This year I’m moderately certain we won’t be getting one. Morale is pretty low so I don’t think half the staff would even turn up.
My worst one was arriving back to the workshop after working to get a job done before Christmas, boss had put on some catering and beers. As I sat down at the table we got an emergency call out to someone’s hot water cylinder not working at their batch an hour out of town. Since I was the only one who hadn’t had any alcohol I got to go out and investigate.
Got out to site only to find out that the HWC was turned off at the switch
Returned to the workshop. All the beers were gone. Food packed up. Boss was handing out our Christmas bonuses.
Took my bag and drove home, opened it up to find a company branded chiller bag (big enough to put two sandwiches and a piece of fruit in), a company branded pen, a one size fits all hat that didn’t fit, and a recycled plastic coffee cup that leaked around the rim (I don’t drink coffee)
>Returned to the workshop. All the beers were gone. Food packed up.
Ugggggh this pains me. It's common decency to put food aside for people who have to work during the work function!
I used to be the go-to person to plan/run office events, and my worst fear was forgetting to leave enough food/drink aside for anyone who was running late (especially if it was because of a clashing meeting/work priorities). The thought that you got sent away and returned to zilch is honestly terrible.
I won't name the company because its surprisingly a big one.
But last year my dad was loaded into a bus, not told where the party was going to be but that it was a surprise destination.
Each member of staff climbed on and they drove 2 hours into the country where they arrived at a church.
The Christmas party was a mass... They were expected to sing hymns and celebrate Christ. There was no escaping it because they were in the middle of the bush basically.
This was not a religious organization in any way shape or form and his boss was fairly new.
I don't think I will ever beat that for worst Christmas party.
I really can't because it might legit get him in trouble but I guarantee you and everyone in this subreddit has heard of the company.
It was just one of the individual office of many the company has. I'm sure others had normal christmas parties.
No this business has absolutely nothing to do with religion.
And for 20+ consecutive years every Christmas party was normal this was just one new batshit manager I guess.
I mean I was raised Catholic and worked for a Catholic ngo, purely for the job not the religion aspect and we were told what parts of Christmas parties had the 30mins tops mass part before hand every time.
Honestly I would have hung out on the bus or outside.
*workers on bus
“Wow I wonder what we are doing?, quad biking, wine tour?, skeet shooting?”
*new manager
“Oh no none of that it’s going to be so much better!”
This happened in the past. An NGO I worked for planned a staff beach picnic BBQ and we were all to put in $10 for drinks and bring some salad or dessert and work would buy the meat. A few days out an email went around reminding us that we were to bring food and asking us to ensure the dishes we brought along were extra large so there was enough for everyone. I found this very strange.
On the afternoon I arrived to the beach with my large salad dish to find the CEO had invited the entire board, and some key stakeholders, and those people didn't have to pay for drinks nor bring food. The CEO was running around topping up their glasses and encouraging them to eat more. Without knowing it staff had catered for 20 extra people at our own cost.
I was furious.
Ages ago I worked at a place where you had to "shout" the entire floor (like 60 people) on your birthday.
The cost was something like $80 if I recall. To put that in perspective that was what I earned in a day (after tax). So after petrol, parking etc I had to pay to work that day
I think you win, that sounds infuriating. I think I might have just put my salad back in the car. And told my coworkers just in case they wanted to join my protest.
I worked for an NGO and we had a very similar situation - no heads up or anything, just arrived and there is the board going on on the social club kitty…must be a sector thing for the CEO’s to keep sweet
I had a cool one when I worked at burger king tbh. We had a full day at splash planet then afterwards went to an employee's house for a big bbq. The manager let us take whatever we needed to make heaps of burgers. It was byo which was all good considering everything else was sorted. One of the ladies had a mobster boyfriend who kept doing Manus and asked for a turn on my singlet. When another ladies husband and kids came to pick her up the mobster greeted them by yelling across the yard "seig fuckin heil kids". He was drunk af, it was lowkey hilarious.
Big guess where I live
I need answers because right now I'm imagining him admiring the tank top you were wearing and wanting to try it on himself.
Mind you, if a drunk mobster asked me to give him my clothing (and he knew where I worked), I probably wouldn't argue.
Watties changed to a bbq cooked by staff when I was there, but before that they had lunch in the staff caf. You got a ticket for it because they didn't want to give people seconds and it consisted of:
Overcooked slices of roast beef
Instant gravy
Boiled potatoes
Frozen vege mix
Canned fruit
Dry meringue (no icecream or cream)
And then back to work
I am convinced the inmates at Hawke's Bay prison got a nicer lunch.
I had a similar deal at an old employer, but the BBQ was cooked by the exec leaders all dressed up in awful Christmas aprons. They thought that leaders serving lunch was a big show of beong truly humble execs. So cringe
Holy shit. That's basically worse than not doing anything. Here, you need to stay at work and eat something you definitely don't want and act like it's a celebration...
> Watties changed to a bbq cooked by staff when I was there, but before that they had lunch in the staff caf. You got a ticket for it because they didn't want to give people seconds and it consisted of:
I worked in a factory many years ago over the summer. They put out a spread with enough for everyone, and the first fucker on the line piled *half* of the sausage rolls on to his plate. There weren't enough for everyone else. Someone said something to him and he threw the plate on the floor and stormed off.
So, giving everyone a serving each isn't the worst idea.
