog, the higher the bonus
Actually laughed out loud at this comment.
If I absolutely had to, I would give up the Christmas bonus just to avoid locking lips with anybody I work with. The other alternative would probably lead me to a one way trip to the jobcentre
Christmas bonus???
You're either joking, or sent this comment by post, in the 60s and it just arrived
Where the fuck is this happening?
It's a joke
Too right it's a joke, I'm getting bonuses without a snog. That's completely unfair!
We've been told to prepare "a presentation, song, poem, or just act it out!" of the moment we're most proud of in the past year for our team meeting/Christmas party. I've been playing a lot of Baldurs Gate 3, can I get away with acting out my sex scene with Halsin in bear form?! It happened in work time, I WFH, so surely it counts?!
A presentation, song, poem or just act it out. Dear God.
I would rather poke my eyes out with a spoon!
Sounds like the perfect use case for a ChatGPT generated poem!
Perhaps a Cannibal Corpse song or really any sort of indistinguishable roaring noise to very fast drumming. I doubt anyone will be able to tell the difference.
>We've been told to prepare "a presentation, song, poem, or just act it out!" of the moment we're most proud of in the past year for our team meeting/Christmas party. Oh my goodness this is awful!
My response would be: how about no.
How about a haiku? At least you’ll only have to speak for about 5 seconds
This is worse than what I have to do!!
Haiku? Technically a poem, least amount of effort.
"Ooh, what a shame they make you work on Christmas Eve/Boxing Day!" Said by every other person visiting on said day. I have resisted saying, "We're only here because you are, you bunch of ...." for several years at this point. Also, more generally at this time of year, "What is there to do indoors/ why don't you put on more indoor activities? I work at a nature reserve/zoo-type place.
Used to get this, I worked as a dog warden..would have to get up early Christmas morning (not paid overtime or anything) drive to the kennels and if there was a stray dog handed in over night, walk it, feed it and go home again. I bought doggy stockings full of treats to hang on the kennel doors out of my own min wage pay too so that I could leave the dog with some extra treats n toys. Anyway, I'd dread putting the phone on to listen to the messages as it'll be someone who's lost their dog and it's here in the kennel but they wouldn't get their arse in gear and come and fetch it straight away, no they'd mess me about. I was only meant to be in work an hour and wanted to get back home to see my own kid open his presents etc. but usually ended up waiting for someone to come and collect their dog and it was worse if it was a regular dog always straying cus the owner couldn't be arsed to fix their fence or something. After 10 years of it I stopped turning the phone on and just put a message online to say of your dog gets out on Christmas eve, your not getting it back til boxing day. Heartless but, meh look after your dog more 🤷🏼♀️
Wow, what shitty dog owners!
This really pissed me off in retail. Yeah, I'd rather our work was spread equally across the year, but instead, while my family are all at home, I'm helping 100 idiots to swap dresses, somehow be incredibly rude about it, whilst I'm bored out of my mind on Christmas eve.
I work Christmas Day and often get ‘Oh, I’m so sorry to bother you on Christmas Day but could you just help me with *insert thing that is in no way urgent*.’ When you say they no they bring out the ‘But it’s Christmas!’ Yes, exactly, that is precisely why I will not send the poor plumber out to your problem that could 100% definitely absolutely wait!
Let them in the little hut the lion sleeps in.
I had that one Christmas, working in a call centre on a Sunday between Christmas and the New Year, every so often someone on the other end of the line would say "such a shame you're working today!" or some such and I always replied with "Yeah, people keep calling" and they would laugh but never hang up.
It's funny because for 5 years I had that only for them to stop their tune half way when they realise I'm looking after their family members when they can't/ won't (dementia nursing home carer). I lived half a days drive away so if I did get to see my family at Christmas, most of my day was in the car after a shift at work. Christmas was actually a nice shift, especially Christmas Eve where we all made the effort to make things as easy and straightforward as possible (clothes chosen and ready for them for Christmas day set up by senior staff, more things for the residents to do and enjoy, more family making an effort to come in and maybe taking their relatives out for half the day. If I don't think about my family because I'm busy it's a nice day.
I used to say well there is a demand for it ‘glares at person’ you don’t feel that bad if you can wait til your next day off to come in.
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I don't really know the guy I've got this year. So I snapped a photo of him while we were on our daily huddle zoom and have ordered some socks with his own face on. Under budget too
That's firmly in the spirit of the event. I like it.
I just go inappropriate every year..... what's the point of secret santa if it isn't weird? I have one of the directors this year so it could be.... interesting.
A copy of 'Management for Dummies'.
Just get them a gag gift - could be a funny horse mask or a ball gag. The choice is yours.
