People Are Discussing Their Laughably Sad Work "Bonuses," And The Corporate World Is Actually So Unserious

When bonuses come around at work, most people expect something that will reflect the hard and tireless work they've put into their job. But sadly...that's not always the case.

So when a Reddit user asked the question, "What's the worst 'bonus' a job has ever given you?" in the r/AskReddit community, I knew it would be full of jaw-dropping letdowns:

1."I got a frozen strip steak one Christmas. Just one. I told my wife she was out of luck."

—u/BarnBurnerGus

2."I worked at a big auction house for people with lots of money, doing manual labor. For Christmas, we got a coupon for a cup of coffee...from the coffee shop in the building. We already had free coffee. I still have the coupon; it’s a nice reminder of what I walked away from."

—u/ohhhhfcukkkk

3."I worked at a department store for the holidays one year. We had a record Black Friday, so they got us Little Caesars (one slice per person) while managers had a catered lunch from one of the nicer restaurants nearby."

—u/Mochigood

4."Tickets to the local university football game. We worked at a college bookstore. Nearly all of us, except management and the full-time lead cashier, were students of the university. We could already get in free with our student IDs."

"The student section was a lot better than these nosebleed end zone seats he was handing out. Exceeded sales goals by almost 10%, and his 'special' reward to us was something we all already got for free."

—u/Lostarchitorture

5."A walnut cake…I have a severe allergy to nuts, which the whole (small) company knew about."

—u/kittiqueen

6."My old retail job gave us all turkey vouchers for Thanksgiving. When we went to redeem them, it turned out they were actually $5 off if you bought a turkey worth $25 or more."

—u/CurvyTigergirl

7."A poinsettia AFTER Christmas was over. They used them to decorate the restaurant, and then the ‘bonus’ was they handed them out to employees instead of properly caring or disposing of them."

—u/mackinoncougars

8."I worked for a small sales-based company. They were pushing hard for the first ‘Million Dollar Month’ and kept saying they would make it worth our while! We assumed a big bonus, a trip, a fancy steakhouse, something! When we finally hit it, we each got a bobblehead of one of the executives."

—u/bondsman333

9."A chocolate box with five small chocolates. It was to thank us for the release of a product that doubled the company's revenue."

—u/ConsciousnessWizard

10."A picture of an ornament with a hole punched out of it so you can hang it from your tree. It had the company logo on it."

—u/the-cookie-momster

11."I worked throughout the pandemic, coming into contact with people from all over the globe. I'm not allowed to say specifically what my job was, but it was in the public sector. After the pandemic ended, we were each given a sachet of porridge as a bonus. Lucky us."

—u/Cobzi14

12."A poker chip with 'APPRECIATION' written on it. Literally a token of appreciation."

—u/yepthisismyaccount

13."I worked in sales for a major wood products manufacturer. I sold record-breaking volume to the tune of $51 million for my territory. Second place sold $12 million. I received a $100 bonus, while the guy in second place received a Rolex."

"The CEO made a joke about it at the sales conference. 'Sometimes it’s best to come in second place.' I walked out and typed my two-week notice. I started my own company as a direct competitor of my former employer. I’m still in business. They are not."

—u/rollcasttotheriffle

And finally, here's a story of one of those incredibly crappy work "bonuses" that will actually leave you speechless:

14."I worked at a company for nine years and through some of its toughest times. I often worked unpaid overtime and went above and beyond. These were some of the highlights the boss pointed out while giving a recognition speech about me."

"He ended it with, 'Most families save the biggest piece of chicken for the breadwinner, so keeping with that tradition, I'm offering you the biggest and first slice of cake.' After being recognized in such a manner, I waited for about a month for an actual monetary bonus. Upon receiving nothing, I put in my notice, citing the speech and lack of actual reward for my efforts."

—u/theonlybuster

Do you have your own experience with horrible work bonuses? Let me know your stories in the comments below!

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.