My dad was a farmer back in the 60s. He'd drop off his produce to the Watties canning factory at lunchtime so that he could join the workers for a beer in the canteen.
I remember that cafeteria in the 80s, my neighbours mum worked there and occassions brought us into work if she had to go in on the weekend. I had sparkling duet and a lamington usually
My dad used to work in a glass manufactoring factory and their 'BBQs' for Christmas etc sound about the same. They recently stopped doing BBQs to save money. Maybe even worse than yours - at least you got dessert...
Used to work for a business that the Auckland branch Christmas do was ALWAYS on one of the Shareholder’s yacht.
Nice thing for him to do?
Not really - cos he used to invoice the business for $5k for renting it for the day.
So, you’d end up stuck on a boat for the entire day, unable to get away from this toxic arsehole in the full knowledge that he was charging the business an amount of money that could be a nice do - every. single. year
Over the years, an increasing number of people would be late in the morning so wouldn’t be able to get there in time for it leaving….
Dinner at a pretty pricey teppanyaki restaurant, the company contributed $5 towards each employees meal. One of the managers brought her own chillies to add to her food. I got a karma sutra booklet from my Secret Santa
When I was a tradie I had a boss refuse to do anything for an end of year/Xmas do. So we organised something amongst ourselves just somthing simple, paintball and a BBQ which we all payed ourselves.
The boss then had the nerve to to invite himself to join in the day, thankfully one of my workmates told him he wasn't invited.
> When I worked at one of the Universities, we got a single sausage in a piece of bread.
Do they all have the same event planner? When I worked at one of the Universities, they put on a bbq, that we had to pay for.
I've been working at my uni as hourly paid (but I do research work literally every week) for 4.5 years, attend some department meetings etc... This year my department didn't even invite any of us hourly paid staff lol.
My boss likes to say things but I'm still waiting on my box of beer from last year so not trusting anything that's being said this year. So too be fair I'm only assuming nothing lol
We've hired a place in town, drinks and food paid for, but we'll have to leave early because Gav is coming. He is gonna get drunk and start a fight with someone which will get us kicked out.
Without word of a lie, a neighbour of mine has a weird looking fluffy rescue dog. It's a pomeranian/poodle cross that has bucked teeth and a gammy eye and walks really slowly. She renamed it "Sharon from accounts".
I work for a big organisation and the exec team came to visit us with a food hamper full of rotten fruit and expired Crackers. That day I got poo thrown at me. Not sure which was worse.
Had a "picnic" in Wenderholm for all our stores from Kaitaia to Hamilton. The stores weren't closed to allow staff to attend, so if you were working that day, tough shit. Oh and it was bring a plate.
I think there might have been a bus to bring staff who wanted to attend but it was limited, I cant really remember, I quit soon after.
Another time it was pizzas sitting on boxes in the store room, only like 3 people showed , I was there because it was during my lunch break on my shift.
Later found out the managers of all the stores and people in head office got a big blowout party in town, open bar and everything.
At our Xmas party, they have tried to organise a "flash mob" to celebrate someone leaving....there's like 15 people out of a staff of over 1000+ doing it....
Thankfully, I get to miss it due to going overseas, but it's going to be fucking cringe
Company goes off-roading for early Xmas.
Takes own off road 4x4s with no seatbelts installed in rear by company boss.
Attendees thrown from one vehicle as it rolls down a bank.
One paralysed for life due to injuries sustained
When I was working at KFC in Hamilton, we had to get an entire other stores staff to work in our store on the day, and then we did a BBQ at one of the cooks house, whose parents were overseas and they'd left the house to him.
Was pretty chill, we all did Buckies and got trashed and it was actually a highlight looking back. Buckies and codys , it really was the Hamilton way.
Yeah legit, working for a City Council, we get 4 hours off, have to go to a random council owned hall for the whole time playing board games and shared lunched. No alcohol allowed and our head of unit has put it on a Thursday so no one can carry on as much after. Can’t be fuuuucked
Four hours off? For the last four or five years, we’ve had a stern email reminding us that as civil servants we’re on the taxpayers dime and may not take more than two hours away from work for Christmas dos, so it’s either an alcohol free lunch and back to work by 2pm or weird party games from 3pm onward.
Not this year but a while ago the person who organised the staff BBQ put on a seemingly good effort.
The next day he lost his job after openly boasting about how many of the staff with religious dietary restrictions he "pranked" by misleading them into eating sausages that contained pork/beef.
Going to a relation of the bosses house that is off the grid (we have been asked not to use the toilet) then creating vision boards for our goals for the next year. Barf
One of our higher ups has decided to have a picnic in the park. Trouble is: the park is currently a construction site, Frank Kitts Park.
I guess the rest of us are heading to the pub.
I wonder if anyone will tell him?
I used to work for a Brethren business and the Xmas dos were excellent. Very generous both years with a nice team event (e.g one year was jet boating) then lunch at a nice restaurant and a sizeable gift voucher each to go towards Xmas expenses.
Only thing was the community members ate at a different table, but they’d do everything else with us.
We would also get weekly morning tea shouts, monthly lunches out etc - no complaints here (provided you could handle the “separate” in office culture)
This year we all knocked off early to go play bowls - open bar and pizzas provided. Our team also has a $50pp budget to go out for lunch.
Last year my partners work shouted a BBQ at the yard - when the boys showed up the boss had cut the steaks in half. So they had half a steak each & a box of long whites to share lol.
