"A donation has been made on your behalf..."

I just read the 'stop moaning' post.....

Please ignore if this is being too trivial. I know in the grand scheme of things this absolutely is not important.

I think that’s really cheap on behalf of the company.
I’m sorry

No you are not being a grinch that is a cheap trick and not on at all in my mind
It is a very nasty trick I wouldn’t like it either a gift is a gift it cannot be given away on your behalf it is entirely for you to decide what to do with it
I d be really annoyed too

CanadianGran

I just read the 'stop moaning' post.....

Please ignore if this is being too trivial. I know in the grand scheme of things this absolutely is not important.

No! No! That's not what I meant!
Ignore me anyway! I'm just an innefectual pantomime villain at the moment!

I’d be annoyed too OP. I like to choose what charity I give to. There is great pleasure in giving...but YOU have to have chosen the recipient I feel. There are some I’ve actually worked for and wouldn’t give them the money to waste. (Food banks are not one of those by the way, before I get flamed)

Not the same, but when I was at work ( a bank), they were very keen for staff to volunteer in the community, painting walls in schools, or putting up a fence etc.

All very well, but done in work time, so always meant that staff left in the branch were busier than ever, doing their own and other colleague’s jobs as no extra cover was provided.

The same staff volunteered time after time, it was a good day off work, and of course the bank was able to brag about how much they were doing ‘for the community’.

CanadianGran I know exactly what you mean. My husband's employer gives all the staff a £50 gift card at Christmas and (it comes straight to me ) I so look forward to it and it seems as if it is a lot of money! One year his gift card was stolen off his desk (it comes with a Christmas card and he hadn't put it away immediately) and we were upset and disappointed.

No, it wasn't fair! The gifts should have gone to the staff for them to decide where to donate.

Yet another situation where the echalons can brag " how great am I?" and of course, put it on the tax return.

Highlighting a very obvious injustice, however small is not moaning.

This type of behaviour. highlights an employer who likes virtue signalling its care for its employers, but when a better more photogenic cause comes up, helping the hungry through Food Banks immediately transfers its Christmas bonus from one cause to another.

If they really cared about either their employees or the foodless, they would have done both. At least you now know how little your employer now cares about their staff.

They've got such a cheek to give away the expected bonus.

Some of your colleagues might have been relying on that voucher, as it was for a grocery store.

Very cheeky of your employer to take that action!

It might be interesting to find out how much they donated on your behalf.
Is it the usual amount multiplied by the numbers of staff? Or a small donation?

Maybe the Company is going through a bad patch, but it’s a pity they weren’t up front about this earlier in the Month.

Major food companies have thrived during the pandemic compared to many other businesses who have sadly gone to the wall. They should have rewarded their staff for keeping the business going throughout the year under difficult circumstances.

Did they provide information on the size of the food bank donation? I hope it was substantial and not just a token amount so they could crow they had done it.

The gift was yours to do with as you wish in recognition of a years work. The company could have matched the sum if they wished. They were wrong on all counts. Expect that there's a tax benefit for them.

Canadiangran moan away! That’s outrageous.
A company is entitled to say that a bonus won’t be paid because of trading conditions or particular circumstances, but to divert it to a worthy cause and then claim credit for it is hypocritical.

Perhaps you and your fellow employees could take some ‘sick leave’, preferably en masse, to the value of the money you would have received as your bonus.
When companies make donations to charity, it is actually the customers(higher prices), the employees(lower salaries), or the shareholders(lower dividends) who are
actually paying.

Spot on Daisymae I agree.

I don't agree with the decision the company made. You should have got the traditional bonus. At the very least, everyone should get a choice where a donation on their behalf would go. I wonder if the company is saving some money making this change? Maybe with potential Covid losses they aren't feeling able to do the usual gift?

That's like saying I am so grateful for your help this year, so I have decided to give a box of chocolates to someone in the next street, and you should thank me for it! Poor you, and that £50 will have meant an great deal to some members of staff. In this year of all years, your company needs to make you feel valued. This doesn't cut it at all.

My reaction would be the next time they ask for overtime, to say 'I am giving a few hours help to my neighbour instead, on your behalf'!

I too think that it is bad of the company. I don't want people to 'donate on my behalf' unless I have specifically asked them to.

As for not moaning, I think we are all entitled to feel upset or annoyed. Your post didn't some over as 'poor me' but rather as indignant - as I would have been!

It’s not good, and if anybody raises objections they’ll be labelled ‘uncharitable’.

I think you have every reason to be cross CanadianGran, I would be too. If they'd asked their staff first if they'd wanted to donate their gift certificates to a charity, all well and good, but to do it without even consulting them was high handed and rude.
I like the last paragraph in B9exhange's post and would be tempted to use that at the first available opportunity.

Not good staff relations policy. They aren't encouraging "togetherness" by being so generous on behalf of other people. (and I agree too that you are not moaning "poor me" )

I don’t agree with what the company did at all. The very least they should have done would be a consensus on the charity concerned. To take away the expected voucher is very Scrooge like and as another poster mentioned some people may have been depending upon it themselves. It’s easy to forget that some people who are working may be struggling at the moment.

No I don't think I agree with that policy either - it's up to the staff to donate if they feel they can afford it but otherwise I'm sure some would have needed the groceries either for themselves or a relative.

I worked for a US company who always sent out a gift to colleagues in the different country entities around the world - more often than not it was something like a crystal cut vase, dish or one year a glass cake stand. It must have cost a fortune - they were very nice but not particularly good choices as most of the staff were men! One year the new HR assistant got it wrong and all of us in the UK had to pay customs duty when it arrived - needless to say there were some very 'polite' e-mails requesting refunds with their next lot off expenses