[3.0L]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Were you faculty or staff/admin? Was there a union? I've never seen emeritus status given to non-faculty anywhere in academia.....

I've been retired for 10 years, but this thread brings back memories about how our new director started cutting back on everything, including our beloved annual BBQ. Our director was so cheap that she left it up to employees (including me) to figure out how to find a physical place to work! I scrounged all my $hit. My final "resting place" was woefully small - so small that my desk was just a table, meaning a standard desk with 2 or 3 drawers on one end wouldn't fit in my tight workspace. I had to store my files in a cardboard box under my small work bench. My parts "storeroom" was a former hallway, about 6 feet deep and 4 feet wide. No one gave a shit.

Milestones, etc. were never mentioned. All we heard were vailed threats that we staff were 80% of the budget.

Tight wads.

[Dang3r]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Interesting that nobody has mentioned employee ball pits, free cafeterias, and dozens of nap pods with sound-cancelling speakers that Silicon Valley uses to recruit/retain employees.....

As you pushed that button...
To the 50s anniversary the company indeed came up with various gifts to choose, a JBL BT headphone (was the most picked item), a sports duffle bag, branded sneakers and some stuff more I don't remember at the moment.

Reaching certain milestones as mentioned above, you're receiving different coloured pins for your years of employment (10 blue/25 gold/30 platinum), from 25y you are able to book C/CL directly for advance holiday bookings, 30y you'll get on top a F/CL flight on your choice, at 35y and above they would sponsor your funeral - NO! just kidding

[dmatre]

Our company doesn't have officially recognized mileposts for service - but we do get one extra day of vacation for every year of service after the fifth.

Now approaching my 40th year, thus 45 days vacation (10 days originally, plus 35 days earned through longevity). Unfortunately, with my present responsibilities, it's not possible to use them all. But it's nice to have.

[Bongoxxx]

I work for one of the top 10 largest banks in North America.

Our program gives anniversary awards at:
1Y
5Y
10Y
15Y
And every 5 years after that.

The gifts used to be progressively better the longer you were with the organization, however with how heavily we are regulated the gifts are now all the same for 5+ year anniversaries. Essentially a gift worth up to $500 (you select from about 50 different options) or we can elect to receive 10 shares (for which we are then taxed). For my 20 year I selected an iPad for example. We get to select how we want to be celebrated - whether it be a private thanks from your manager or up to a party (depending on the service level).

When you hit 20 years and every 5 years after that we receive an additional 5 vacation days in the anniversary year.

I celebrated 25 years this year and took the 10 shares as our stock was trading over $100 at the time.

[BMWGUYinCO]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Interesting that nobody has mentioned employee ball pits, free cafeterias, and dozens of nap pods with sound-cancelling speakers that Silicon Valley uses to recruit/retain employees.....

Yeah, those just make up part of the gilded cage!

[spazzyfry123]

I was with a colleague at a customer site getting ready to walk in when he got the call from his manager congratulating him on his 40th anniversary that morning. Large Fortune 500 company with 80,000+ employees. I think they sent him a gift card to take his wife out to dinner and some company bucks that can be exchanged for a variety of things. Nothing quite says "thanks of 40 years" like an Applebee's gift card and an air fryer.

My last company (multi-national, but significantly smaller), would offer your pick from a supplier's catalog and bring in a cake or something for the department for your birthday. On five year milestones a plaque would be made up that you could display on your desk or wherever (now that I think about it, I never got one of those and was there for about 8 years).

My company prior to that (very small, family-owned with only two distribution facilities and a single retail store) caters lunch for the whole crew every Wednesday, healthcare for you and your family is 100% covered, and will always take the team out for drinks on someone's birthday. Big milestones would be a big party at the President's lake house.

Moral of the story, the bigger the company, the less you matter.

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

I'm ashamed to say I never thought of gifts for milestones. I will discuss with my brother. That being said, we have very low turnover. People come and stay. I have many 10, 20, even 30 year employees.

I/we treat people the way I want to be treated. In my life before being a business owner, I had shitty bosses and good ones.

We give out anniversary awards - framed certificates- during our employee appreciation events. We do this every summer. It varies, but is normally a BBQ, or catered event during work hours. One year we had a dunk tank, that was fun. We Roast certain players and also give out silly awards. We do holidays parties every year. Everyone is reviewed and gets raises annually. We buy everyone lunch once a month, give employees gifts for life events ( marriage, child birth) and I personally give holiday gifts to those employees I deal with directly. Based on the year's earnings, we come up with $X to be bonused to those that don't have formal bonus programs. Just last week we gave everyone an extra paycheck as we had a good end to Q2 and wanted to share now as most could use it.

During the holidays we choose a few different gifts for employees and customers and give employees a choice of which they prefer.

It's very humbling to have employees coming into my office crying and thanking me for the extra money, gifts, appreciation or just the job in general.

I don't think you should be ashamed at all!! It sounds like you go over and above throughout the year and make note of special occasions to celebrate. That to me is more important. Great job!

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

I don't think you should be ashamed at all!! It sounds like you go over and above throughout the year and make note of special occasions to celebrate. That to me is more important. Great job!

Thank you. I guess ashamed was the wrong word. I/we always want to show employees our appreciation so I’m surprised we never thought of this. You taught me something today.

[dradernh]

I never stayed in a job for 5 years. Job-wise, I moved around a lot, and that enabled me to retire unusually early. I was max-OCD on keeping my employers happy and even more with getting out ASAP.

I've been retired since 1994 and don't miss work one teensy-tiny little bit.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Thank you. I guess ashamed was the wrong word. I/we always want to show employees our appreciation so I’m surprised we never thought of this. You taught me something today.

Birthday Turo of bosslady's MX6???

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Birthday Turo of bosslady's MX6???

Uhhh, NO!