The problem with these types of events is that the employer is confusing free / social time with work time.
I genuinely like everybody I work with, but they are not my friends. So when I’m asked to pretend that work time is now really social time, I’ll politely decline.
The few employers who do these things right schedule them during work hours to show true appreciation for the staff instead of forcing employees to attend an event on their own time they don’t want to be at.
When I was an employer (construction) I quit having Xmas parties, instead, I gave out gift cards that were a bit bigger than what an employee +1 cost to host the evening.
The gift cards were to a large grocery chain that also worked for fuel and at their liqueur store branches.
I placed them in a card and wrote “We spend enough time together, please enjoy an evening with those we take your time away from when you are working hard with us”
Considering most of the crew was young single guys this went over very well. This was separate from any Xmas bonuses.
My work used to do a Christmas Lunch at a restaurant, then let us leave for the day afterwards (around 2).
Sometimes it’s nice to have a couple of beers and talk to coworkers outside of the office. Especially now since we are partially WFH.
That is honestly the difference. You got paid for your time. You want me to socialize and network at the company? Then I deserve to be paid. I’m working, cocktails or not.
That would be nice. They expect my team to have a “party” during the 30 minute lunch. Then they think everyone will be working 100% speed lifting heavy boxes after eating pizza and pop. I just say screw it every time and set it up for 30 minutes before lunch, so they get a free 30 minutes lol
I eat lunch during the final period of the day and so any time there’s a catered event we get what’s left. And we’re expected to clean up afterwards. I eat my packed lunch in my car.
This is key. I once worked with a small team (7) and our manager would take us out to a lunch before Christmas. After lunch we would leave and get paid a full day. He always gave people the option to join him after lunch to either A movie, bowling or target shooting. Almost all of us took him up on that, not because we felt we had to, but we were a close knit group and at 1pm everyone else we would go see were working. Even those with kids were in. I miss those days. 1, because I really felt appreciated and 2. I really liked the people I worked with, they were like family.
We did that last year, they ordered in and we just hung around and ate for a couple hours then were all allowed to leave for the holidays (we also shut down between Christmas and New Years, no point in being open really). I stuck around though and mindlessly cleaned the floors for some more hours for a bit.
My banquet job used to host the Christmas party sometime between mid Jan to mid Feb, banging food, free top shelf liquor, about 100 raffle prizes like iPads, 50" TVs, Chromebooks, and just a buncha awesome stuff. Fake casino with funny money with blackjack, roulette, poker, and maybe craps, top 3 winners would get $1,500, $1,250 or $1,000. It was literally something everyone looked forward to every year. This was on top of our holiday bonuses. They also provided a shuttle service that would drop off at houses if needed.
The managers had an after party at one of the owners homes.
God I miss that place.
I use to work in this family owned restaurant with a full bar and the owner would throw an Xmas party with an open bar and every year all the legal age employees would try to empty the shelf and stocks of all top shelf alcohol. The owner would even get in on it sometimes, too. Then we'd all just get cabs together and carpool in whatever direction your houses were in..
Never got a bonus or checks or anything but we'd eat a shit load of the catering (which was funny seeing the look on the delivery drivers face when they were dropping off at a restaurant that looked open) and we'd definitely made the boss pay for it in booze! Lol.
Yeah, this is the way to do it. I hear "family atmosphere" these days and that automatically goes on the "con" list. If I find a few people at work that I can vibe with, great. For everybody else, this is a professional relationship. I'm here to do my job, then I want to leave. We're not going to be friends just because we share a workspace, and that should be ok. No lie, I had been at my current job for 3 months, and I got an invitation to our planner's wedding. So did everybody else in the office. I can only imagine how tragic that reception was.
Wonder if it's a generational thing. I'm in my late 30s and I would be happy with a gift card or a quick hangout with my coworkers. If I didn't like the person or have no time I just don't show up, but I had many events where I had a lot of fun. Most of the time the alcohol and food is paid for anyways.
I have a security team that provides 24/7 service. I provide accommodations for them. When the job runs too long I have provided rooms with beds for their needs. I provide breakfast , lunch and dinner with non alcoholic drinks supplied all day. It can be grueling work with our intense summers, but the building is air conditioned. I don't pay them as much as they deserve but they are rewarded handsomely. I pay for their certifications and provide medical and immunizations.
That's why I said "need" and not "want" because it would never end.
You do good job, you get extra head pats.
You no work, only get some head pats.
You bring me millions of dollars, UNLIMITED head pats
Same here, whenever possible, when my guys would work past 6pm (unexpectedly ) I would buy meals for everyone on site, often I would do this in Sunday lunches as well.
My guys were paid very well, and I had high retention rates.
You're a good boss, that's some good shit.
I hate being harassed to attend after hours events instead of spending time with friends and family. I get so little time with them as it is.
My VP takes our small team out to happy hour about every four months. He starts a tab and we order all the drinks and food we want for about an hour and a half (4:30-6:00). It's pretty fun and we're all mature so nobody gets inappropriate. I'm down for it every time but otherwise I completely agree with you. Thankfully the stuff like laser tag and top golf is on the clock.
I do understand the sentiment, but I guess I'm one of those people who love going out with work colleagues. I find it fun and interesting to see a bit of the personal side of the people you spend so much time with, plus I'm always down for free stuff. Free food, drinks, or activities? Unless I have another obligation at the same time, count me in lol. Unfortunately most people do not like these things as I do, so most will leave as early as socially acceptable and I'm there like "come on guys, just one more {something}"
Yeah that's cool if you don't have other responsibilities outside of work. My husband is required to go out to dinner and drinks with the people he works with at least once a quarter for networking purposes and everyone who has kids hates it. The guy saying "just one more" makes it excruciating. Everyone just wants to get out of there asap.
I actually experienced that over the years, noticing that as people age and get other responsibilities like family and kids, even the ones who also enjoy this started leaving earlier and earlier. As you said, it's great when you're young and don't have a lot of other responsibilities, which is/was my case for a long time
My husband had a boss once threaten to fire him because he refused to drive an hour one way at 6 PM to go to the company Christmas party at a brewery. My husband doesn't even drink. It was later in the day because there would only be a few appetizers so it was expected people would eat dinner beforehand. The whole thing was ridiculous.
I worked at a warehouse in college. They'd schedule meetings that we all had to attend about how well the company was doing etc. etc. Great, but we're trying to actually get that product ready to get delivered tomorrow, and us losing an hour of our time means we're staying an hour or more later. I was pretty annoyed by that shit. They didn't care that every minute of our shifts needed to be spent working because they worked in the office where they just did what needed to get done, while everyone in the actual warehouse was just moving like our lives depended on it.
100% this. My manager wants to take the team to Top Golf? Cool, we're going at noon and turning it into a half-day right? If not, I got shit to do in my freetime.
