by Emerson

Created on: August 15, 2008

I have recently been faced with the tough decision of whether or not to chip in on a gift for a co-worker I hardly know. Is this fair? Is it ok to say no thanks, or is it expected by your peers that you are to chip in just because you work there? I say no, I believe gifting at the workplace is ok and can be done under certain circumstances; however expecting fellow work mates to chip in, or making them feel guilty if they don't, just because you all work together is not ok. Yes, we all want to get along with the people we work with, and let's face it most of us spend more time with co-workers then we do our own family. In turn work mates become something like a second family. Isn't it natural to want to buy presents for our friends and family? However, there should be rules or guidelines to helps us not get carried away gifting everyone's salaries away trying to establish rank or showing off to superiors.

Rule number one: Always have a max amount set. It can get pretty catty and vicious between employees to try and out do everyone else, especially if this present is for the boss. The whole idea of a gift is to show everyone's appreciation for the person not to show off how much more you can afford to spend then the other person. If it is for the boss then he already knows how much everyone makes so don't make the gift about money. You also don't want to over extend anyone if you plan on having the whole office chip in. Ten dollars to some means a lot more than you may think. Putting a maximum amount on the price of the gift is also a good idea, you don't want to come down to the day of purchase and realize that you only have enough money for golf balls as opposed to the engraved specialty club you told everyone they were chipping in for. This also helps you to set an individual amount for each co-worker as well.

Rule number two: Clearly outline what events constitute a gift. This is a work place remember, not a charity organization. If you work in an industry where there is high turnover of staff, maybe getting gifts for people when they leave the company probably isn't a good idea. Even major holidays can be hard as most people have a long list of gifts to buy and don't need to add to the list for co-workers as well. If you decide to get a gift for a friend in the work place then do it in a personal content, don't bring the gift to work to give in front of everyone, because if it is not reciprocated you will be left standing in an awkward position. Remember

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