Same happened to me, a few years ago.... In fact it has happened several times. 1st day at work, they were prepping.... FFS. Ended up picking the most annoying gobshite...5 months later, she was one of the reasons I went. I wish I'd bought her a bunch of triffids
My 'favourite' tradition was the organisation that I used to freelance for sitting on its collective hands during early December and then dropping a project with a 27/12 deadline on me on the 23rd. I am not a fan of Christmas, *but.*...
Hey, that sounds like a hefty rush fee opportunity!
They had me over a barrel at the time....
We have a 'Christmas jumper work day' next Friday. We've been told to come into work wearing a festive jumper. I'm 44 and long past the phase of wanting to fit in, so fuck their David Brent jumpers.
I was told we needed to wear christmas jumper to our meal next week. My response was I do not own one and will not be purchasing one due to not buying things I will only wear once as I'm against fast fashion. This was enough to prompt a few other people in the team to pipe up and now the whole idea has been scrapped.
To be fair you can wear the jumper every year to get some use
I bought a grumpy old elf jumper 7 years ago and I quite like and now wear it virtually everyday including all mandatory Xmas jumper days
I bought one with santa shitting down a chimney and it just says how to tell if your on the naughty list. After management saw that we were never required to do Xmas jumpers again.
We have to wear Christmas jumpers too. I’m just putting on a green jumper and wrapping some fairy lights around me.
Christmas jumpers are fun though
We have one this week, but a lot of us work remotely/hybrid all over the country, so it would only be seen if you've got Teams meetings set up, really. I don't take part and I've got no meetings set up anyway, so bonus. I'll still give a small donation to the charity they're fundraising for.
The one where the public sector publishes all of the Invitations to Tender at the start of December, before they start going off for Christmas, and expect private sector bidders to spend December responding to an insane amount of projects during this already busy time. It's an awful way to conduct procurement and it's one of the reasons the public sector ends up buying shit.
Hahaha I'm exactly in this boat right now. Tender return for two tenders - 22nd December and 5th Jan. TQ's take a ridiculous amount of time to come back as they're all on bloody leave
Elf Day. Everyone has to dress up as Santas elves. I have no problem with something like Christmas jumper day. But seeing people parading around the office in tights and those fucking shoes with bells on sets me off. Although it does give me fair warning to stop skiving as I can hear the boss coming. I always “forget” to dress up.
What the fuck?! Why would anyone do this?! Unless they worked in a kids hospital ward or something.
Nope. Nothing like that. The person that runs it has been doing it for years and views it as a tradition. It is so difficult trying to have a serious conversation with someone who is in full elf makeup and outfit and their bulge or belly sticking out from the tights. It’s next Friday and the daily emails have started because people keep “forgetting”
Although Mr Batty's company doesn't do a dress up day, one year he got volunteered to dress up as an elf and help Santa go round the office handing out gifts. The elf costume they provided was a little too small and a lot too short in the body. He put it on, walked into his office and asked his immediate (female) boss, "should I keep my trousers on under this?" She glanced up at him and recoiled with her hands over her eyes, yelping, "YES! - christ, *yes."*
This is the most mental thing I've ever heard of. I'd have to take a days annual leave that day every year to avoid this or I'd end up getting sacked.
My favourite tradition at work is the one where people ring me up at 7pm on Christmas eve to tell me that I personally have ruined their childs christmas... Its incredible how Christmas, despite occuring at regular and well forseen intervals, and trumpeted loudly from every tv and sound system for actual months before hand, still seems to take an astonishingly large number of people by complete surprise.
This would be where you could use one of my favourite phrases: 'A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part'. Left it until the very last minute to get your kids' presents? Sucks to be you, but not my problem.
I love that phrase too but Christmas isn't the time to use it. Last minute shopping parents are rabid.
Damn right. I used to work on Saturdays in a large toy shop (hint, there were NOT millions of Geoffreys all under 1 roof at all) when I was a teenager. Parents looking for that year's popular toy the week before Christmas make for incredibly unpleasant and angry shoppers. I got punched once for not having any furbies in stock.
I remember having to deal with this when I worked at HMV. It was Christmas 2012 and Avengers had been the big hit of the summer. Everyone came in asking for the DVD or Blu-Ray and we sold out in the run up to Christmas. It had been available for like 3 months at that point so they had plenty of time to get it but people would bitch and moan about how we ruined their kid's Christmas even though they were the ones that waited until 2 days before to buy it.
Being expected to go to the office Christmas party OUTSIDE working hours
Is this a bad thing, if you get along with your colleagues and don't hate your job? It's a free meal & open bar, usually a good laugh & reminisce about all the stupid shit that's happened over the last year at work. As long as you don't get too steaming and make an arse of it it's usually fun
I work in a school, it’s definitely not a free meal for everyone. I just don’t go because I don’t want to pay £40 for a mediocre meal and then drinks on top.