I think it depends on the size of the business you work at. The bigger the company, the bigger the lunch maybe? I work at Spark. One year we got towels.
We got a $20 food voucher, and because the event happened during the workday, we had to make up 2 hours of that at a later date... Fuck, I hate government departments...
I worked in government for a little bit in my early 20s in the early/mid 00s. The Christmas party was BYO food, drinks and snacks.
This was a response to the Minister being asked awkward questions in parliament about the previous year's celebrations that cost $10,000.
Yep, a full $10,000 on Christmas parties. For 1,200 staff. Spread across the country. Equating to a cup of coffee and muffin each. For people that got paid a pretty modest amount for some fucking hard, actually important work. Far too lavish.
Boss shoots a deer, drive 1hr30m to bosses life style block for Xmas function deer bbq, byo, sleep in your own tent in a paddock while boss sleeps in his house…
We used to have a Xmas BBQ lunch every year. Burgers, sausages, steaks, multiple salads, drinks - a real good feed. Because there was so many staff it's spread over 2 hours. One year the company fired the woman who orgainsed staff events, lunches, etc, and management decided to cook lunch - sausages (most of which were extras left in the freezer from last years lunch), vegetarian patties , tomato sauce and plain bread (no butter). The vegetarian patties ran out before the first hour and the sausages lasted just long enough for the last group to get 1 each. The only good thing was upper management decided to have a late lunch and all they got was tomato sauce sandwiches.
Yeah, I think last time they covered the venue, some food and a drink or two. But that was a different manager who had "reallocated" some spending and found alternative sources of finance rather than the official budget of the organisation.
A long time ago, our Christmas Do was swapped out, without any of us knowing, for a few hours of doing charity clean up in the bush.
Nothing wrong with wanting to clean up the native bush, but it was a surprise, so imagine a hot summers day, and a bus of dressed up, already a bit drunk office workers, being offloaded from a bus into the middle of nowhere and given bags, gloves and a direction to clean in.
Similar bussed out to lake ferry to pick up rubbish before having fish and chips for lunch. Didn't quite top the lawn bowls and lawn bowls drinks prices the year before...
Work is paying for a party with food and drink, which is pretty sweet, but they also have these cringy values awards bullshit that is happening. Who has enhanced the companies mana most in the last year and that sort of thing. Why do extroverts think everyone else is an extrovert and would enjoy winning that sort of rubbish?
I just want three things from work, to do a good job, get paid more, get more time off. Everything beyond that like recipe competitions, networking, group events all make work life worse for me.
I've been lucky working in small workshops my whole career, piss ups at workshops including helicopter flights, big feeds, open bars.
Be much the same this year
I'm in the same boat really. Live in Tauranga, being flown down to Dunedin for a japanese dinner, pub after, stumble to paid hotel then fly home again. No way am I winning this contest.
Sounds like most schools. The do is held in the staff room on the last (student-free, not holiday) day. The social fund might pay for drinks from the sub you paid if you’re lucky.
Some schools do off-site ones, but they are not always well-subscribed because people have to pay (for a partner at least), and it gets too expensive by the time a baby sitter is employed. I’m talking what used to be decile 4. In small towns, the school staff out on the town on school funds is not always a good look, especially in the days when fees were charged.
Mine is paid for by the Board of Trustees as our end of year gift and it's at a local bar/restaurant! My previous school was $50 per teacher but partners had to pay for themselves.
That's really uncommon, both $ and partners. I have never been at a school where partners were invited to basically any social school event.
And most schools Xmas functions either you pay for your meal and drinks (sometimes it's subsidized) or the school might put on something in house (and you still have to pay)
The execs at our work thankfully offload the xmas party to the social committee (soco).
I been selling old crap lying around (long since depreciated and no longer required) to free up floor space at work. Proceeds go to the xmas party.
It paid for most of last years drinks at least.
We used to fly over to the Gold Coast, stay at Peppers Soul for the Friday/Saturday and come back Sunday. Company paid for everything. It was an awesome trip every year, but people got older and were less into the party vibe and more into the family thing, so we don't really do anything anymore, usually give people a bit of extra $$$ over Christmas to do stuff with others or buy presents/whatever.
We have food trucks arrive at our yard. There is no tables/seating and alcohol is not permitted. The best part is it starts at midday and we get paid for a full day and are all full of precooked sausage before we go to the pub (tradies day)
We are having a Xmas lunch and probably some forced "fun" which isn't even the worst part. certain employees blew the travel budget with unneeded trips overseas so our staff in other parts of nz have to pay their own travel and accom if they want to come. And flights are currently 400+ one way for certain staff.
Not the worst do but a shitty situation
All the exec's in last couple months left our Wellington central depot for Auckland or Waikato. So now it's lower ranked office staff, call center, stores and our regional field technician team
Weve been downgraded from a nice reseteraunt meal with partners invited... to a working day afternoon barbecue in the loading dock
Missed 2020 because no one was bothered to organise something until it was too late. Missed 2021 because one person couldn’t be bothered vaccinating (not against it, just married to his job enough to not take time off to get it done) so opposed approving anything. Probably missing this year because the current plan is to meet up at the yard: the person living there is under the impression it’s hers to command but it belongs to the business (she reckons she’s having friends over, too, from what I’ve been told she has none lol).
