A Business Owner’s Guide to Giving Holiday Bonuses

A Business Owner’s Guide to Giving Holiday Bonuses

Tis’ the season to be merry, be thankful, and for giving.

Part of being generous this time of year may include showing your employees some appreciation. And holiday bonuses are certainly a great way to show employees you care – but they don’t necessarily have to be monetary.

Holiday Cash Bonuses

When it comes to giving out money, what’s the “right” way to go about it?
First, decide how much to pay out and ask yourself what is an appropriate amount to give. You can give a fixed amount to everyone across the board, usually anywhere from $100 to a few thousand dollars. You may also decide to give a percentage of each person’s salary or an extra week’s pay. All the options are acceptable if you’re fair and equitable. Etiquette says that holiday bonuses should be given out to everyone and calculated on an unbiased basis.

Next, decide when and where you’re going to give it. You may decide to present everyone with a thank you card and check or cash card at your holiday party. You may decide to include the bonus in payroll, although this is a little less personal.

Another great idea is to consider giving out a holiday bonus around Thanksgiving. This will go with the theme of being thankful, and it will give your team a little extra spending money for holiday shopping.

Holiday Time Off

Time off with family and friends is something that virtually everyone appreciates and could use more of. Since this time of year is packed full of extra stressors, giving your employees more time to get things done can do miracles for increasing productivity and morale in the workplace. Employees will certainly appreciate an extra day off or two to relax during the year-end holidays after all their hard work during the work year.

Whatever you decide, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season from all of us at The BlackOak Group!


This material has been reviewed for consistency with applicable regulatory and company standards. Any factual statements in the material, including, but not limited to, any performance numbers, statistics, policy numbers, and dates, etc., have not themselves been verified. The reviewer offers no comment as to their accuracy or completeness. The author, by submission of this material to the reviewer, attests to the accuracy of the information contained therein.
This article was originally approved for use in December 2018 as PPG 121110 and certain information presented may have changed. For more current information please contact a member of The Black Oak Group.

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