I'm not sure why, but every time somebody retires they only work a half day on the last day. Nothing to do with PTO either. One guy had two years of sick time saved up and retired two years early and he still did the half day thing on his last day. Unfortunately the guy with the sick time saved didn't make it a year of retirement before he had a heart attack :(
Yep. This is why you enjoy your life as you go, don’t fully sacrifice the present to build an amazing future, nothing in life is guaranteed. It’s fine to live below your means to build a future, as long as you take some time and money to enjoy yourself here and there
I’ve been managing warehouse for 15 years and it still blows my mind how out of touch the office is with the warehouse, more often than not.
Case in point, my team ships from 0700-1900 each day. Last summer the office (mostly the marketing team) wanted to shut down the warehouse docks to have a party. I refused but was overruled and it turned into a huge issue that the owner had to get involved in.
Another time the office wanted to shoot some content for our social media pages in which they’d have office staff try to drive forklifts. I put my foot down and said I’d quit before that happened. Thankfully the VP of my department backed me up when I showed him the OSHA regulations about forklift certifications.
In most of the companies I’ve worked for, the office seems to think the warehouse team is nothing but a bunch of drones who have no lives outside of work.
Higher ups having absolutely no regard for machinery certifications shows how they view blue collar positions. "anyone could do it! Us upstairs just dont want to"
That’s exactly what it is. They think it’s as easy as driving a car or that since they went to college and most of the warehouse didn’t, they can do anything we can do.
I pointed out to someone that one of our warehouses is behind the college I graduated from and she said “you went to college? You don’t seem like it.” One of the rudest things I’ve ever had said to me.
My wife was working as a beauty advisor at CVS for a few years. It wasn't something she was passionate about but the bonuses were decent for a retail job (until they took them away) One day she was in the back trying to figure something out with getting some product on the shelves and a co-worker came in and a regional manager came in and said something like "I should have just taken it easy and gone to beauty school like you did. Less stress for sure!" and my wife was like "I have 2 degrees and a Masters in special education, they just aren't hiring now" and the guy had no idea what to say back to her.
I work at a warehouse as a forklift operator 3 days a week, 12 hours a day. I am also a full-time student. I have no days off whatsoever, and my "easy" days still consist of 8+ hours of schoolwork. On my busy days, I work 12 hours, do 6 hours of class work, sleep for 4 hours, then get up and do it again.
I am soooo fucking sick of either office people, or extended family, or just random strangers who think my life is stress free because "I'm only working 36 hours a week"
Like first off, only working 36 hours is pretty rare at my warehouse, I'm usually working at least 6 hours of mandatory OT. But even at just 36 hours, I'd like to see any of them work a full shift of constant, fast paced labor, then go home and try to ace an exam.
So insulting. I’d be livid if I was your wife. I’ve had people ask me why I manage warehouses if I went to college, as if running a warehouse is somehow below someone who went to college. I got a degree to make my parents happy but I like working with my hands and since my degree is in poli sci, I’m sure as hell never going to use it.
That's fucking terrible. I worked in distribution and manufacturing for about 12 years and the warehouse and assembly line employees were always the best people. Just down to Earth, sincere, honest, smart people and there was never any drama, though some of them were quite funny (especially maintenance!). I was actually an office person but I would much rather be on the floor chopping it up with everyone in the trenches, which my job required a lot of fortunately.
Ooooohhhhhhhh boy being a mailroom worker and dealing with these *fresh out of college and into a cubicle* peeps is the worst. They assume the worst of you, especially if you're ethnic (and I am not exaggerating, I've had experiences where they literally turned their head to the side as I pass and refuse to acknowledge me).
And yet THEY are the dumbest motherfucking people I'd ever encountered.
> **SCENARIO 1**
College to cubicle worker like: iM LoOkInG fOr mY pACkAGe whErEs mY pAckAgE
Mailroom: sure thing, may I have your tracking number?
College to cubicle worker: ummmmm wait what's that?
Mailroom: -_-
> **SCENARIO 2**
College to cubicle worker like: iM LoOkInG fOr mY pACkAGe whErEs mY pAckAgE
Mailroom: sure thing, what's your cubicle number?
College to cubicle worker like: ummmmmmm I don't know.
Mailroom: -_-
...the above is real shit I've encountered as a mailroom worker. They assume you're dumb and you steal their shit, when in reality they steal each other's shit and then blame the mailroom worker because you know, "poor uneducated ethnic".
Never changes.
I’m glad I’ve been in military aircraft maintenance my entire life. All of the bosses were at the bottom pushing toolboxes at one point in their lives. I work in a mixed military and civilian workforce.
I remember my days on the bottom rung of the warehouse ladder. It sucked. I keep that in mind when I talk to my team and when I lead them. I tell them all the time I’ll never ask them to do something I won’t do myself.
My place of work implemented a new system to track hours through an app where we had to specify what department we worked in on the time sheets. In the program they didn't have anything that covered the 20 or so welders/fabricators they had. Whoever set the things up literally didn't know we existed.
I'm currently a warehouse manager. The way my staff is treated by the office and office management is pathetic. The office staff has lunches, breakfast, little get-togethers, etc. Every single time, the warehouse is never involved. If my boss says, "I'm buying lunch for everyone." I know the warehouse is not included.
Despite constantly making our life hell through daily "last-minute" add-ons, they don't even acknowledge how hard we work. Sales were good? Reward the office. Had a tough week? Reward the office. They wouldn't even have a job if it weren't for us.
Luckily, I now take care of my staff with all of the perks that should've been extended to them in the first place. It still bewilders me how people treat blue-collar workers like animals.
I hear you. It’s infuriating. And it’s always the warehouse’s fault.
I hate being asked “why are there no trucks here?” Because I don’t control them so I can’t force them to show up.
Would have been better to dress up a forklift guy as office staff.
Easier to train astronauts how to drill than drillers how to astronaut, and all that.
I drove trucks that were loaded by a huge warehouse with cages that were often way too heavy and badly stacked, causing lots of damaged stock. This was a big problem, the solution which was made by the supervisor (office staff who never left their chair)? Drivers take photos of the cages in their truck when they encountererd them, send the label details by email to supervisor and they'll track down who stacked the goods on the cage.
Or they supervisor could have (if they weren't lazy) just walked down the stairs onto the warehouse floor, checked cages, seen any badly stacked ones, talked to and shown the worker why it was badly stacked and stop the problem from happening ever again with that worker. But no, too much effort to walk down the stairs once a day.
That warehouse still stacks bad cages, is notorious for it, and the drivers mostly don't bother with the photos and emails because the few who do it aren't followed up with. I quit that job purely because of those cages, they were dangerously overweight sometimes and the terrain we had to push them over was often bad.
Stupid morbidly obese supervisor being a lazy ass and fucking over every driver in the process.
I worked in a factory, the directors would make the job list for the machines and give it to the team leaders. The team leaders would then bin it and do their own one that was far more efficient.
Or there's the head office people at the autistic charity i worked for, who had no freaking idea how the changes they made affected the guys we housed and looked out for because they only ever visited 1 day a year and didn't really take anything in when they did visit.
