Is this fair (aka Work Christmas Party):

The BBQ Pit
1

Ah, yes. The work Christmas party. The one day every year where fellow associates deem it socially acceptable to get totally obliterated in front of their superiors. Every year without fail, at least one person gets fired because of drunken comments made at the event or because of damage caused at the venue where the event is held. Then, let us not forget about the next day when an average of everyone is late for work.

I was “volunteered” to work the Saturday after the Christmas party this year, and I think a large part of the reason why is because I don’t drink. The problem is, the shift starts at 6:30 AM, and the Christmas party ends at 1:00 AM. In other words, essentially, I was screwed out of the second half of the party because of the company’s misguided belief that people who are responsible should be punished. That is no problem for me…I have gotten where I am today by taking one for the company every once in awhile.

So 10:00 PM comes around, and I figure I had better get going so I can get some sleep for the shift which was imposed upon me the next morning. I left the party at 10:15. I got to bed by 11:00 just in time to get about six hours of sleep. That is just about enough for me.

The next morning comes around. There are five of us scheduled to work, me at 6:30, and four other fellows at 8:00. Ironically, I was the only one who showed up on time. Also, ironically, I was the only one who showed up sober (I sent one guy home because he was too drunk to work). To me, that seems like a serious problem. However, I can keep my mouth shut. Why? Because I know that everyone else, even those who are responsible, would suffer if I opened my mouth.

But then I was informed of the most unfair event of which I have heard in a very long time. It seems that about twenty minutes after I left, a grand prize drawing was held. It was one of several door prizes that were given away over the course of the evening, none of which were announced. This particular prize was a $500 gift certificate to a local mall. Guess what? I won. However, I wasn’t there to claim my prize, so it was given to someone else. In other words, the fact that I got screwed out of the second half of the Christmas party because I had to work the next morning for the company that was holding it screwed me out of $500.

How is that fair?

Before anyone tries to get my goat, let me just add that since I just made a down payment on a house about a month and a half ago, I am very strapped for money this Christmas season. That $500 would have mostly gone for Christmas presents for friends and family…people who would otherwise not be getting anything from me this year. I carefully budget my money, and the money I had put away for Christmas (including travel expenses) was less than half of the value of that gift certificate this year. My mother and sister feel that it is enough of a Christmas present for them if I make the trip to come see them, but I got them each a small gift anyway. Unfortunately, the people who I deem most important, my niece and nephew, won’t be getting anything because I simply don’t have the funds. If I would have won the gift certificate, it would have gone a great deal towards easing my conscious as well as making a little boy and a little girl happy.

I pit my employer for this. What the hell is the sense in having drawings if the people who have to leave early because of work can’t win? I guess I’ll just have to get obliterated next year and not show up for work the next day just so I don’t run the risk of losing such a “prize” again.

That’s all.

2

I’ve got half a can of Resume Polish™ left over that I can send you if you want it… That really sucks.

3

Now that is a ripoff. I have been to several raffles during the last 16 months (they seem to be a way of life here), and I can only remember one where the “winner must be present.”

I know that the various gang of malcontents will be here any minute to say, “Well, those are the rules, so tough noogies.” But having that rule at an office Christmas party is ridiculous. There are always going to be people who have to be working during the Christmas party, and thus not physically present. Hell, I was in that situation myself during our end-of-the-fiscal-year party this year, and I would have been pissed if I’d “won” in similar circumstances.

4

Hey, that fucking sucks no matter how you slice it. How can you be required to be there to win at a company Christmas party? I call bullshit on THAT policy. I’m mad for you, if it’s any consolation at all.

5

That’s pretty bogus. If there were justice, they’d find a way to give you a bonus for showing up the morning after the party, equivalent to the prize you would have won. An even more sensible solution would be, next year, to award door prizes in absentia.

Good for you that your dedication has advanced you at your company, but if the powers that be ignore this slight to you, I’d think about getting out. That’s seriously annoying. Call me offenderatus, but I’d be offended if no effort at making it up to you were made.

6

That TOTALLY sucks.

7

You were robbed. No two ways about it.

Haj

8

When there’s a corporate Christmas party with alcohol, why is it being held on a night before people have to work, anyway? Or when people have to work at 6:30 a.m.? What kind of work do you do, bjohn?