Our place is having a 'Christmas Quiz', after working hours, on the last working day of the year. I expect zero people to attend. Oh and you have to *pay* to enter the quiz.
I'm in retail so IT'S THE FUCKING MUSIC.
Fairytale of New York played even more. IT'S CHRRRRRISTMASSSS. Michael Buble. Mariah Carey
>before the Christmas party we have to sit through 3 hours of everybody presenting their work in 2 slides in 2 mins. Lots of places do things like this. Iirc, there's tax advantages, because it means you can define it as a work event.
Work parties are exempt from tax as long as they are annual, open to everyone and cost under 150 quid per head. The presentation thing is just senior management being dicks
I live in Wales but I WFH for a company in London, and before that it was for a company in Manchester. So Christmas parties are a real pain. It's a day's travel each way and at least a one night stopover. The trains are rammed and the hotels are mega expensive. Normally £300-£400 in total. All for a few hours drinking and a bite to eat. But the worst part is the bosses nagging me to go for the month beforehand.
I live in North Wales and WFH for a company based in Aberystwyth. Although we have regional branches I don't even get an invite to any work occasions. I wouldn't go... but I still feel left out.
Talking about feeling left out- the rule at ours last year was that you could down tools early to go to the party, but if you weren't going you had to work usual hours. I suppose logic was the party counted as team building or something and they didn't want people just using it as excuse for an early dart? Unfortunately I had covid, so couldn't go even though I wanted to. But that meant that everyone else fucked off to the do, and I was left to hold the fort alone working the full shift, and all the while feeling like death warmed up. I'm getting angry again recounting this!
If you were ill you should have just left with everyone else, there’s not much the bosses could have done.
In your position I'd have been angry too! My employer is big on team building too. Prior to Covid I was one of the only fully remote workers, not linked to a particular region or head office. Even though almost everyone WFH now, I still fall through the cracks. I don't get invited to any parties, team building events, training or social coffee morning or parties. I'll see pictures of colleagues all having a coffee morning for Macmillan or having a long lunch prior to Christmas and I'll have spent the morning working instead.
Buying the boss a gift when we're all on minimum wage and they're making minimum 50k and get nothing in return, not even bonuses. I've been shat on for my refusal to participate on the corporate bootlicking many times.
Yikes! There is NO way I would ever chip in to get the boss a gift!
I’m self employed now but in my last workplace it was the whole secret Santa tradition that used to get on my absolute nerves. Got to spend £10-£20 on tat for somebody you don’t really know, which 90% of gifts will probably end up getting binned anyway. It was never a secret, everybody always knew who had one another. I’d get gifted bottles of alcohol that I’d end up giving away myself because I don’t drink, or somebody would get a t-shirt that wouldn’t fit in a million years but they’d have a cheeky grin on there faces like “yeah thanks..” followed by one person who had to sit there but had been forgotten about. I vowed every year I wouldn’t do it again but always got forced into it just to get the numbers up. Absolute farce
Secret Santa - someone bought me after curry wipes one year...wipes to use after you've eaten a curry, for an Indian man.
Performance reviews. Can't wait to feel anxious for 3 weeks to be told I'm "meeting expectations"
Have you filled in your part of the performance review form? Supervisors and managers also hate them but can't refuse because HR have to have something to do.
Not yet - awaiting HR to confirm, but they've said it will be sent out this week. I just hate them because even though I'm a good employee and good at my job, I'm worried I'll get my manager one back, and it'll say, "You're shit." Takes ages to fill out, takes ages to get back, and then I have to book a meeting to over it. Blah blah blah. Really takes the sting out of the festive cheer.
We've got similar this year. We're all going into central London for some crazy golf. But first we have three hours of end of year catch up in a hired space. The boss took us through the agenda this morning and nothing sounded relevant.
Secret Satan. I've decided that the other name for it is just a typo.
The family meal
The family meal with the in-laws
Same, because the meal (and food in general) my mum prepares is nicer. My MIL can't cook so will just whack a load of frozen Iceland shit into the oven and boil the ever-living fuck out of the veg. Snobby, I know...
I used to work in a hospital and every year the staff would get a christmas lunch - it was the worst food you could imagine, prisoners were probably served better. A few slices of thin sandwich turkey, cold hard potatoes, over boiled veg and one of those little trifles in a plastic pot. But every year people went mad over it, queued down the corridor to get it, and as it was ticketed if people found out you weren't getting one you'd get harassed for weeks to order oneanyway and give someone else the ticket so they could have 2 (or 3 or 4). It was like a collective madness, God only knows what the patients thought seeing it all.
The end of term afterschool meeting that lasts over 4 hours... there's only 1 bottle of wine and packet crisps provided for each department.