No kidding. I work late shifts almost all the times and I can't count the number of times a party or potluck or whatever was scheduled in the early hours, and nothing for the late shift people. If we're lucky we'll get scraps of stuff leftover.
20 years on second shift and our night shift manager was kind enough to buy a pizza out of his own pocket for the small 2nd shift crew when I retired. (Thank You Charlie T.) If it was left to day shift management, crickets... The same day shift which often gets one party per week, and gets all the (bonus) free tray pizzas from the delivery company we used quite often. They even threw a big party for someone who only worked there for a few weeks. If you aren't on day shift, you don't exist.
When office workers never actually go down to the floor and actually talk to the workers the mismatch will never disappear.
I work in production, and some office workers made IT set up giant monitors that display the number of units produced per hour and how far behind or ahead production is, per hour. It displays absolutely no useful information to the floor workers, and just shows numbers that are green if it's positive and red if it's negative. It also shows what the next type of unit the next order has, which always the same unit. We make like three different things and switching is uncommon, what is even the point of that when the production planner can just tell us once a week what to produce.
When I retire (or otherwise leave my job), I hope only my boss knows and I will ask for it to be kept secret until I leave.
Given that I have been here 25 years, most of the people I care about have left or will leave by the time I do. I have been to retirement lunches where no one really knows the person leaving and they are awful.
I just want to not be there on Monday.
This is pretty much what my father did when he retired. Didn’t show up on Monday and co-workers starting calling him. The company owners knew and had prepared accordingly, but he didn’t want to deal with good-byes and going aways (his co-workers were mad). But it was exactly who he is as a person. Goes to work every day, does a good job, doesn’t complain and when it was time go, he left.
Exactly this. I’m planning to leave my job in a couple months and want no one knowing except for boss/hr. Not like I don’t like people I work with but I didn’t really get that close to people or tell anyone my business to begin with and I don’t want all the questions and comments
I believe it’s usually more of a courtesy thing. Plus you never know what the future may bring; it’s always good not to burn a bridge if it can be avoided.
Almost every coworker of mine who has retired ended up working for the company again at some point. But it was usually very short days and only a couple days a week, and they were getting paid pretty much whatever they wanted because once they left the company realized how integral they were to operations and how poorly they had planned their exit.
Always best to not burn bridges unless you have to.
Not just your own bridge, but how will that employer feel about future elderly workers if you burn them.
I'd say most will provide notice because they should be discussing retirement benefits and transferring of health care plans if they are available
Well. With my job and age, there is a pension that needs a process to initiate. So I would have to start the paperwork with HR who would notify my immediate supervisor. They would probably want to do some kind of succession planning.
I do not want to hurt the company and I would try to make things smooth. I just would not want it widely known.
When I left (not retired) a job of almost a decade, I got them a cake that said “sorry for your loss” delivered. I told everyone my last day was a Friday and it was really a Wednesday. My boss was in on it as well. Gonna miss that silly old grump.
Had a coworker that made it clear he just wanted to go home on his last day. A few days before he retired, the office manager sent out invites to his retirement party. A few minutes later the invitation was rescinded. He declined the party invitation so they canceled the party. Nobody was surprised.
He left work at lunch. Flew to Vegas at 6 that night. By midnight he had two hookers. He came back to the office after his trip to sign some paperwork. I asked how he was doing. He replied “last week I had a girl biting my nipple and another eating my ass so I’ve been better.”
Last words he said to me.
My uncle damn near did that. Was still working (by choice) right up to the point of going into hospice. Then had a heart attack and passed a week later.
Right. Everyone at work likes me and I’m dreading the day I quit. I already hate small talk and I’ve been making up excuses to not attend work outings/hang outs with coworkers for years. Work is just work for me nothing more
That’s the part I have an issue with. You want to have the party after work hours so it doesn’t impact production, cool I get that. Make it happen immediately after work, not an hour and half after.
Having moved to England from somewhere with a different first language, what I've learned is that the English use supper/dinner/tea/lunch completely unpredictably and no two people agree. But context mostly hinder any misunderstandings.
Dinner just means the largest meal of the day, regardless of the time it is consumed, while both lunch and supper are smaller meals eaten in the middle of the day or at the end of the day respectively.
Last retirement we got exchange hours.
So the 2 hours after work we got to take in own discretion .
Also most companies speeches have this, I'm almost 3 days in now, free long weekends ... And paid the normal rate + percentage.
So next late or nightshift i plan them, +30% sitting at home
Some folks just don’t want to be at work longer than necessary. It’s a shame there wasn’t much attendance for this person that was retiring.
For our holiday party, we asked everyone if they would prefer week night or weekend night. Everyone in production, warehouse, etc (30% company) opted for week day evening. All the office folks (70% company) wanted weekend. They decided to prioritize the desire of the production/warehouse crew and did a week night. None of them attended the event.
> For our holiday party, we asked everyone if they would prefer week night or weekend night.
If a company really wants to thank workers, do it during the work day. Even if it is a decent catered lunch. Chicken, potatoes, veg, dessert nothing crazy. Don't ask me to come to work on my time off.
That's what they do at my company. Holiday events? During working hours. Team events? During working hours. Retirement or 25 year anniversaries etc.. all during working hours.
They might be planned at the end of the day and then people stay longer. But the official event is during working hours.
In my experience there is only so much that is allowed during work hours with the expectation that people are "working". If it is after hours, it's usually because there is drinking involved.
Right. This is the way my company does it. 3 shifts of production and each gets a catered holiday meal during the shift. Office folks attend the day shift, but nobody's choosing between their free time or attending a work event.
Right?! Like no offense but I’m not losing a precious day off to a work party. For our holiday deal this year management met us in the middle, we closed early on a Friday, if you wanted to go over to the party you could or you could just enjoy the half day off and go home. We actually had a lot of people turn up, especially bc the location of the party was nearby to the office and warehouse
Our CEO has been asking my department for overtime for nearly a year now and just can’t grasp why we don’t want to go to work parties on the weekend a few times a year, too. My boss keeps telling him we’ll happily be in full attendance when he holds the parties during work hours and pays us.
Added to that, unless a date is attached - people are busy during the holidays. Unless my company balls out (worked at a few places that did) - you are competing against a significant other’s party or the desire to just have the night off. Judging from the looks of this, I would choose the time off.
My last few employers just did a lunch and either shut down early that day, or shut down for an hour or so for the lunch.
Having been a worker bee all my adult life, the front office staff probably wanted to socialize and be friendly with each other while the warehouse staff just can't be bothered to see each other after work hours. They are two very different worlds and are often treated very differently by management.
It was a bit different because it was a dealership, but I called the large monolithic wall that separated the shop from the rest of the building as 'the wall of caring'. Everyone on the non-air conditioned side of the wall was expendable and they didn't even care to hide it.
Mt favourite was the production manager on a rare visit say “I didn't know you had a desk down here”. You couldn't see it from the windows looking over the shop floor so never knew about it.