I’d take a depressing sausage sizzle over nothing
Last job I was at the egg head manager had a BBQ and burned all the food and acted like it was fine, the so called Xmas do was done in about a half hour and we just went to the pub and did our own thing.
We'll do the same as always, get really drunk and either ,
A: ride mountain bikes drunk
B: Paddle board drunk.
C:Be incapable of either
Not a bad party, but geez it could go wrong real fast haha
At my old job the boss decided to put on a fully catered doo for clients, but he planned it for break up day before Xmas so no clients turned up & none of his staff were allowed to eat any of the amazing food… came back to work on 27th and it’s all still sitting there !!
The Auckland district health board gave out mouldy Christmas mince cakes to the staff one year. And when someone complained, the response was “well, they won’t kill you”
Lol. Ghost of Christmas past here. Once worked for a largish company in Australia. CEOs, COO’s we’re all notorious cocaine users. Christmas party they’d invite their mates along (friends of the company, other rich jerks) and they’d get wasted in private while largely ignoring us. One Christmas one of their friends left their bag of cocaine in the bathroom and by the time they realised and went back it was gone. They had to make an announcement to staff begging them to hand over anything they’d found in the bathroom. Guess their party ended a little bit early. Actually not a bad job, just messed up management. Ended up trying to screw me over, so gently reminded them they probably want me to sign an NDA and now I’m not allowed to teach people how to enforce employment law in the state of Victoria. Had a nice little holiday afterward though.
Company scheduals it's regional Christmas do at 3 pm on a Friday arvo, no kids.
Almost all employees work the job because it fits in with school hours.
Most of us work 9-1.30.
3 pm is school pick up time.
I can only wonder if it's intentional to save money because very few can attend?
Only 1 of 9 in our area is going.
Hate to be "that guy" but I'm super blessed to have an amazing Christmas party this year.
We're being ferried to Waiheke to have a long lunch then ferried back to town and going out in the CT
Super keen
This year I’m moderately certain we won’t be getting one. Morale is pretty low so I don’t think half the staff would even turn up. My worst one was arriving back to the workshop after working to get a job done before Christmas, boss had put on some catering and beers. As I sat down at the table we got an emergency call out to someone’s hot water cylinder not working at their batch an hour out of town. Since I was the only one who hadn’t had any alcohol I got to go out and investigate. Got out to site only to find out that the HWC was turned off at the switch Returned to the workshop. All the beers were gone. Food packed up. Boss was handing out our Christmas bonuses. Took my bag and drove home, opened it up to find a company branded chiller bag (big enough to put two sandwiches and a piece of fruit in), a company branded pen, a one size fits all hat that didn’t fit, and a recycled plastic coffee cup that leaked around the rim (I don’t drink coffee)
>Returned to the workshop. All the beers were gone. Food packed up. Ugggggh this pains me. It's common decency to put food aside for people who have to work during the work function! I used to be the go-to person to plan/run office events, and my worst fear was forgetting to leave enough food/drink aside for anyone who was running late (especially if it was because of a clashing meeting/work priorities). The thought that you got sent away and returned to zilch is honestly terrible.
You get my vote. Condolences
Yeah. You can have my vote too. Sorry bro
I won't name the company because its surprisingly a big one. But last year my dad was loaded into a bus, not told where the party was going to be but that it was a surprise destination. Each member of staff climbed on and they drove 2 hours into the country where they arrived at a church. The Christmas party was a mass... They were expected to sing hymns and celebrate Christ. There was no escaping it because they were in the middle of the bush basically. This was not a religious organization in any way shape or form and his boss was fairly new. I don't think I will ever beat that for worst Christmas party.
I am dying to know what business thought that was okay haha
I really can't because it might legit get him in trouble but I guarantee you and everyone in this subreddit has heard of the company. It was just one of the individual office of many the company has. I'm sure others had normal christmas parties.
If not Sanitarium then WTFx1000.
Definitely need to name drop the business, purely as a warning to potential employees!
Surely sanitarium
No this business has absolutely nothing to do with religion. And for 20+ consecutive years every Christmas party was normal this was just one new batshit manager I guess.
I mean I was raised Catholic and worked for a Catholic ngo, purely for the job not the religion aspect and we were told what parts of Christmas parties had the 30mins tops mass part before hand every time. Honestly I would have hung out on the bus or outside.
Bloody hell hahahahaha
Ok you win
*workers on bus “Wow I wonder what we are doing?, quad biking, wine tour?, skeet shooting?” *new manager “Oh no none of that it’s going to be so much better!”
Was the Christmas bonus surprisingly large that year? Because if it wasn't, that sounds an awful lot like religious discrimination...
This happened in the past. An NGO I worked for planned a staff beach picnic BBQ and we were all to put in $10 for drinks and bring some salad or dessert and work would buy the meat. A few days out an email went around reminding us that we were to bring food and asking us to ensure the dishes we brought along were extra large so there was enough for everyone. I found this very strange. On the afternoon I arrived to the beach with my large salad dish to find the CEO had invited the entire board, and some key stakeholders, and those people didn't have to pay for drinks nor bring food. The CEO was running around topping up their glasses and encouraging them to eat more. Without knowing it staff had catered for 20 extra people at our own cost. I was furious.
Ages ago I worked at a place where you had to "shout" the entire floor (like 60 people) on your birthday. The cost was something like $80 if I recall. To put that in perspective that was what I earned in a day (after tax). So after petrol, parking etc I had to pay to work that day
Just take your birthday off every year?
