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We were asked for $15 every time. That adds up and that is why I am against mandatory contributions. Contributions are suppose to be voluntary and those on a tight budget should not have to worry about extra frivolous expenses at work.
Telling someone that they should have enough discretionary funds to drop for office celebrations is really insensitive.
For God's sake the company should have enough money to pay for birthday cakes instead of making employees buy them.
Agreed. Our company sets aside $50 a month and we have one big birthday party for all birthdays in said month. Just a pizza/cake thing in the hangar....but it's nice.
It's bad enough when you co-workers do it, but when upper management does it, it gets downright nerve-racking. About 10 years ago, I worked for [a large store in direct competition with Walmart, and whose colors are red]. The HR manager constantly hounded me because I was the last United Way" hold out. They wanted 100% compliance from all employees to donate a portion of our weekly paychecks to the United Way. Why? So they (upper mgmt) could look good in the eyes of the corporate office. Even worse....they planned a community cleanup day and tried to make you feel guilty for not attending (on your day off). The park they "adopted" was actually run (and maintained) by the county. Once again, to look good in the eyes of corporate. A local reported just happened to be on and too!
I know exactly what you are speaking of !
The same thing happened at our place .( ours was a production plant )
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boardwalk 08755
LOL, too funny. I actually had a co-worker invite us to a "Fantasia Party"....when I found out what a "Fantasia Party" was I was like, "WTF? I have a life. NO thanks!".
Completely. Don't eat the birthday cake though if you don't want to contribute. The department should just have a special birthday fund and have a cake for each month that employees have a birthday and no cake for those months where there are no birthdays.
Having a mandatory collection is in bad taste in my opinion. No one knows what your financial situation is.
I agree that you shouldn't eat it if you didn't contribute, whether it's b-day cake or other food items. The company should have a fund for that. As a rule, I don't eat nothing people bring in from home b/c I was raised that you can't eat from just anyone's hand.
Also, the coworkers leave food out(not good) so they can graze thru the day. By afternoon, at least couple of them took a dump & the office stinks to high heaven!
Years ago, I had my lunch stolen from a shared break room fridge (happened all the time but no one warned me) & didn't have money to buy lunch. I was new, I had to work 2 wks "in the hole" first--money was very tight. Since then, I bring my lunch/snacks in an insulated bag kept in my desk drawer. I save money, use up leftovers & won't go hungry.
Never heard of mandatory $15- that seems very unfair.
WHere I work, I'm considered part of different groups. Night shift. Float pool. Part of some day/evening staffs where I work a lot.
I have it easy. I just point out that I never carry money at work (which I don't- there's nothing to buy on night shift!) and give to those people I feel connected to, not just because we both have "float" after our names or something, and these are people who I literally never see.
I like being able to sign a group card for something. A lot of my co-workers are of an age to be losing aging parents, and there are constant notices going out. For one co-worker I am close to, I sent a personal contribution to the Armenian Library in her late father's name, as he was a survivor of their genocide (yes, he was very old). For another, a personal donation to American Jewish World Services because his mother had been a Polish refugee in WWII. People seem really knocked out by this.
Regarding birthdays and all, it's strictly personal if someone wants to observe a co-worker's birthday.
I mean, there are just too many people and too many events, at least at my job.
I like the idea of a monthly party for all birthdays that month! That could work really well in a cohesive work environment. But mandatory? That's absurd.
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