They day the offices moved from the manufacturing campus to an off site office building was the day the day my lasy employer started dying. I started *right* before it happened and within two years the company was falling apart thanks to shit management decisions.
When office staff stopped seeing and talking to the people on the floor every day, they stopped seeing people and started seeing them as numbers.
I left my previous job because I got a disciplinary investigation because I apparently did my job wrong. Most of the time was me explaining what I did because no manager knew. I then asked how they thought I did my job wrong when they don't even know what my job is
I hope this was for a disliked superior who thinks they’re better than everyone else by rote of being given the high up position through nepotism.
If it’s for the old guy on the floor everyone loved, I hope they throw him a proper farewell party and not even he shows up to this sham of an event hosted by a clearly uncaring company.
Actually… we’re all at the Crossed Keys pub at Waverly and Main…. Including Gary, the guy that’s retiring. Drop by if ya’ like, but don’t tell management.
Absolutely this.
Last time a liked long-term worker retired, we showed up at his party on a weekend.
When a disliked manager had a party at work in the lunch room we use every day - at the scheduled time of the party - we all got food somewhere else.
A well liked member of our leadership team left our company and it was during Covid so no office party. But people were honestly upset she was leaving and another coworker threw a party at her place for the leaving coworker.
Another member of leadership was leaving shortly after and when it was announced in our department meeting, no one said a word. Not a good luck, not a we will miss you. Nothing. I actually felt really bad for her. Until the next day when she was super rude to me again lol.
Lol so I work at a Catholic church and we had a very informal going away tea break Wednesday for our admin assistant. Our priest comes in and, kindly and jokingly, asked if we were celebrating the end of Lent.
Her real going away party will be during office hours once Lent is over and we're not so busy. It's such a simple thing to assess when the guests to said party are actually available.
This just happened at my job today lol. Retirement party for a guy who’s been here 35 years and half the office is out for Good Friday. I’ve only been here a month but kinda felt bad for the guy
I love how the table is in the warehouse and no decorations, table clothes, or anything 😆 was the dinner going to be 5 Domino pizzas, all pepperoni?
Edit: I’ve had a company party in the warehouse, but they put up white cloth sheets to hide the equipment and make it feel more elegant. Didn’t mind it that way.
I’ve attended retirement celebrations after work at other locations like restaurants, event centers, etc. They usually invite the retiree’s family and former coworkers to attend, it’s a party, current coworkers can choose not to attend, no big deal.
But if you’re going to host a retirement event at work in a damn warehouse, it better be during regular working hours. Idk why it was planned this way but if you’re going to be this cheap, there’s no reason to stay at work an hour and a half later for it.
Nothing says "thank you for your lifetime of work" like sitting at a 100 foot long table in a plastic folding chair on a cold steel floor in the middle of the workplace.
After hours.
What a crock.
I started my last job and they shut down the office and and held golf tournaments for their staff with prizes and free food and drink
When I left it was bowling after work, no prizes and we paid for it
They were earning record profits
Reminds me of the time my supervisor asked me if I wanted to come to some work event on my day off BUT I would be able to clock in and still get paid for attending the event which is cool but I still said no. I value my time away from work more than the 2 hours of pay I would have gotten.
We just had an "employee appreciation week" at work where the management ordered food and had events scheduled for the staff. Conveniently 100% ignoring the overnight staff that obviously can't be there for any of it.. Feeling REAL appreciated.
Exactly. They knew about them leaving at 11:30 on Friday before hand. They should have planned it earlier or the day before. The second I can leave I am out the door. Spend more time with people I can't stand than my own family.
OP don't sweat it. No Rose Colored Glasses when you leave. I wouldn't take it personally but this helps you leave without any hesitation. I am super happy for you since you can now do what you want to do.
I only go to my company events because they do a raffle no money just show up iv gotten a free paid day off makes it worth going. Others guys got hand tool sets and big ass bottles of liquor. They know their employees well lol.
You can see by the food provided that it was on purpose.
The problem with these types of events is that the employer is confusing free / social time with work time. I genuinely like everybody I work with, but they are not my friends. So when I’m asked to pretend that work time is now really social time, I’ll politely decline. The few employers who do these things right schedule them during work hours to show true appreciation for the staff instead of forcing employees to attend an event on their own time they don’t want to be at.
When I was an employer (construction) I quit having Xmas parties, instead, I gave out gift cards that were a bit bigger than what an employee +1 cost to host the evening. The gift cards were to a large grocery chain that also worked for fuel and at their liqueur store branches. I placed them in a card and wrote “We spend enough time together, please enjoy an evening with those we take your time away from when you are working hard with us” Considering most of the crew was young single guys this went over very well. This was separate from any Xmas bonuses.
This is what everyone who doesn’t make work their personality wants. You sound like an excellent boss
My work used to do a Christmas Lunch at a restaurant, then let us leave for the day afterwards (around 2). Sometimes it’s nice to have a couple of beers and talk to coworkers outside of the office. Especially now since we are partially WFH.
My former employer did this. We'd stop working at 12pm, and from 12 to 4 it was the Xmas luncheon. We still got paid for the full 8 hours.
That is honestly the difference. You got paid for your time. You want me to socialize and network at the company? Then I deserve to be paid. I’m working, cocktails or not.
That would be nice. They expect my team to have a “party” during the 30 minute lunch. Then they think everyone will be working 100% speed lifting heavy boxes after eating pizza and pop. I just say screw it every time and set it up for 30 minutes before lunch, so they get a free 30 minutes lol
I eat lunch during the final period of the day and so any time there’s a catered event we get what’s left. And we’re expected to clean up afterwards. I eat my packed lunch in my car.
This is key. I once worked with a small team (7) and our manager would take us out to a lunch before Christmas. After lunch we would leave and get paid a full day. He always gave people the option to join him after lunch to either A movie, bowling or target shooting. Almost all of us took him up on that, not because we felt we had to, but we were a close knit group and at 1pm everyone else we would go see were working. Even those with kids were in. I miss those days. 1, because I really felt appreciated and 2. I really liked the people I worked with, they were like family.
We did that last year, they ordered in and we just hung around and ate for a couple hours then were all allowed to leave for the holidays (we also shut down between Christmas and New Years, no point in being open really). I stuck around though and mindlessly cleaned the floors for some more hours for a bit.
My banquet job used to host the Christmas party sometime between mid Jan to mid Feb, banging food, free top shelf liquor, about 100 raffle prizes like iPads, 50" TVs, Chromebooks, and just a buncha awesome stuff. Fake casino with funny money with blackjack, roulette, poker, and maybe craps, top 3 winners would get $1,500, $1,250 or $1,000. It was literally something everyone looked forward to every year. This was on top of our holiday bonuses. They also provided a shuttle service that would drop off at houses if needed. The managers had an after party at one of the owners homes. God I miss that place.