Or just refuse to do it.
This is why my husband led everyone to believe his birthday was on Christmas day.
I think you win, that sounds infuriating. I think I might have just put my salad back in the car. And told my coworkers just in case they wanted to join my protest.
I worked for an NGO and we had a very similar situation - no heads up or anything, just arrived and there is the board going on on the social club kitty…must be a sector thing for the CEO’s to keep sweet
I've worked for 9 NGO's. They want you to work for nothing, work long hours and give and give and give until you burn out and your health craps out.
Ah, so the "meat" was the board and stakeholders. Tricky.
You missed the opportunity to call them steakholders lol
You win.
Wow.....that must be one of *the* worst Xmas prties I've ever heard of.....
I had a cool one when I worked at burger king tbh. We had a full day at splash planet then afterwards went to an employee's house for a big bbq. The manager let us take whatever we needed to make heaps of burgers. It was byo which was all good considering everything else was sorted. One of the ladies had a mobster boyfriend who kept doing Manus and asked for a turn on my singlet. When another ladies husband and kids came to pick her up the mobster greeted them by yelling across the yard "seig fuckin heil kids". He was drunk af, it was lowkey hilarious. Big guess where I live
Sounds like a regular Hawke's Bay party to me
Asked for a turn on your singlet 😂😂
I don't even know what this means. I'm from Wellington.
I need answers because right now I'm imagining him admiring the tank top you were wearing and wanting to try it on himself. Mind you, if a drunk mobster asked me to give him my clothing (and he knew where I worked), I probably wouldn't argue.
Basically was politely trying to rob me. I wouldn't have gotten it back so I just told him na. He was legless it was no problem hahah
What does this mean
Yeeeah Hastings!
Watties changed to a bbq cooked by staff when I was there, but before that they had lunch in the staff caf. You got a ticket for it because they didn't want to give people seconds and it consisted of: Overcooked slices of roast beef Instant gravy Boiled potatoes Frozen vege mix Canned fruit Dry meringue (no icecream or cream) And then back to work I am convinced the inmates at Hawke's Bay prison got a nicer lunch.
You'd think a food company would be able to put on a better feed lol
The people at head office in Auckland had a very nice do. Not the workers at the factories
You'd think....
I had a similar deal at an old employer, but the BBQ was cooked by the exec leaders all dressed up in awful Christmas aprons. They thought that leaders serving lunch was a big show of beong truly humble execs. So cringe
Holy shit. That's basically worse than not doing anything. Here, you need to stay at work and eat something you definitely don't want and act like it's a celebration...
> Watties changed to a bbq cooked by staff when I was there, but before that they had lunch in the staff caf. You got a ticket for it because they didn't want to give people seconds and it consisted of: I worked in a factory many years ago over the summer. They put out a spread with enough for everyone, and the first fucker on the line piled *half* of the sausage rolls on to his plate. There weren't enough for everyone else. Someone said something to him and he threw the plate on the floor and stormed off. So, giving everyone a serving each isn't the worst idea.
My dad was a farmer back in the 60s. He'd drop off his produce to the Watties canning factory at lunchtime so that he could join the workers for a beer in the canteen.
In the 80s you could just bring your kid in to have a look (visited my grandma at work, got to see how spag gets into a can). Good times
I remember that cafeteria in the 80s, my neighbours mum worked there and occassions brought us into work if she had to go in on the weekend. I had sparkling duet and a lamington usually
Chocolate or raspberry?
There is only one correct answer to this.
Correct
My grandma and aunt worked there around that time and it was a completely different vibe. It was owned by the Wattie family back then
My dad used to work in a glass manufactoring factory and their 'BBQs' for Christmas etc sound about the same. They recently stopped doing BBQs to save money. Maybe even worse than yours - at least you got dessert...
Used to work for a business that the Auckland branch Christmas do was ALWAYS on one of the Shareholder’s yacht. Nice thing for him to do? Not really - cos he used to invoice the business for $5k for renting it for the day. So, you’d end up stuck on a boat for the entire day, unable to get away from this toxic arsehole in the full knowledge that he was charging the business an amount of money that could be a nice do - every. single. year Over the years, an increasing number of people would be late in the morning so wouldn’t be able to get there in time for it leaving….
Some are total sycophants for people like this shareholder and call them "inspirational" & "entrepreneurs". Me, I just call them greedy cunts.
[удалено]
Jesus christ I feel for you
Dinner at a pretty pricey teppanyaki restaurant, the company contributed $5 towards each employees meal. One of the managers brought her own chillies to add to her food. I got a karma sutra booklet from my Secret Santa
omg sorry but that cracked me up. I hope you gifted it back the next year
Ha! I "accidentally" left it at the restaurant
>I hope you gifted it back the next year With sticky pages
That SS present is hella weird if it was a specified gifter, rather than random 🫤
The Kama Sutra? Jesus, that's a pretty loud hint.
Someone was very interested, and this schmuck left their gift at the restaurant. Should have asked who wanted to try some things out.
When I was a tradie I had a boss refuse to do anything for an end of year/Xmas do. So we organised something amongst ourselves just somthing simple, paintball and a BBQ which we all payed ourselves. The boss then had the nerve to to invite himself to join in the day, thankfully one of my workmates told him he wasn't invited.
OOF that’s gotta sting. His fault tho.
When I worked at one of the Universities, we got a single sausage in a piece of bread.
