Every year produces a slew of new knucklehead bosses who have no common sense when it comes to gift giving. Here are seven incredibly bad gifts employees have received.
CBS MoneyWatch and Inc.com recently asked people to write in and describe their worst gift-receiving experiences, and the responses were memorable. Here are the worst of the worst:
- The bonus that you pay for. At Christmas, one employee received an envelope containing $100. Thinking it was a holiday bonus, the man spent it on gifts, groceries and a night out. A week later, his paycheck was $100 lighter. Ouch!
- Dinner’s not on me. One boss invited his entire staff to a lavish New York City restaurant. While there, he suggested that his employees try some of the most expensive items on the menu. When it was time to pay, he asked for separate checks.
- The rubber check. One boss, who didn’t have many friends inside or outside the office, was so touched when his six employees took him out to a holiday lunch that he wrote them all bonus checks. Later the office manager told each employee not to cash them, because they’d bounce.
- The disturbingly small gift card. One employee said her company gave everyone a grocery store gift card. The value? $7.58.
- Taxes not included. One theme park employee said her boss gave employees a gift certificate for one of the in-park vendor stands worth … get this … a medium soda or a banana. When the employee selected a banana, she was told the certificate didn’t cover sales tax, so she had to pay it herself.
- Day-old snacks. A legal secretary said her boss came into the office one day proclaiming, “When I was in law school, I couldn’t afford good coffee and fresh pastries.” And apparently he still couldn’t. Rather than surprising his employees with fresh treats, he said “All I could afford were day-old muffins,” before tossing them to workers around the office. Stale muffins … yummy.
- The adult regifter. Around the holidays, one bad boss landed a new client — an adult toy manufacturer. To celebrate … you guessed it, he gave his employees sample’s of the manufacturer’s goods. Need we say more?
Info: For a refresher on to handle the taxation of fringe benefits given around the holidays, click here for our breakdown of the IRS’ rules.