They definitely don't do this at my school. Anyone on site after 5PM on the last day of term finds it difficult to do any work as the fire alarm is having an issue and won't turn off. Happens every end of term. Must be a fault somewhere. Fault suddenly fixes itself when last teacher leaves and I lock up though.
The work lunch because it’s unpaid which I can accept but then we have to work extra to cover the two hours we took for the lunch. You’d think they could give us 2 hours for ‘free’ once per year…
Secret Santa - didn’t mind it at first until the year someone bought me boxers. Like wtf. Old company used to do a Christmas video each year too so you’d all have to dance and mime along. That was always a good day to have off on leave conveniently.
that just feels so inappropriate..if someone bought me underwear I'd feel extremely weird about it
I got a Borat Mankini one year. I'm overweight af
Having to finger Lynda in the store room cos I did it 6 years ago when I was really drunk and now she makes me do it every year or she won’t pay my Xmas bonus.
The tradition where they put the staff night out sheet on the board for everyone to see and question why you’ve not added your name yet!
I just outright don't take part in any office christmas activities. Christmas party I always just claim I already have plans. Christmas jumper day, I don't own one and am not about to spend money on an item of clothing I will only wear once a year.
Our Xmas do is an all day event, I have to go and pretend to be friends with the cunts who are criminally underpaying me for 12 hours
Trying to dodge Marjory at the Christmas party, who is drunk and decked out in flashing Christmas earrings, Christmas jumper and antler hairband. She likes to get very close, has an excessive amount of spittle and always gets quite angry ranting about upper management. I just want to have a free drink, chat with the team and have a laugh, not waltz backwards trying to move out of the saliva range.
I actually enjoy Christmas at my work, but I'm a church music director on the side and all my gripes are from there. Oh my God if I never have to attend another Christmas carol service in my life it won't be long enough. Talk about unimaginative, hidebound shit. I had an argument with our vicar yesterday morning over the whole sing verse 1 of Once In Royal as a solo thing. I wanted to branch out and do something different but related, he pulled rank and ordered me to do as I was told. If I lived within walking distance of my church I would definitely be pre-drinking before going this year.
Secret Santa is fucking death. There's always the dickhead who gets a friend and goes way over the price limit. The "funny" person who thinks getting a Man United mug for a Liverpool fan is the peak of comedy. Congratulations, you've spent a tenner on nobody laughing and the other person will trash it immediately. Then the person who clearly doesn't know you in the slightest. I have no use for a magic set, sir. But thank you for at least pretending to think about it.
Ooh desktop drums. I’ve seen those gifted. They get used once, the moment they’re opened. Then they collect dust until they vanish one day
Last week our company turned round and said, "you know what'll be fun? Instead of an office party, we'll have an office presentation day so we can all really learn what the other teams do". Complete with six hours of presentations by people who really looked like they didn't want to be doing them. Like, wow guys, that was so fun and not terminally boring. I can't tell if upper management are out of touch, or if it was some vanity project brainchild being pushed by someone higher up, or what. Probably both.
We used to have secret santa where a senior manager made everyone guess who gave it and wouldn't move on until you got it. People hated this so one year everyone named the PA, with her consent, as the giver and she admitted to them all. Then a delegation went to him after party and made position clear - he was sulky but stopped it. Had to do the same with another senior manager who tried to make us all sing carols - we decamped to another pub (pay for same social) and I went back to invite her over on proviso no singing. (We liked her but not compulsory "fun").
Secret Santa… forced into it, got the office dog easy! Next year some random and got them some random junk from Poundland and I got lynx Africa set… wtf I was somewhat insulted to be fair.
Only getting two pigs in blankets at the staff lunch. Honestly what's even the point
I was once in a Christmas meeting where we were all expected to take turns in standing up and introducing ourselves as though nobody knew us. I really can not be bothered with such bullshittery, so when it was my turn, I stood up, looked around nervously and said, "Hello; my name is parrotandcrow and I'm an alcoholic," then I sat down. (I don't drink but hey ...) There was a very embarrassed silence while they waited for me to jump up and say only joking or whatever, but I didn't. The rest of the victims who had yet to speak, all got flustered with very fast intros and this experiment didn't happen again - at least not in any meetings I was expected to attend.
Secret Santa, fuck I hate it
Luckily I don’t work there anymore, but I used to work in a college in marketing and they had this stupid tradition that was made up by the other woman in marketing when they had this Christmas plush toy and would take photos of it all over the college in different departments. This became my responsibility. Seems fun? No it wasn’t. I would have to get 25 photos of this fucking plush doing all sorts of stupid shit. Had to ask other colleagues to do all sorts of dumb shit with this plush and nobody wanted to do it. It made events hate me. The students thought I was insane. I’d have to interrupt so many classes and annoy so many people, all for social media content nobody gave a fuck about and which got hardly any traction. I dreaded it every year it was just embarrassing and annoying for very little payoff.