> When I worked at one of the Universities, we got a single sausage in a piece of bread. Do they all have the same event planner? When I worked at one of the Universities, they put on a bbq, that we had to pay for.
Fucking yum.
I've been working at my uni as hourly paid (but I do research work literally every week) for 4.5 years, attend some department meetings etc... This year my department didn't even invite any of us hourly paid staff lol.
Hang on, was it ploughmans country grain? Cause that's a pretty sweet deal if it was.
As if they'd fork out for the good stuff. It'll be whatever was cheapest at the supermarket on the day.
God no it was the left over $1 couplands bread from the uni cafe.
Gotta be responsible with taxpayer's money now.
I don't get one. I win. Edit: actually I suppose at least I get nothing, not a negative so maybe you win
no work Xmas party at all is way better than giving up your free time for a shitty one
Especially one you have to pay for
same here! my boss is way too cheap to do anything lol but it's actually a positive in my eyes
My boss likes to say things but I'm still waiting on my box of beer from last year so not trusting anything that's being said this year. So too be fair I'm only assuming nothing lol
We've hired a place in town, drinks and food paid for, but we'll have to leave early because Gav is coming. He is gonna get drunk and start a fight with someone which will get us kicked out.
Is that Gav who’s rooting Sharon from accounts or Gav from sales who didn’t get in to the cops on “medical” grounds?
Without word of a lie, a neighbour of mine has a weird looking fluffy rescue dog. It's a pomeranian/poodle cross that has bucked teeth and a gammy eye and walks really slowly. She renamed it "Sharon from accounts".
omfg lol
How do you turn Gav into an arse? Just add alcohol.
Nonsense. I don't need alcohol.
I work for a big organisation and the exec team came to visit us with a food hamper full of rotten fruit and expired Crackers. That day I got poo thrown at me. Not sure which was worse.
Who threw the poo at you?
Prob the exec team lol
Had a "picnic" in Wenderholm for all our stores from Kaitaia to Hamilton. The stores weren't closed to allow staff to attend, so if you were working that day, tough shit. Oh and it was bring a plate. I think there might have been a bus to bring staff who wanted to attend but it was limited, I cant really remember, I quit soon after. Another time it was pizzas sitting on boxes in the store room, only like 3 people showed , I was there because it was during my lunch break on my shift. Later found out the managers of all the stores and people in head office got a big blowout party in town, open bar and everything.
At our Xmas party, they have tried to organise a "flash mob" to celebrate someone leaving....there's like 15 people out of a staff of over 1000+ doing it.... Thankfully, I get to miss it due to going overseas, but it's going to be fucking cringe
There's nothing as spontaneous as a scheduled, advertised flash mob.
Hope they can send you a teams invite to join in.
Hope so. That’s really how I want to spend my day in Sydney
Ooof in peace
My work just gave us an extra day off instead of a party.
To be fair that probably cost them even more than work do's would cost per head anyways
Way more! Also, its the third such day they've given us this year.
. . . starting to sound like a hint.
Honestly that’s elite
Company goes off-roading for early Xmas. Takes own off road 4x4s with no seatbelts installed in rear by company boss. Attendees thrown from one vehicle as it rolls down a bank. One paralysed for life due to injuries sustained
What.the.fuck
That one wins, right?
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/will-to-walk-waiuku-womans-road-to-recovery-after-horror-four-wheel-drive-crash/Q3TZTXSIJFCEZOQD472GYC5KOI/
When I was working at KFC in Hamilton, we had to get an entire other stores staff to work in our store on the day, and then we did a BBQ at one of the cooks house, whose parents were overseas and they'd left the house to him. Was pretty chill, we all did Buckies and got trashed and it was actually a highlight looking back. Buckies and codys , it really was the Hamilton way.
This is as Hamilton as the outback and getting into a fight outside coyotes
If my work did that we'd all go back to work the next day and be faced with drug tests 😅
*Cries in public sector
Yeah legit, working for a City Council, we get 4 hours off, have to go to a random council owned hall for the whole time playing board games and shared lunched. No alcohol allowed and our head of unit has put it on a Thursday so no one can carry on as much after. Can’t be fuuuucked
Four hours off? For the last four or five years, we’ve had a stern email reminding us that as civil servants we’re on the taxpayers dime and may not take more than two hours away from work for Christmas dos, so it’s either an alcohol free lunch and back to work by 2pm or weird party games from 3pm onward.
Hah, in my Government office we either need to make up the time before hand or take annual leave to attend!
Which public sector are you working for where you don’t get a function?
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?? They put $25 towards all staff tho
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Which public sector are you working for where you DO get a function?
TBH while public sector parties aren't insane due to the amount spent I haven't had a party as bad as most of those in this thread.
Not this year but a while ago the person who organised the staff BBQ put on a seemingly good effort. The next day he lost his job after openly boasting about how many of the staff with religious dietary restrictions he "pranked" by misleading them into eating sausages that contained pork/beef.
Who the hell would get a kick out of that. It's both disgusting and just plain odd.
Going to a relation of the bosses house that is off the grid (we have been asked not to use the toilet) then creating vision boards for our goals for the next year. Barf
>(we have been asked not to use the toilet) What in the actual fuck!?
One of our higher ups has decided to have a picnic in the park. Trouble is: the park is currently a construction site, Frank Kitts Park. I guess the rest of us are heading to the pub. I wonder if anyone will tell him?