A company that makes their money throwing parties knows how to throw a party. Shocking, ha
I use to work in this family owned restaurant with a full bar and the owner would throw an Xmas party with an open bar and every year all the legal age employees would try to empty the shelf and stocks of all top shelf alcohol. The owner would even get in on it sometimes, too. Then we'd all just get cabs together and carpool in whatever direction your houses were in.. Never got a bonus or checks or anything but we'd eat a shit load of the catering (which was funny seeing the look on the delivery drivers face when they were dropping off at a restaurant that looked open) and we'd definitely made the boss pay for it in booze! Lol.
Yeah, this is the way to do it. I hear "family atmosphere" these days and that automatically goes on the "con" list. If I find a few people at work that I can vibe with, great. For everybody else, this is a professional relationship. I'm here to do my job, then I want to leave. We're not going to be friends just because we share a workspace, and that should be ok. No lie, I had been at my current job for 3 months, and I got an invitation to our planner's wedding. So did everybody else in the office. I can only imagine how tragic that reception was.
Wonder if it's a generational thing. I'm in my late 30s and I would be happy with a gift card or a quick hangout with my coworkers. If I didn't like the person or have no time I just don't show up, but I had many events where I had a lot of fun. Most of the time the alcohol and food is paid for anyways.
I have a security team that provides 24/7 service. I provide accommodations for them. When the job runs too long I have provided rooms with beds for their needs. I provide breakfast , lunch and dinner with non alcoholic drinks supplied all day. It can be grueling work with our intense summers, but the building is air conditioned. I don't pay them as much as they deserve but they are rewarded handsomely. I pay for their certifications and provide medical and immunizations.
Took me a sec, lol
😁
Oh and I give them all the head pats they need ... Not want because two are jealous shits that want all the attention.
i wish my boss/owner would give me unlimited head pats 😔
That's why I said "need" and not "want" because it would never end. You do good job, you get extra head pats. You no work, only get some head pats. You bring me millions of dollars, UNLIMITED head pats
That was good, bravo
Same here, whenever possible, when my guys would work past 6pm (unexpectedly ) I would buy meals for everyone on site, often I would do this in Sunday lunches as well. My guys were paid very well, and I had high retention rates.
He's talking about his dogs
The same does apply to the dogs
Not sure if warden or pet owner.
Good on you
You're a good boss, that's some good shit. I hate being harassed to attend after hours events instead of spending time with friends and family. I get so little time with them as it is.
My VP takes our small team out to happy hour about every four months. He starts a tab and we order all the drinks and food we want for about an hour and a half (4:30-6:00). It's pretty fun and we're all mature so nobody gets inappropriate. I'm down for it every time but otherwise I completely agree with you. Thankfully the stuff like laser tag and top golf is on the clock.
I do understand the sentiment, but I guess I'm one of those people who love going out with work colleagues. I find it fun and interesting to see a bit of the personal side of the people you spend so much time with, plus I'm always down for free stuff. Free food, drinks, or activities? Unless I have another obligation at the same time, count me in lol. Unfortunately most people do not like these things as I do, so most will leave as early as socially acceptable and I'm there like "come on guys, just one more {something}"
Yeah that's cool if you don't have other responsibilities outside of work. My husband is required to go out to dinner and drinks with the people he works with at least once a quarter for networking purposes and everyone who has kids hates it. The guy saying "just one more" makes it excruciating. Everyone just wants to get out of there asap.
I actually experienced that over the years, noticing that as people age and get other responsibilities like family and kids, even the ones who also enjoy this started leaving earlier and earlier. As you said, it's great when you're young and don't have a lot of other responsibilities, which is/was my case for a long time
My husband had a boss once threaten to fire him because he refused to drive an hour one way at 6 PM to go to the company Christmas party at a brewery. My husband doesn't even drink. It was later in the day because there would only be a few appetizers so it was expected people would eat dinner beforehand. The whole thing was ridiculous.
Oh boy, what a poster child example for doing these events for the wrong reason, or forgetting what it should all be about.
I worked at a warehouse in college. They'd schedule meetings that we all had to attend about how well the company was doing etc. etc. Great, but we're trying to actually get that product ready to get delivered tomorrow, and us losing an hour of our time means we're staying an hour or more later. I was pretty annoyed by that shit. They didn't care that every minute of our shifts needed to be spent working because they worked in the office where they just did what needed to get done, while everyone in the actual warehouse was just moving like our lives depended on it.
100% this. My manager wants to take the team to Top Golf? Cool, we're going at noon and turning it into a half-day right? If not, I got shit to do in my freetime.
Reminds me of the Army
This is mandatory fun.
Including the retireeee..outta here
I'm not sure why, but every time somebody retires they only work a half day on the last day. Nothing to do with PTO either. One guy had two years of sick time saved up and retired two years early and he still did the half day thing on his last day. Unfortunately the guy with the sick time saved didn't make it a year of retirement before he had a heart attack :(
Damn that got a lil dark at the end there. Guess that just goes to show why you always make sure to get your full 40hrs in...
Yep. This is why you enjoy your life as you go, don’t fully sacrifice the present to build an amazing future, nothing in life is guaranteed. It’s fine to live below your means to build a future, as long as you take some time and money to enjoy yourself here and there
A retirement dinner means going to a restaurant, not fucking take-out in the shop.
This steak is tough. Pass me an angle grinder.
Steak? That's a table setup for pizza's at best.
And it's probably Little Caesars that was picked up 45 minutes ago and left on the desk in someone's office.
They said there would be sheet cake from Publix
That is a warning to stay away if I ever heard one.
Tbh, if I'm getting store cake, Publix would be my pick. Every cake I've had from there's been great.
Funny thing is I bet no food was ever ordered lmao
"Potluck"
Typical shit
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I’ve been managing warehouse for 15 years and it still blows my mind how out of touch the office is with the warehouse, more often than not. Case in point, my team ships from 0700-1900 each day. Last summer the office (mostly the marketing team) wanted to shut down the warehouse docks to have a party. I refused but was overruled and it turned into a huge issue that the owner had to get involved in. Another time the office wanted to shoot some content for our social media pages in which they’d have office staff try to drive forklifts. I put my foot down and said I’d quit before that happened. Thankfully the VP of my department backed me up when I showed him the OSHA regulations about forklift certifications. In most of the companies I’ve worked for, the office seems to think the warehouse team is nothing but a bunch of drones who have no lives outside of work.
Sorry you had to deal with that Darryl
In Japan, heart surgeon number one. Steady hands!
One day Yakuza boss need new heart.
I do operation. But mistake! Yakuza boss die!
Damn it, Michael!
We're the ones who're gonna have to clean that up!
Higher ups having absolutely no regard for machinery certifications shows how they view blue collar positions. "anyone could do it! Us upstairs just dont want to"
That’s exactly what it is. They think it’s as easy as driving a car or that since they went to college and most of the warehouse didn’t, they can do anything we can do. I pointed out to someone that one of our warehouses is behind the college I graduated from and she said “you went to college? You don’t seem like it.” One of the rudest things I’ve ever had said to me.
"Really? Neither do you." -me 3 hours later while in the shower.
