Yup. My boss gives us each $100 for Xmas. We give him squat. Because he’s very wealthy, and we’re plebs. I don’t even have a retirement account. Boss gets zippo.

I do have a significant relationship with my boss (I've worked with her for over a decade) and while we are still close, we're not as close as we once were due to the demands of her high powered job and the evolution of my job. But I'm questioning whether or not to get her something this year. I got her something last…

All I get from staff is a card from the receptionist signed by her and her cats.

Never buy a gift for your boss! Never.

Clearly you don’t work with Chinese people. ::cries::

I wish we could just no gifts at work period. If you’re friends with your coworker or boss and want to gift, go for it. But, like, real life friends. No work gifting.

I agree. However I once had a boss (I was the 3rd person in my job in 3 years -shoulda been a red flag) who actually commented that she used to get gifts and now didn’t. I think she was suggesting I should get her a gift. I pulled from my dad’s “gifts for business associates” pile. It was weird.

As a state employee, this is actually law for me; I can gift down, but can not accept any gift from below valued at $3 or more. It’s a good thing.

Also cosigned, though I will say my manage-ee who sent me a birthday present is like my favorite person on the team. So sucking up works for me (we’re also friends outside work and she got me something super cheap that was a reference to a conversation we had).

Agreed. It’s awkward with my subordinates. I give all of them the same token (Amazon card, chocolates from a local place, etc.). But then some of them give me something, some don’t, people end up looking around at the others to see what they should do...but it seems weird to tell them all “Etiquette says I give you…

Another Team Don’t Buy Gifts For Your Boss boss here. I know what my direct reports make and I do not want them to spend any of it on me.

I’m new to my team (3 other women in my department). They take birthdays and Christmas VERY seriously. I’d only been at work for 5 months when they were asking me to come up with an Amazon wish list for my birthday. I had no idea what to do so I asked for like candles and wall calendars. The most anxiety inducing…

Yes, as a boss, nothing makes me feel more awkward. Love when my team does something special (for my b day this year, they took over the company Instagram account all day with funny posts about me), but buying a gift is not something you should do for managers.

Yup. It is poor business behavior and puts everyone in an awkward situation.

Yes, do not buy gifts for your boss! Gifts should flow downward, not upward, if they flow at all.

NO. Food gifts to the entire department/cube section/etc are appropriate, but there is no way on God’s Green Earth that I’m buying my boss a gift. For that matter, I’ve never received a gift from a boss other than food gifts meant for the group as a whole. What is wrong with people?

Gifts should flow down and not up in the workplace. Boss person can buy their own shit.

That’s what I was thinking, why am I buying my bossa gift... that being said, I chipped in on a gift for my boss’s bday. Partly because I knew if I didn’t.... she’d remember. And she’s a petty person at times.

Just don’t drink the eggnog. It’s pod person serum. I never worked at a company like that, but my sister has. I had to reverse brainwash her. I call it the Century 21 gold blazer syndrome.

I’m pretty sure we are not even allowed to do it in my office.