How to deal with disgruntled employees?

Wow, first let me say I commend you for giving Christmas bonuses, they are rare and I pity your unappreciative employees. But you were right to reprimand the office manager because her attitude appears to have affected the attitude of others. If I were you, I would call a general meeting explaining the Christmas bonus would no longer be provided because of the employees unwillingness to assume the tax liability and that the bonuses were given in good faith, but since they seem to have caused a burden upon the employees, the program has been discontinued. Give them a minute to think about biting the hand that fed them and then ask the employees would like to resume the program in the future with the understanding that they would be responsible for the taxes, if so, they can agree to the condition in writing. Those who do not agree, do not give bonuses, provide a gift basket. Those that agree give bonuses.

Funny you asked this question. I was downsized (along with 10,000 of my co-workers) in 2002, by a Fortune 500 telecommunications company. I had just turned 50.

Since the layoff, I can say I have definately been the victim of age-related bias (against older workers) during my job search. What a lot of employers don't seem to understand is that, with an older worker, you not only get someone who generally not only has a wealth of work experience, but also maturity and knowledge.

It should be common knowledge that taxes need to be paid on bonuses. Most older workers would not only know and understand that, but most would be thankful for the bonus, which is a worthy character trait. If giving out the bonuses had this kind of result, maybe the company should re-examine if you want to continue the practice.

The last company I worked for (after the Fortune 500 company downsizing - man, do I miss that company!) was the cheapest, most employee-unfriendly company on the face of the earth. I would have given my eye teeth for a bonus. Actually, even a simple "Merry Christmas" from them would have been a step up.

Good Question. I think the best way to answer this question would be an example.

My mom owns a sound and lighting company, and has had problems with ungrateful employees. There are three ways of efficiently dealing with such employees. You see employees are like children and should be treated as such.

Here are some ways of dealing with them:

1) Lower their wages and put them on probation. My mom had a similar problem with an employee and lowered his wage, for the period of two months, from $15 to $10 an hour for disturbing the peace of the office and constantly complaining about how he didn't have enough power (he thought he owned the business).

2) Fire them all. If they are disrespecting you they need to know what a truly unjust workplace is like. They will try to come back and you can hire them at drastically reduced pay. :)

3) Eliminate the Christmas bonus for all who complain. Give the extra money (perhaps even a little more than extra) to the respectful and new employees.

Good Luck. :)

Wow!

Amazing how you an give some people an inch and they demand a mile, isn't it? I'm sorry your employees are so ungrateful.

I guess I wouldn't be that nice. ANY bonus I've ever received, whether it's Christmas or a quarterly bonus has been taxed, and it's never, EVER occurred to me to complain about it. It's income, therefore it's taxable. It's also a bonus, not a promise or a guarantee. It's something that's above and beyond my salary, and it's never been open for discussion (or rather, it's never occurred to me to complain). I guess I don't feel entitled to anything other than to be paid my salary for my job, so I'm thrilled when extra money comes my way!

I would simply explain that to your employees, and tell them that if they don't want to pay the taxes, they can give the money back (Like I said, I wouldn't be that nice!).

I don't blame you for wanting to discontinue the bonuses. Probably the only other thing you could do in the future, if you choose to would be to give them gift certificates somewhere - then there wouldn't be any tax.

Good luck! I hope they come around and realize how generous you've been!!

Well you know what?

People are really down this year. Bush and Son's Inc. (formally known as the United States of America) have really done a number on everyone financially.

House taxes, Insurance, Gas, utilities... Everything is twice as expensive as it was just last year and everyone is feeling the hit! Even teenagers... Yes, even electronics and car wax has gone up so they have a right to be pissed off too!

Now... does that mean that it is your fault or responsability? No, it doesn't. But everyone needs a scapegoat, everyone needs a go to person to blame their troubles and woe on. It is usually the Boss! The source of their income!

People usually don't have the emotional intelligence to sort and filter who exactly they are angry at when the economy is in the toilet like it is. It is all a part of being a boss... Your only mistake... is treating your employees, as if they were family where you actually care what they think about having to pay taxes on something that everyone KNOWS is considered a part of their annual salary.

