- Quickdraw McLaw
- Job Tips
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Since it’s already kind of dead out there thanks to Thanksgiving and everyone (especially our support staff) is checking out the Black Friday deals online, we thought this was a good opportunity to open up the floor to your tips on office gifting. What are your rules for office gifting? Does it all depend on your bonus? Do you get something for everyone or just a choice few? Do you participate in the gift exchanges the staff do? Have you ever gotten your boss a gift? Are you expected to do so? (By the way, the first tip we’ll throw out there is that you don’t need to gift up.)
What tips and rules do you have for office gifts during the holidays?
Non-equity partner at an 10-lawyer firm. I personally buy my legal assistant a $100 gift card for a department store, the receptionist a $25 Starbuck's card, and the rest of the firm's staff each a $10 Starbuck's card from me. The whole deal costs me roughly $225. They all also get a nice gift from the firm.
I'm in the same general position. I only buy for my assistant, but spend around $500 since we have worked together a long time and I think she is great and want to remind her of that.
Owner of a small firm. I'm thinking about getting tablets for my legal assistant and paralegal, along with their bonus. A decent 7" tablet runs about $200, so it's not too steep for something that they'd really appreciate.
Can I have a job?
That's really generous – really – but if it were me, I'd rather have the $200. Or at least a gift receipt so I could take it back if I didn't need a $200 tablet.
Yeah, I was thinking about just giving them the cash, but both have said that they'd like to have a tablet so I thought it'd be nice.
I think it's great if you talked to them and know it is something they want. It will show that you care AND that you listen to them.
Apparently @9:19 is not a legal employer, at least in Las Vegas.
Frodo here: Small office — we got our staff ipads last year, and jawbone jamboxes this year plus their bonuses. In the grand scheme of things its not that much money (the cost of doing business) and I think they really appreciate it.
They would rather have the money. In every office I've ever worked in, they would rather have the money.
I'm buying my wife (read: me) the new Bentley Continental GT this year so the staff is not getting as much as I would have liked. Oh well. What are they going to do…find a new job? Good luck! I've found that a bottle of mid-level red wine in gift wrap goes a long way – I can still afford that this year.
Hey! I used to work for you!
I think I DO work for you. You ass-hat. I hope your wife screws many, many pool boys in that Bentley!
I've never worked for you, thank God, but one thing is for certain, you are an asshole. -Pool boy that's fucking your wife.
I think all of you idiots work for me! Get back to work and stop fucking playing on the internet. You're worried about getting a bonus. Why don't you earn what I'm already paying you. What you do is the same as stealing.
So when you make me work on the weekends or late nights is that the same as stealing? Because I typically earn what you are already paying me by Wednesday afternoon you cocksucker.
I made the mistake of getting my boss a gift once. It ended up being awkward, especially when the bonus was not what I expected.
My tip is that if you're not sure whether you're supposed to get someone a gift, but are going to err on the side of giving a gift–make sure to give at least two days before the holiday so that person has a chance to reciprocate if they want.
Expect nothing and if you do get something, it should be the thought that counts. Did we forget the meaning of the holidays?
The Shark Pimp has no employees but one of my alter-egos (Constable of Laughlin) does. I have a Legal Assistant/Chief Clerk and I buy her a $100.00 gift card, which is not nearly enough for all that she does. I'm going to take a cue from here and step up her Xmas. My lovely wife has said repeatedly that if she ever quits, I might as well leave the badge on the desk – and she's dead right.