Holiday Office Gifting Guidelines.

By: Mary Thompson (Capstone Brokerage, President) December 2013 Pt. 2 Holiday Guidelines

As mentioned in “Holiday Party Guidelines” it is important during this time of year to show appreciation for your employee’s hard work. This not only sets company moral a bit higher but also helps to maintain a relationship with employees and the employers. Many of our clients have traditions set in place such as a company wide gift exchange, or mystery gift, or our personal favorite a company sponsored white elephant.

It is still necessary to keep the employee liability risk low. By following these gifting guidelines we believe it will help keep the potential risk limited. Also, be sure to stay in compliance with the company handbook with all gift giving. Many employees and employers forget company policy at times like these.

Employers have a duty to maintain a harassment-free workplace. If employees participate in holiday gift exchanges, employers should make clear that gifts should be respectful and appropriate for the workplace. For example, employees should not be permitted to exchange materials containing graphic lyrics or content, or holiday cards of an adult nature. While one employee may find such gifts humorous, another employee may take offense, especially if the gift is presented in a room full of co-workers and strangers. Employees who are participating in a company gift exchange should be reminded to give with good taste. Although a gag is often fun and lighthearted it needs to be appropriate for the workplace.

Now if the company is purchasing all the gifts for the exchanges be sure to keep everything pretty fair, you don’t want to show preferential treatment to one employee over another. This is why we recommend a random gift giving approach as opposed to a to/from method. If gifting cash or gift cards think about your tax implications if the value will be larger.

Many companies also give gifts to their clients as a sign of gratitude for their business, remember the conflict of interest or code of ethics still apply at holiday time. It is bad practice to give gifts to one specific person in a company, we recommend instead to give to the company as a whole. Some welcomed ideas are a food or fruit basket, or luncheon of some sort. You also want to be cautious when accepting gifts as well. Once again stay within your company guidelines.

Lastly, be sure to enjoy this holiday season and show gratitude to not only your clients, employees, but also your employer. If you decide to skip the traditional holiday party or employee gift/bonus find another way to show appreciation before the end of the year to recognize and reward your employees who work so hard to help your business thrive. When getting ready for the holidays, don’t forget the potential for liability, as compliance with the law takes no holiday. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season and perhaps think twice before you hang mistletoe in the office.