Methinks that you work for a bunch of advantage-taking jackasses. Personally, unless I knew that they were also vindictive jackasses who would fire someone for pointing out an inequity such as this, I’d mention in passing to my boss “You know, you scheduled me to work so early the morning after the party that I had no choice but to leave before the prize drawing. So how is it fair that I was penalized and couldn’t get my prize?” Of course, I wouldn’t try that if it seems likely to cause retribution.

9

That’s just not right. Did you say anything about it to your employer, or are you just going to let it go?

10

I’ll chime in with the chorus of the pissed off. That’s a fucking terrible policy; your supervisors deserve to be beaten in the gonads until they are sterile.

11

Yeah, try and ask your employer-that is just completely and utterly wrong.

12

Thank you for all the responses. Quite frankly, they may be the only positive responses I’ve ever gotten in the pit…or maybe even the only positive ones I’ve ever seen.

I plan on making mention of it. That’s part of the problem, though. With the beaurocracy they have, I don’t know who holds power in this situation. I have no doubt that I will get some sort of settlement as the company is very savvy when it comes to political situations. I don’t like politics. I want things done right without wasting money on deciding whether or not it should be done right.

After pondering this a little, the only thing I really want to see is change. We have way too many people working odd hours and being on call to have a situation where if they got called to work, they would be in the same situation as I am in. The money really isn’t important as the principle of the situation. The kids’ birthdays are just round the corner…I can make it up once I recover from the shock of dumping all of my assest except my job into a house.

A funny thing happens when a person starts referring to his career as a job. Most of my job is writing, which I love to do. The rest is tedious paperwork and talking to customers. Saturdays are usually spent doing tedious paperwork and talking to customers. My attitude wasn’t very good when I left work yesterday. I’ve got another day to at least be postive enough to talk to my boss.

BTW…one of my best friends is the one who ended up winning the gift certificate. He ended up buying me a cool painting for about a quarter of the money he won as a gift. I certainly can’t be too upset about the outcome.

13

That is indeed a raw deal and if I was the “winner” of that raffle, you would have received a check for $250 the next day.

I hope you got a gift receipt with that painting; presents for your niece and nephew are right there. :slight_smile:

14

Yes. That seriously sucks.

But I got a crappy set of glasses from my mum for Xmas that I’ll happily send you as the Consolation Prize if that helps.

:smiley:

15

Your management sounds like a bunch of little children “oooh, bjohn isn’t here, hee hee, he doesn’t get the prize!” This is flat out bullshit. Tell your boss you think it’s bullshit, and you feel very much like you should have stayed at the party and shown up at the office late/unprepared to work just like everyone else did. You made an effort to be professional and provide good labor for the company’s dollar, and got screwed for it.

16

What kind of business are you in? I don’t think that a company should throw a party unless all participants, drunks (people like me) and sobers (people like you) should be allowed the day off the next morning. Why have a party hwne people had to be at work so early the next day? The party could of been held at 6 PM, and ended by 1030 PM. The drunks could get loaded and get home and sleep it off. 1 AM? Hell, that’s past my bedtime on saturday night and I am only 36 years old. I would call bullshit on that one.

If you are an employee in good standing, i would report this to a supervisor, or to a boss in your division. Hey, I had to be at work at 630 AM, It is impossible for me to stay up until 1 AM to claim a prize that I had no knowledge of beforehand. Come on!

Maybe you cannot retrieve that 500 bucks BUT you can probably get the boss’ symapthy to cut down your hours at full pay perhaps?

What business are you in? You did not say (I bet either retail, Fed EX, or postal service)

ET

17

yeah, thats a complete ripoff what the hell’s wrong with going ‘oh, bjohns won it, we’ll sort him out tomorrow because he’s had to work early doors tomorrow while we’ll all be nursing hangovers’.

wrong wrong wrong. If I were in your position i’d be kicking off and no mistake.

18

That is crap and I feel for you.

Complain to your boss, and his boss if that doesn’t work. Rat everyone out who showed up late and drunk the next day. And get your money.

19

I work on the IT helpdesk of a medium-sized company. Our corporate Christmas party is always on a Thursday night, as most of the executives are Jewish, but there is work scheduled the next day. However, the party always has an open bar, and people tend to drink to excess (this year, we only had two casualties serious enough to warrant visits to the emergency room). We on the helpdesk, though, love the day after, because there are no calls whatsoever for most of the day, as those with lesser hangovers slowly filter in to work. :smiley:

20

No good deed goes unpunished.

Serioulsy, I’ve found that ‘taking one for the company’ rarely pays off in my experience.