Track_ShovelWe are the ones being lampooned now
MystikIncarnateI’ve been part of a workforce in one way or another for over 30 years and I’ve never gotten a year end bonus. Not that I can recall ever getting at least.
They used to be pretty common in tech (at least where I’m at).
Rather than paying a larger salary, the company makes part of the annual comp an annual bonus. Then if they do poorly that year they can say “sorry folks, times were tough this year. But hey, you still have a job!”
People do tend to expect them after a few years of receiving them regularly. The taxes on them are generally worse (or at least feel worse since it is a lump sum), but otherwise a little money in your pocket around the holidays is nice.
They’re pretty common in municipal governments where I’m at, but they’re pretty small at first.
They call them “longevity payments” and you get like 8 bucks for every month you’ve been with the city.
So the first year you’ll get 96, the second you’ll get 192, third 288, etc. But by the time you reach retirement ages, if you’ve been with the same city it gets to be a few thousand. It’s good for people like secretaries and parks workers who don’t make as much, but also don’t tend to jump cities as often.
Someone like a planner or engineer may only be with the city 3 years before moving on, so they never get a big bonus, but they also tend to make a lot more money.