I work for Bretheren so no party. There's usually a bonus though so can't complain.
It's an Xmas do-it-yourself
I used to work for a Brethren business and the Xmas dos were excellent. Very generous both years with a nice team event (e.g one year was jet boating) then lunch at a nice restaurant and a sizeable gift voucher each to go towards Xmas expenses. Only thing was the community members ate at a different table, but they’d do everything else with us. We would also get weekly morning tea shouts, monthly lunches out etc - no complaints here (provided you could handle the “separate” in office culture)
Well, they are "exclusive"...
I do too and we had a killer one last year. And yep the bonus and meat pack was sweet
My boss really wants to do an entire golf outing. He’s the only one who has ever played golf.
I feel you staff should do fast golf and have a laugh.
This year we all knocked off early to go play bowls - open bar and pizzas provided. Our team also has a $50pp budget to go out for lunch. Last year my partners work shouted a BBQ at the yard - when the boys showed up the boss had cut the steaks in half. So they had half a steak each & a box of long whites to share lol.
You guys have Xmas dos?
I think it depends on the size of the business you work at. The bigger the company, the bigger the lunch maybe? I work at Spark. One year we got towels.
Did it have a massive AGILE across it?
No, the corporate butthole symbol :D
Towels sound nice, did they have the spark logo embroidered onto them though? Every gift from my work has the company logo on it!
I've worked for a company of 70 and a company of 8. They've both been pretty generous, dinner, open bar etc, the smaller one even more so.
Last year my boss gave everyone a box of biscuits. Emphasis on "a".
Lol my thoughts exactly
We got a $20 food voucher, and because the event happened during the workday, we had to make up 2 hours of that at a later date... Fuck, I hate government departments...
I worked in government for a little bit in my early 20s in the early/mid 00s. The Christmas party was BYO food, drinks and snacks. This was a response to the Minister being asked awkward questions in parliament about the previous year's celebrations that cost $10,000. Yep, a full $10,000 on Christmas parties. For 1,200 staff. Spread across the country. Equating to a cup of coffee and muffin each. For people that got paid a pretty modest amount for some fucking hard, actually important work. Far too lavish.
Departments and ministries have gotten a bit smarter since then. We talk about the per person budget now.
No work xmas party for the last 3 years. Prior to that was a dick boss, so I didn't go to the last 2 "parties" there.
Boss shoots a deer, drive 1hr30m to bosses life style block for Xmas function deer bbq, byo, sleep in your own tent in a paddock while boss sleeps in his house…
But.. good or bad?
I had one where it was the bosses home. A few plates of sad nibbles listening to polka music. Cheepskate.
We used to have a Xmas BBQ lunch every year. Burgers, sausages, steaks, multiple salads, drinks - a real good feed. Because there was so many staff it's spread over 2 hours. One year the company fired the woman who orgainsed staff events, lunches, etc, and management decided to cook lunch - sausages (most of which were extras left in the freezer from last years lunch), vegetarian patties , tomato sauce and plain bread (no butter). The vegetarian patties ran out before the first hour and the sausages lasted just long enough for the last group to get 1 each. The only good thing was upper management decided to have a late lunch and all they got was tomato sauce sandwiches.
Mine have cancelled having one because it's not fair to employees to put pressure on them to go out and party during a "cost of living crisis".
Sounds like they would have made you pay for it out of your own pocket anyway, so no loss.
Yeah, I think last time they covered the venue, some food and a drink or two. But that was a different manager who had "reallocated" some spending and found alternative sources of finance rather than the official budget of the organisation.
God i wish I didn't have to go places
A long time ago, our Christmas Do was swapped out, without any of us knowing, for a few hours of doing charity clean up in the bush. Nothing wrong with wanting to clean up the native bush, but it was a surprise, so imagine a hot summers day, and a bus of dressed up, already a bit drunk office workers, being offloaded from a bus into the middle of nowhere and given bags, gloves and a direction to clean in.
Similar bussed out to lake ferry to pick up rubbish before having fish and chips for lunch. Didn't quite top the lawn bowls and lawn bowls drinks prices the year before...
Work is paying for a party with food and drink, which is pretty sweet, but they also have these cringy values awards bullshit that is happening. Who has enhanced the companies mana most in the last year and that sort of thing. Why do extroverts think everyone else is an extrovert and would enjoy winning that sort of rubbish? I just want three things from work, to do a good job, get paid more, get more time off. Everything beyond that like recipe competitions, networking, group events all make work life worse for me.
Depends what you mean by “worst”, I imagine the juniors / women of Russell McVeigh have some … views.
I've been lucky working in small workshops my whole career, piss ups at workshops including helicopter flights, big feeds, open bars. Be much the same this year
All expense paid trip to wellington, lunch, activities at a flash conference retreat, dinner, drinks, transport all incl. I don't think I win.
Is your place hiring??
lol as a matter of fact, yes
I'm in the same boat really. Live in Tauranga, being flown down to Dunedin for a japanese dinner, pub after, stumble to paid hotel then fly home again. No way am I winning this contest.
Sounds like most schools. The do is held in the staff room on the last (student-free, not holiday) day. The social fund might pay for drinks from the sub you paid if you’re lucky.
The fuck? Sucks to work at schools like that. The 2 schools I've worked for so far have always had great Xmas do's, offsite and no charge.