If they are pissed off because you are protecting your own *** and your business by doing things legally and not paying them cash so that they don't have to claim it on their taxes. Then you don't need dishonest people working for you anyway. Those who understand your position are the ones you need under you. Those who don't and called you out and were ignorant and short sided enough to do it in WRITING... are not what you need working for you anyway.

Treat your employees... LIKE employees because that is essentially what they are. When you blurr the lines with effection and emotion... People with base intelligence get all confused and believe they have the right to mistreat you.

Equally as much your fault as it is their's...

Yes you are right, it is very sad. I feel you have 3 choices and you need to carry out these quickly.

1. Discuss face to face with them and explain that:

(a)As they have complained about the xmas bonus's will be no bonus's next year.or

(b) If they want xmas bonus's then they will have to pay the tax.or

(c) you will pay the tax next year and provide them with a slip that tells them their bonus less tax.

A lot of companies now give a xmas hamper with a ham or a xmas party or similar instead of cash. I would be careful about your complaint about the office manager as he/she may have been pushed by the staff to complain on their behalf even though he/she may personally not wanted to, but could not afford to lose faith. but my choice would be to inform them that at this stage you taking option (a) and will wait to see how they perform during next year to see if you will reinstate the bonus scheme. Be sure to let them know how you and the company feel and how disapointed you are as the bonus is a free gift to them from you. I would also look at just how company orientated your O/M is, and maybe a little chat on the side is required, or depending on your chat, maybe a big boot up the middle is needed. It's not you fault you have to pay taxes it's a govt. requirement and theres nothing you or anyone else can do about it.

This is one of those D'oh moments when you find out the answer to riddle and think "Oh. yeah, I *knew* that!" My boyfriend gets vouchers as a bonus and I remember saying once "Why not just give cash?" but he explained that vouchers would be a tax write off. And I felt really silly for not having thought of it myself! Maybe next year you guys could give vouchers for a shopping centre instead. Although people will of course grumble and ask why can't they get cash so they can spend it on whatever they want. Jeez, it's a bonus, a thank you, you wouldn't hand a present back to someone and say "Could you not have got it for me in a different color?" or something. That's the only thing I can think of though, vouchers. Let them all pick what store they want them from. Best of luck with it.

I used to work at a major insurance company and the taxes on our bonuses were paid for by the company.

it was a complicated process but it really made a difference in the morale of production employees.

I understand the thinking of both sides on that issue. Better to do the little extra work and pay the taxes on the bonuses so the employees feel like they really got a gift.

I'd explain it to them as nicely as I could instead of treating them like ingrates.

Merry Christmas!

When two co-workers have a strained relationship it not only affects them and their job performance but can also affect those around them. Who knows why this woman is acting this way. I am a bottom line kind of person. Rather than having people walking on eggshells, which this may turn into, I would either talk to a supervisor or simply ask the woman if she has a moment, go somewhere out of earshot of everyone else, and ask her if you have somehow offended her. That is how she is acting. I suspect that something inadvertent has happened. With all of the great diversity in the US I think at times we may offend people without meaning to. However, we all need to be able to say I'm sorry, or accept an apology gracefully and move on to get to know each other better. I am a nurse. One time I had a patient that just did not like me at all...for no reason. I had never seen her before. As it turned out it was a case of mistaken identity! She thought I was a nurse she had at a different hospital...that she didn't like at all. When this was straightened out, we got along just fine. I turned out to be her favorite nurse. I simply asked her if I had done something to offend her. Then she asked me about working at the other hospital and it all was worked out. Who knows what is going on with this lady??? God bless.

Wow! They will figure out how lucky they had it I guess when there is no bonus optoin at their next job. There are A LOT of people that did NOT get a Christmas bonus this year. Also, most jobs don't have it anymore, and I think it's getting fewer and fewer. They just need to accept the fact that they have to pay taxes on it. It's better than nothing.