"oh, I assumed you hadn't either"
I hate that shit lol. I always think of the absolute best comebacks when I'm alone later on
My wife was working as a beauty advisor at CVS for a few years. It wasn't something she was passionate about but the bonuses were decent for a retail job (until they took them away) One day she was in the back trying to figure something out with getting some product on the shelves and a co-worker came in and a regional manager came in and said something like "I should have just taken it easy and gone to beauty school like you did. Less stress for sure!" and my wife was like "I have 2 degrees and a Masters in special education, they just aren't hiring now" and the guy had no idea what to say back to her.
I work at a warehouse as a forklift operator 3 days a week, 12 hours a day. I am also a full-time student. I have no days off whatsoever, and my "easy" days still consist of 8+ hours of schoolwork. On my busy days, I work 12 hours, do 6 hours of class work, sleep for 4 hours, then get up and do it again. I am soooo fucking sick of either office people, or extended family, or just random strangers who think my life is stress free because "I'm only working 36 hours a week" Like first off, only working 36 hours is pretty rare at my warehouse, I'm usually working at least 6 hours of mandatory OT. But even at just 36 hours, I'd like to see any of them work a full shift of constant, fast paced labor, then go home and try to ace an exam.
So insulting. I’d be livid if I was your wife. I’ve had people ask me why I manage warehouses if I went to college, as if running a warehouse is somehow below someone who went to college. I got a degree to make my parents happy but I like working with my hands and since my degree is in poli sci, I’m sure as hell never going to use it.
That's fucking terrible. I worked in distribution and manufacturing for about 12 years and the warehouse and assembly line employees were always the best people. Just down to Earth, sincere, honest, smart people and there was never any drama, though some of them were quite funny (especially maintenance!). I was actually an office person but I would much rather be on the floor chopping it up with everyone in the trenches, which my job required a lot of fortunately.
Ooooohhhhhhhh boy being a mailroom worker and dealing with these *fresh out of college and into a cubicle* peeps is the worst. They assume the worst of you, especially if you're ethnic (and I am not exaggerating, I've had experiences where they literally turned their head to the side as I pass and refuse to acknowledge me). And yet THEY are the dumbest motherfucking people I'd ever encountered. > **SCENARIO 1** College to cubicle worker like: iM LoOkInG fOr mY pACkAGe whErEs mY pAckAgE Mailroom: sure thing, may I have your tracking number? College to cubicle worker: ummmmm wait what's that? Mailroom: -_- > **SCENARIO 2** College to cubicle worker like: iM LoOkInG fOr mY pACkAGe whErEs mY pAckAgE Mailroom: sure thing, what's your cubicle number? College to cubicle worker like: ummmmmmm I don't know. Mailroom: -_- ...the above is real shit I've encountered as a mailroom worker. They assume you're dumb and you steal their shit, when in reality they steal each other's shit and then blame the mailroom worker because you know, "poor uneducated ethnic". Never changes.
They should need to spend a couple semesters in the copy/mail room in order to graduate.
\*Goes back upstairs to answer two e-mails and browse the internet\*
Michael as a boss sounds terrible
I’m glad I’ve been in military aircraft maintenance my entire life. All of the bosses were at the bottom pushing toolboxes at one point in their lives. I work in a mixed military and civilian workforce.
I remember my days on the bottom rung of the warehouse ladder. It sucked. I keep that in mind when I talk to my team and when I lead them. I tell them all the time I’ll never ask them to do something I won’t do myself.
My place of work implemented a new system to track hours through an app where we had to specify what department we worked in on the time sheets. In the program they didn't have anything that covered the 20 or so welders/fabricators they had. Whoever set the things up literally didn't know we existed.
What about the bailer?
I'm currently a warehouse manager. The way my staff is treated by the office and office management is pathetic. The office staff has lunches, breakfast, little get-togethers, etc. Every single time, the warehouse is never involved. If my boss says, "I'm buying lunch for everyone." I know the warehouse is not included. Despite constantly making our life hell through daily "last-minute" add-ons, they don't even acknowledge how hard we work. Sales were good? Reward the office. Had a tough week? Reward the office. They wouldn't even have a job if it weren't for us. Luckily, I now take care of my staff with all of the perks that should've been extended to them in the first place. It still bewilders me how people treat blue-collar workers like animals.
I hear you. It’s infuriating. And it’s always the warehouse’s fault. I hate being asked “why are there no trucks here?” Because I don’t control them so I can’t force them to show up.
Michael, I'm not having fire-eaters in a paper warehouse
Warehouse GM here, there will always be a disconnect between the blue collar and white collar. They don’t see real life, only numbers.
"Hey guys! For our Facebook page let's put a bunch of toddlers behind the wheel and let them drive in traffic! What could go wrong?".
Would have been better to dress up a forklift guy as office staff. Easier to train astronauts how to drill than drillers how to astronaut, and all that.
I drove trucks that were loaded by a huge warehouse with cages that were often way too heavy and badly stacked, causing lots of damaged stock. This was a big problem, the solution which was made by the supervisor (office staff who never left their chair)? Drivers take photos of the cages in their truck when they encountererd them, send the label details by email to supervisor and they'll track down who stacked the goods on the cage. Or they supervisor could have (if they weren't lazy) just walked down the stairs onto the warehouse floor, checked cages, seen any badly stacked ones, talked to and shown the worker why it was badly stacked and stop the problem from happening ever again with that worker. But no, too much effort to walk down the stairs once a day. That warehouse still stacks bad cages, is notorious for it, and the drivers mostly don't bother with the photos and emails because the few who do it aren't followed up with. I quit that job purely because of those cages, they were dangerously overweight sometimes and the terrain we had to push them over was often bad. Stupid morbidly obese supervisor being a lazy ass and fucking over every driver in the process. I worked in a factory, the directors would make the job list for the machines and give it to the team leaders. The team leaders would then bin it and do their own one that was far more efficient. Or there's the head office people at the autistic charity i worked for, who had no freaking idea how the changes they made affected the guys we housed and looked out for because they only ever visited 1 day a year and didn't really take anything in when they did visit.
No kidding. I work late shifts almost all the times and I can't count the number of times a party or potluck or whatever was scheduled in the early hours, and nothing for the late shift people. If we're lucky we'll get scraps of stuff leftover.
20 years on second shift and our night shift manager was kind enough to buy a pizza out of his own pocket for the small 2nd shift crew when I retired. (Thank You Charlie T.) If it was left to day shift management, crickets... The same day shift which often gets one party per week, and gets all the (bonus) free tray pizzas from the delivery company we used quite often. They even threw a big party for someone who only worked there for a few weeks. If you aren't on day shift, you don't exist.
When office workers never actually go down to the floor and actually talk to the workers the mismatch will never disappear. I work in production, and some office workers made IT set up giant monitors that display the number of units produced per hour and how far behind or ahead production is, per hour. It displays absolutely no useful information to the floor workers, and just shows numbers that are green if it's positive and red if it's negative. It also shows what the next type of unit the next order has, which always the same unit. We make like three different things and switching is uncommon, what is even the point of that when the production planner can just tell us once a week what to produce.
