Well…
I work for a company involved in a certain industry in which bonuses are standard. They are discretionary, and are based on individual performance and the company’s fiscal health. But they usually approach and often surpass base salary. And base salary is ridiculously high.
Before I get mobbed, let me add that, being back office, I can look at those figures and laugh. While crying. Not for me, nope nope.
I’ve never gotten anything but token bonuses, usually around the price of a fancy box of Godiva chocolates. But our regular incentive plans were based on our performance, and they were good
In the early 80’s, while I was, well, ‘between engagements’ I did weekend overnights on a radio station. I made $75/week. That Christmas I got the only bonus of my life, a gift certificate from a local electronics store for $125. I was king of the world!
My wife just got a bonus of 1% of her salary.
My company has announced that a bonus will be paid before Christmas, but nobody has any idea how it will be calculated or when exactly it’s even coming.
This is the first year I’ve been with this company, but I am not expecting one. The company is doing well though, so maybe…
We typically get in the neighborhood of $300 or so. Considering how about 1/4 of us were laid off about two years ago and the rest of us had to take 10% pay cuts, I’m perfectly content.
My bonuses were deposited into our bank account today. The gross this year amounted to around 12% of my base salary.
We get two different bonuses at this company. The first is a corporate-wide bonus system, called a long-term bonus, and is basically a dividend paid out as wages on a per share basis – the more shares you own in the company, the bigger the total, so people who’ve been around for a long time, who have more shares, get a bigger bonus. This one is based on the profitability of the company as a whole and this year amounted to around 10% of the share value. I should note that this is a 100% employee-owned company, so if you’re looking to invest in this sweet ROI, you’re shit out of luck, unless you can get hired on.
The second bonus is District-specific and is based on a mostly top-secret formula, which is a combination of District profitability and individual performance. One of the elements that is specifically measured and monitored is safety performance: meeting all your targets earns you a 10% bump on your bonus, while missing all your targets results in you losing 10%, with most people coming in somewhere in the middle or better. This year, my District bonus was identical to last year’s and roughly the same as my Long Term bonus.
I should also note that this is the only company I’ve ever worked at where bonuses were forthcoming in any meaningful way. In jobs past, us peons might have been given a Christmas dinner or been given a $10 or $20 gift certificate, but more often than not, got nothing but a “thanks for coming in… see you on the 27th.” I may not love my job, but I will admit that working for a company in the Top 50 Best Companies To Work For does have some real upside. 
I work offshore and I have heard that we will be getting a bonus at the end of the year for “safety.” Evidently, the more safety meetings you go to, and as long as you are never caught being unsafe, or if you do something that really helps make the workplace safer, you get a bonus. I’m in a desk job position so I don’t really deal with safety, so my bonus will probably be very small. Still nice to get rewarded for being safe though!
I get one. It’s big. The company is privately held, and the owner makes up a multiplier to an incentive program based on personal performance and profits. Then they put another amount into your 401K also based on profits. It’s pretty good, but I preferred the system I had when I ran my own business. At the end of the year, if there was any money left over, I kept it.
I got my bonus today. It is essentially 1 day’s pay. Still, better than a slap in the belly with a wet fish!
Are you a tech-support wizard on both Windows and *nix who speaks English as well as one or more of French/German/Spanish/Italian and able to relocate to the UK? That’s what we’re looking for right now.
No Christmas bonus for me. 
I worked for a subsidiary of a big home improvement retail big box. You know the one.
First couple of years there they gave us a $25 gift card plus a 10% coupon to said big box. Ummmm… ok. You would be hard-pressed to have found something in our high end subsidiary for $25. Next couple of years they did away with the gift card and just gave the 10% coupon. I ripped it up and threw it out. Then they did away with the coupons. Then almost 3 years ago in January we got news that they were closing ALL the subsidiaries and, no, none of the big boxes would be absorbing us. Merry Christmas.
Before the economy got crappy (yeah, there has been a decline long before this current recession started) and I had to subject myself to such a place, I did have jobs where I got bonuses. Usually one paycheck (2 weeks’ pay).
Demand one from your boss! Tell her you’ll quit!
(That’s only funny because she is self-employed)
My employer gave out turkeys for a couple of years. The next year, they gave us grocery gift cards in the amount that they had spent on turkeys, which was something like $13.38. If it had been a certificate with the amount printed on it, I would have framed it.
Once, while making barely over minimum wage at a full-time retail job where I had been for about six months, I got a Christmas bonus check for $100.00. That was pretty nice.
LOL! I knew you would catch me.
I’ve worked with my boss for a decade and through three different companies. For the first three years he never gave me a bonus.
Well, once he gave me fifty bucks.
Understand, I worked really hard and did a lot of good work for him. And he could have given me a bonus. I don’t know what happened the year I got that fifty bucks. A visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future, perhaps?
The next two years, nothing. Then we moved to a new company and we began working with a guy that my boss is keen to have see him in a positive light. Suddenly, I’m getting bonuses. But that’s only because my second boss assumes I’ve always gotten paid a bonus, so when he brings it up, first boss goes along with it because he doesn’t want to look bad.
:rolleyes:
This year, my boss spent the majority of it (until September) coming in every day and closing his door. All day, every day, for almost a year. This included the week before Christmas last year when it was just him and I alone in the office. Happy Holidays!
I don’t think I’m getting a bonus this year.
At the school where I used to work, we got a crisp $100 bill. My current school, no bonus, but a decent party (tomorrow, actually). One of the nice perks of being at a private school, though, is a decent chance of an unexpected cash gift from a wealthy parent, as well as a pile of baked goods and candy.
I’ve never received a Christmas bonus. Several of my jobs have had bonus included as part of the salary package but it’s always been paid in Jan/Feb as it’s dependant (partially) on the year end results.
Everyone at my company gets one, ranging from 8 to 80 hours of pay (or two weeks, if salaried) depending on length of service and part- or full-time status.
I got 80, and I could have elected to use 40 of them as a vacation instead if I’d wanted to.