When you work hard all year for the company that employs you, being given a little bonus to say thank you can be great for morale. Whilst not every company gives out bonuses to employees, some people receive worse than nothing – leaving people wishing their boss really hadn’t bothered. Check out the worst Christmas bonuses people have received that left them feeling completely underwhelmed and insulted.

One year I was given a corporate card and told to run down to Starbucks and pick up $20 gift cards for everyone on the team. I was told “get 18 in total” “No more than 18”

I got 18 and was thinking it was super neat because I’d never gotten anything from work for Christmas before. I knew it wasn’t much but it was something

I put them on my bosses desk he said thanks and that was it.

about 2 hours later he calls me in and asks why I bought 18? I showed him the post it note he gave me and he said ‘oh we only need 17 so I’m going to need you to reimburse me for the last one’

He was serious he made me go to an ATM and get him a $20.

Afterwards he passed them all out and it turns out he actually didn’t need 18, he needed 19.

He then said since they were one short and it was my job to get them I don’t get one. He said he already spent the 20 so he’ll have to get me back later.

He never got me back.

so I got -$20 for a bonus one year. (Grathungar)

The saddest Christmas meal I’ve ever had.

I used to work for an airline and had to work on Christmas most years. Usually the managers would provide a decent meal, either catered from somewhere like Famous Dave’s or bringing in a ham and everything.

The last Christmas before I left the company, the manager decided airplane food would suffice. Literally brought in little individual meals from the airplane catering company that consisted of a few shreds of some unknown grey meat, a small lump of mashed potatoes, and half the meal was bland looking steamed vegetables that absolutely stank. After getting a wiff one coworker said “Only seafood should smell like seafood”. (lhok13)

A water bottle and padded notebook each with a photo of the owner’s dog on it. (Nofa-Kingway)

Not me, but my wife – she’s a home carer. During Covid lockdowns the head office asked them all to come in to pick up their Christmas bonus treat – it was a single fucking tea bag with a bow around it and a mini pack of biscuits – you get more at a cheap hotel complimentary.

That was it, all they got for risking their lives and their families lives on a daily basis while everyone else was marooned at home. (bobbler23)

I’ve been working as a registered nurse for 10 years and I have never gotten anything resembling a Christmas bonus. The only thing that’s different is they don’t charge us for lunch in the cafeteria on Christmas Day. (luneinatube)

Got a $100 “bonus” taxed so came out to $67 Then hr sends out an email next day asking everyone who received a bonus if EQCH PERSON would “pitch in” 25-50$ each towards a bass pro shop gift card for the boss because of “all he does for us”

They asked every one of the 55 employees this.

The same boss whom the year prior gave the server at the Xmas dinner $1200 In tips because she sat on his lap like he was Santa and then proceeded to tell 12 people there they were fucking fired. And wondered why they didn’t show up to work the 27th.

Fuck you ryan. Your a real piece of shit (MA3XON)

I got a letter from corporate letting me know that they had made a donation in my name to a charity. Specifically, to themselves (I work for a non-profit) (justpracticing)

Last year our school gave teachers a plastic bag with: a mini candy candy, a mini hand sanitizer and a single tea bag 😑(didyoubutterthepan)

After busting our asses to achieve the goal for the year, the boss got a FAT check. Mid 5 figures

We got a $5 Starbucks card

…..one….cup….of….coffee. (ntgco)

A box full of candy and beef jerky. It also contained a book written by the CEO of the company about how to be better at your job. (06resurection)

A pen with the company’s name on it. The name was spelled wrong. (moistmoldypigeon)

I worked for a car dealership owned by a billionaire who owns over 100 dealerships and 4 NASCAR teams. One day about a week before Christmas, they called us all in the management tower and gave us all an envelope. They were all smiles and happy and we thought we were getting a Christmas bonus.

It was a Christmas card with a picture of him and his wife on his $27 million dollar yacht.

No money. No gift card. No nothing. Just a picture of a completely self unaware rich prick smiling like a goon.

Thanks a lot.

The worst part were the guys who hung theirs up in their cubicle like he was their buddy or actually cared about them. (rogueleaderfive5)

A case of expired beer. I work for a beer distributor. (IronMethod)

A donut.

Yes, a pink glazed donut with sprinkles on the top. Individually boxed and left on our desks late at night by the internal marketing team.

I got in early to discover mine and enjoy the comments from my co-workers. The most common one was “oh get fucked” as they yeeted it into the trash. (kiss_my_what)

We got cruises one year. We had to book them on the owners credit card, so he could get the points. He also had to approve the dates we took off to go. No one ever got to go on a cruise. (sjortz)

Had a company give me a $0.02 raise once. My supervisor told me I had to sign the piece of paper showing her given it to me. I told him it was an insult that they even took the time to print that and they spent more on paper and ink than the raise was worth. He said “but if you don’t sign it you won’t get your raise?” I asked him if he really thought I’d miss a 2 cent raise on my check and asked him to politely go away. (oxhasbeengreat)

A pair of shoelaces with the bank’s logo on them. (Time_Pay_401)

Godaddy sent us a “$500” Christmas bonus that was actually a phishing email and then gave us a lecture on how we were all so stupid for falling for it and gave the whole company security training again (Wolffoxfangs)

Worked on Christmas day at a fancy hotel because I knew the tips would be insane. And they were! We were get 100s of pounds per table (There about 10 people per table and and about 10 tables). We were busting our ass because not many of us agreed to do work but we really put the effort in once we knew we’d be walking away wit a couple of hundred quid each if not more. The tables were very sympathetic and kept thanking us for working on Christmas day.

The owner of the hotel realized what was going on and came down towards the end of the event and took all the cash, we presumed to split it between us but our manager came down and told the owner was taking it to throw us our Christmas Party. The Christmas party that was already booked and paid for and included about 80 other staff who didn’t want to work on Christmas Day. (Vampyrebyte)

A certificate of achievement. At a printing company. I ran the machines, so I had to print it for the boss that gave it to me. (dovahkiinvusrodah)

My work promised us a a Christmas bonus during covid. We had never gotten one before, but we had double the normal amount of work and half the employees. When our check came with the bonus I didn’t see any difference. When I dug into it I found out my bonus was $5.72. It felt like they had spit in my face. I would have been happier if they hadn’t given us bonuses at all. (Vypernorad)

What’s the worst Christmas bonus you’ve received?