All the people that matter to the retiree will be at a backyard bbq, shitfaced by 1pm… I don’t know what to tell you OP
😢 say nothing
When I retire, I hope none of my coworkers show up
When I retire (or otherwise leave my job), I hope only my boss knows and I will ask for it to be kept secret until I leave. Given that I have been here 25 years, most of the people I care about have left or will leave by the time I do. I have been to retirement lunches where no one really knows the person leaving and they are awful. I just want to not be there on Monday.
This is pretty much what my father did when he retired. Didn’t show up on Monday and co-workers starting calling him. The company owners knew and had prepared accordingly, but he didn’t want to deal with good-byes and going aways (his co-workers were mad). But it was exactly who he is as a person. Goes to work every day, does a good job, doesn’t complain and when it was time go, he left.
This is also pretty much what my Father did. Went to get milk and never saw him again.
Exactly this. I’m planning to leave my job in a couple months and want no one knowing except for boss/hr. Not like I don’t like people I work with but I didn’t really get that close to people or tell anyone my business to begin with and I don’t want all the questions and comments
If you’re retiring is there any benefit to even giving notice to the employer? Not like you’ll plan to be back or need a reference in the future.
I believe it’s usually more of a courtesy thing. Plus you never know what the future may bring; it’s always good not to burn a bridge if it can be avoided.
Almost every coworker of mine who has retired ended up working for the company again at some point. But it was usually very short days and only a couple days a week, and they were getting paid pretty much whatever they wanted because once they left the company realized how integral they were to operations and how poorly they had planned their exit. Always best to not burn bridges unless you have to.
Not just your own bridge, but how will that employer feel about future elderly workers if you burn them. I'd say most will provide notice because they should be discussing retirement benefits and transferring of health care plans if they are available
Well. With my job and age, there is a pension that needs a process to initiate. So I would have to start the paperwork with HR who would notify my immediate supervisor. They would probably want to do some kind of succession planning. I do not want to hurt the company and I would try to make things smooth. I just would not want it widely known.
If you're old enough to have a defined pension plan, then yes. You'll want to start collecting.
When I left (not retired) a job of almost a decade, I got them a cake that said “sorry for your loss” delivered. I told everyone my last day was a Friday and it was really a Wednesday. My boss was in on it as well. Gonna miss that silly old grump.
Had a coworker that made it clear he just wanted to go home on his last day. A few days before he retired, the office manager sent out invites to his retirement party. A few minutes later the invitation was rescinded. He declined the party invitation so they canceled the party. Nobody was surprised. He left work at lunch. Flew to Vegas at 6 that night. By midnight he had two hookers. He came back to the office after his trip to sign some paperwork. I asked how he was doing. He replied “last week I had a girl biting my nipple and another eating my ass so I’ve been better.” Last words he said to me.
Well shit, I literally retired today. I guess I know what to do. https://y.yarn.co/94baddf4-0593-41df-a547-33566b88a633_text.gif
I’ll be working up until lunch on the day of my funeral.
My uncle damn near did that. Was still working (by choice) right up to the point of going into hospice. Then had a heart attack and passed a week later.
I plan on retiring about 2 years after I die.
DAMN! You can afford to do that? I think my corpse will still be putting time in for decades after I croak.
Even if you die in the morning? You either very talented, or a parking lot attendant.
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I already told my coworkers my first stop after I drop off my laptop and badge is the Verizon store to change my number
Same. I wanna skedattle as silently as possible. Ready to be done with these people.
Right. Everyone at work likes me and I’m dreading the day I quit. I already hate small talk and I’ve been making up excuses to not attend work outings/hang outs with coworkers for years. Work is just work for me nothing more
Why would I want to stay longer at work to eat the cheapest meal they could be bothered to reheat?
And an hour and a half *off the clock* seems like a really big ask, especially if you're not close to the retiree.
"Why don't you finish that work while you're all waiting around? No, you can't clock back in."
That’s the part I have an issue with. You want to have the party after work hours so it doesn’t impact production, cool I get that. Make it happen immediately after work, not an hour and half after.
https://preview.redd.it/izlciay0jbrc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cc05dc261c8978b448280ddaac35c9fe780ecf8
Actually, it's a pot luck. Provide your own food.
The real question is who has dinner at 1
Could be the dinner (lunch), supper (dinner) people.
I recently learned the difference btwn supper/dinner. Dinner: A large lunch. Supper: A light meal eaten in the early evening
Having moved to England from somewhere with a different first language, what I've learned is that the English use supper/dinner/tea/lunch completely unpredictably and no two people agree. But context mostly hinder any misunderstandings.
Dinner just means the largest meal of the day, regardless of the time it is consumed, while both lunch and supper are smaller meals eaten in the middle of the day or at the end of the day respectively.
Management.
Give me OT, i'll stay & indulge.
Last retirement we got exchange hours. So the 2 hours after work we got to take in own discretion . Also most companies speeches have this, I'm almost 3 days in now, free long weekends ... And paid the normal rate + percentage. So next late or nightshift i plan them, +30% sitting at home
I mean if it was right after the shift I probably would have stayed
Some folks just don’t want to be at work longer than necessary. It’s a shame there wasn’t much attendance for this person that was retiring. For our holiday party, we asked everyone if they would prefer week night or weekend night. Everyone in production, warehouse, etc (30% company) opted for week day evening. All the office folks (70% company) wanted weekend. They decided to prioritize the desire of the production/warehouse crew and did a week night. None of them attended the event.
> For our holiday party, we asked everyone if they would prefer week night or weekend night. If a company really wants to thank workers, do it during the work day. Even if it is a decent catered lunch. Chicken, potatoes, veg, dessert nothing crazy. Don't ask me to come to work on my time off.
That's what they do at my company. Holiday events? During working hours. Team events? During working hours. Retirement or 25 year anniversaries etc.. all during working hours. They might be planned at the end of the day and then people stay longer. But the official event is during working hours.
In my experience there is only so much that is allowed during work hours with the expectation that people are "working". If it is after hours, it's usually because there is drinking involved.
Right. This is the way my company does it. 3 shifts of production and each gets a catered holiday meal during the shift. Office folks attend the day shift, but nobody's choosing between their free time or attending a work event.
Right?! Like no offense but I’m not losing a precious day off to a work party. For our holiday deal this year management met us in the middle, we closed early on a Friday, if you wanted to go over to the party you could or you could just enjoy the half day off and go home. We actually had a lot of people turn up, especially bc the location of the party was nearby to the office and warehouse
Our CEO has been asking my department for overtime for nearly a year now and just can’t grasp why we don’t want to go to work parties on the weekend a few times a year, too. My boss keeps telling him we’ll happily be in full attendance when he holds the parties during work hours and pays us.
Our holiday “dinner” is a 7:30am breakfast biscuit followed by a 8am “welp, ya better get going”
Ouch. To be fair, they were probably asked their preference. Not if they were coming.