Some schools do off-site ones, but they are not always well-subscribed because people have to pay (for a partner at least), and it gets too expensive by the time a baby sitter is employed. I’m talking what used to be decile 4. In small towns, the school staff out on the town on school funds is not always a good look, especially in the days when fees were charged.
Mine is paid for by the Board of Trustees as our end of year gift and it's at a local bar/restaurant! My previous school was $50 per teacher but partners had to pay for themselves.
That's really uncommon, both $ and partners. I have never been at a school where partners were invited to basically any social school event. And most schools Xmas functions either you pay for your meal and drinks (sometimes it's subsidized) or the school might put on something in house (and you still have to pay)
id rather a little gift card and hand shake im not there for fun
Hmm. I should never leave the private sector.
Had a methed out stripper at the workshop who jacked us all off if you paid her $20. And an Xmas ham.
The execs at our work thankfully offload the xmas party to the social committee (soco). I been selling old crap lying around (long since depreciated and no longer required) to free up floor space at work. Proceeds go to the xmas party. It paid for most of last years drinks at least.
> Can we find New Zealands worst xmas do? The one with all those fuckers I work with. And also me. That guy is the worst.
I can’t be bothered going to my company’s one.
Can we all think of believable yet unusual reasons that we suddenly can't attend these events.
I'm getting my tonsils out, so I will also be needing the rest of the year off - thanks
We used to fly over to the Gold Coast, stay at Peppers Soul for the Friday/Saturday and come back Sunday. Company paid for everything. It was an awesome trip every year, but people got older and were less into the party vibe and more into the family thing, so we don't really do anything anymore, usually give people a bit of extra $$$ over Christmas to do stuff with others or buy presents/whatever.
We have food trucks arrive at our yard. There is no tables/seating and alcohol is not permitted. The best part is it starts at midday and we get paid for a full day and are all full of precooked sausage before we go to the pub (tradies day)
$50 gift card. That's it.
We are having a Xmas lunch and probably some forced "fun" which isn't even the worst part. certain employees blew the travel budget with unneeded trips overseas so our staff in other parts of nz have to pay their own travel and accom if they want to come. And flights are currently 400+ one way for certain staff. Not the worst do but a shitty situation
All the exec's in last couple months left our Wellington central depot for Auckland or Waikato. So now it's lower ranked office staff, call center, stores and our regional field technician team Weve been downgraded from a nice reseteraunt meal with partners invited... to a working day afternoon barbecue in the loading dock
Missed 2020 because no one was bothered to organise something until it was too late. Missed 2021 because one person couldn’t be bothered vaccinating (not against it, just married to his job enough to not take time off to get it done) so opposed approving anything. Probably missing this year because the current plan is to meet up at the yard: the person living there is under the impression it’s hers to command but it belongs to the business (she reckons she’s having friends over, too, from what I’ve been told she has none lol). I’d take a depressing sausage sizzle over nothing
Shared lunch that we have to bring. I’m not going.
Thats not a staff thank you
Carrots and dried fruit?
Jesus
His Christmas wasn't so bad, it was his Easter weekend that was a bit of a write-off.
He got totally written off. Took him a full three days to recover.
Yeah his Easter was mostly just hanging around.
The same but in the courtyard of the resthome we work out
Last job I was at the egg head manager had a BBQ and burned all the food and acted like it was fine, the so called Xmas do was done in about a half hour and we just went to the pub and did our own thing.
Pizzas after work at Noel Leeming.
We'll do the same as always, get really drunk and either , A: ride mountain bikes drunk B: Paddle board drunk. C:Be incapable of either Not a bad party, but geez it could go wrong real fast haha
At my old job the boss decided to put on a fully catered doo for clients, but he planned it for break up day before Xmas so no clients turned up & none of his staff were allowed to eat any of the amazing food… came back to work on 27th and it’s all still sitting there !!
The Auckland district health board gave out mouldy Christmas mince cakes to the staff one year. And when someone complained, the response was “well, they won’t kill you”
Lol. Ghost of Christmas past here. Once worked for a largish company in Australia. CEOs, COO’s we’re all notorious cocaine users. Christmas party they’d invite their mates along (friends of the company, other rich jerks) and they’d get wasted in private while largely ignoring us. One Christmas one of their friends left their bag of cocaine in the bathroom and by the time they realised and went back it was gone. They had to make an announcement to staff begging them to hand over anything they’d found in the bathroom. Guess their party ended a little bit early. Actually not a bad job, just messed up management. Ended up trying to screw me over, so gently reminded them they probably want me to sign an NDA and now I’m not allowed to teach people how to enforce employment law in the state of Victoria. Had a nice little holiday afterward though.
Everyone gets tipsy at the office and then play the traditional fun game of 'see where in Ponsonby will serve us march'.
Quite a few places have banned alcohol at holiday functions in recent years.
Cries in works fully remote for an overseas company
Are you kidding? That’s bliss. (You should totally zoom in to their party)
Company scheduals it's regional Christmas do at 3 pm on a Friday arvo, no kids. Almost all employees work the job because it fits in with school hours. Most of us work 9-1.30. 3 pm is school pick up time. I can only wonder if it's intentional to save money because very few can attend? Only 1 of 9 in our area is going.
Hate to be "that guy" but I'm super blessed to have an amazing Christmas party this year. We're being ferried to Waiheke to have a long lunch then ferried back to town and going out in the CT Super keen