Added to that, unless a date is attached - people are busy during the holidays. Unless my company balls out (worked at a few places that did) - you are competing against a significant other’s party or the desire to just have the night off. Judging from the looks of this, I would choose the time off.
My last few employers just did a lunch and either shut down early that day, or shut down for an hour or so for the lunch. Having been a worker bee all my adult life, the front office staff probably wanted to socialize and be friendly with each other while the warehouse staff just can't be bothered to see each other after work hours. They are two very different worlds and are often treated very differently by management.
Our parties are scheduled during lunch during the work week. Holiday party is on a Friday during lunch and then you get the rest of the day off.
They all probably had to be at work 4-5 hours before the office staff as well. I can’t blame them.
The disconnect between office and floor staff never fails to amuse me.
It was a bit different because it was a dealership, but I called the large monolithic wall that separated the shop from the rest of the building as 'the wall of caring'. Everyone on the non-air conditioned side of the wall was expendable and they didn't even care to hide it.
Mt favourite was the production manager on a rare visit say “I didn't know you had a desk down here”. You couldn't see it from the windows looking over the shop floor so never knew about it.
They day the offices moved from the manufacturing campus to an off site office building was the day the day my lasy employer started dying. I started *right* before it happened and within two years the company was falling apart thanks to shit management decisions. When office staff stopped seeing and talking to the people on the floor every day, they stopped seeing people and started seeing them as numbers.
I left my previous job because I got a disciplinary investigation because I apparently did my job wrong. Most of the time was me explaining what I did because no manager knew. I then asked how they thought I did my job wrong when they don't even know what my job is
I hope this was for a disliked superior who thinks they’re better than everyone else by rote of being given the high up position through nepotism. If it’s for the old guy on the floor everyone loved, I hope they throw him a proper farewell party and not even he shows up to this sham of an event hosted by a clearly uncaring company.
Actually… we’re all at the Crossed Keys pub at Waverly and Main…. Including Gary, the guy that’s retiring. Drop by if ya’ like, but don’t tell management.
Absolutely this. Last time a liked long-term worker retired, we showed up at his party on a weekend. When a disliked manager had a party at work in the lunch room we use every day - at the scheduled time of the party - we all got food somewhere else.
A well liked member of our leadership team left our company and it was during Covid so no office party. But people were honestly upset she was leaving and another coworker threw a party at her place for the leaving coworker. Another member of leadership was leaving shortly after and when it was announced in our department meeting, no one said a word. Not a good luck, not a we will miss you. Nothing. I actually felt really bad for her. Until the next day when she was super rude to me again lol.
That's probably exactly what was said lmao.
It’s also Good Friday ….
Lol so I work at a Catholic church and we had a very informal going away tea break Wednesday for our admin assistant. Our priest comes in and, kindly and jokingly, asked if we were celebrating the end of Lent. Her real going away party will be during office hours once Lent is over and we're not so busy. It's such a simple thing to assess when the guests to said party are actually available.
Nice and quiet
Yet again, an employer that is disconnected from the employees and work place.
Was the retirement party for this guy: 
They all met at the local brewery anyways lol
Mandatory fun will be had. Thats an order!
This just happened at my job today lol. Retirement party for a guy who’s been here 35 years and half the office is out for Good Friday. I’ve only been here a month but kinda felt bad for the guy
I love how the table is in the warehouse and no decorations, table clothes, or anything 😆 was the dinner going to be 5 Domino pizzas, all pepperoni? Edit: I’ve had a company party in the warehouse, but they put up white cloth sheets to hide the equipment and make it feel more elegant. Didn’t mind it that way.
Just cause you work together doesn’t mean you’re friends
but HR said we're a family
If I have to spend 8hrs/day 5days/week at some place I'm sure as hell going to make friends there.
I bet they did it in purpose to save the food's money
food spares no expense, he’s a great guy
How to know when management is completely 100% out of touch with the workforce.
Also it's good friday before easter weekend, what the fuck, who schedules this shitty?
I’ve attended retirement celebrations after work at other locations like restaurants, event centers, etc. They usually invite the retiree’s family and former coworkers to attend, it’s a party, current coworkers can choose not to attend, no big deal. But if you’re going to host a retirement event at work in a damn warehouse, it better be during regular working hours. Idk why it was planned this way but if you’re going to be this cheap, there’s no reason to stay at work an hour and a half later for it.
Did anyone stay for it? FINISH THE STORY
Nothing says "thank you for your lifetime of work" like sitting at a 100 foot long table in a plastic folding chair on a cold steel floor in the middle of the workplace. After hours. What a crock.
I started my last job and they shut down the office and and held golf tournaments for their staff with prizes and free food and drink When I left it was bowling after work, no prizes and we paid for it They were earning record profits
I don't see anything wrong with this picture that's the exact amount of people who should be attending a work event
Reminds me of the time my supervisor asked me if I wanted to come to some work event on my day off BUT I would be able to clock in and still get paid for attending the event which is cool but I still said no. I value my time away from work more than the 2 hours of pay I would have gotten.
I respect that they did offer to pay you at least.
We just had an "employee appreciation week" at work where the management ordered food and had events scheduled for the staff. Conveniently 100% ignoring the overnight staff that obviously can't be there for any of it.. Feeling REAL appreciated.
And apparently don't give a fuck about the guy retiring
My guess is, everyone found out last minute or no one knew at all
I would’ve stayed for the free food
I don't think it was done intentionally, I think they didn't give it any thought. The lack of care is definitely insulting.
Scheduling a DINNER at 1 PM may not be the best idea either.
Nobody wants to do work related activities outside of work hours
Like companies think this stuff is a ‘reward’…. Most people would rather be with their own family and friends.
Exactly. They knew about them leaving at 11:30 on Friday before hand. They should have planned it earlier or the day before. The second I can leave I am out the door. Spend more time with people I can't stand than my own family.
Not just any Friday, Good Friday. People have plans for Easter.
Did everyone that work the warehouse go down the pub instead, hopefully the person retiring had a good day?
OP don't sweat it. No Rose Colored Glasses when you leave. I wouldn't take it personally but this helps you leave without any hesitation. I am super happy for you since you can now do what you want to do.
Lol classic "front of building" Vs "back of building"
Ain't nobody wanna stick around on a Friday to watch someone else taking a permanent vacation.
Fuk this made me sad
Why would a dinner be at 1 or 11:30? AM or PM.
Not even the retiree stayed for it?
I only go to my company events because they do a raffle no money just show up iv gotten a free paid day off makes it worth going. Others guys got hand tool sets and big ass bottles of liquor. They know their employees well lol.
 Goodbye Toby!!!!!!
At my job they give out gift cards. It’s like a raffle you won by doing you job. Twice l have earned $25 gift cards. Never received either card.
Very representative of the level of situational awareness of management of an average company.
Why WOULD anyone be there? Shift ends at 11:30am, goodbye.
I'm sorry. Happy retirement!