Gifts for New Colleagues
Good morning. We've received a question, our first one in a while. I'd like to encourage more questions. You all know what I'm struggling with, but it's much more interesting to hear what everyone else has done to ease the stress of the holidays. Send questions and comments about gift-giving, cooking, holiday fashion and entertaining to holiday911@washpost.com.
Now, on to our question:
One of my friends just started a federal government job a month ago. He's wondering if he should give any gifts to his new bosses and co-workers. If yes, what kind of gifts are good? The federal government has a regulation that limits any gift to a supervisor to less than $10. What's your opinion?
I think gifts are unexpected and unnecessary, given that he's only worked in the office for a month. If he supervises other people, perhaps he could take them out to lunch. That's a nice gesture. If not, what about bringing in some baked goods (he does not have to bake them) for the entire office? Not fancy, but festive.
By Liz Seymour |
December 21, 2006; 8:30 AM ET
| Category:
Gifts
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Posted by: 20010 | December 21, 2006 11:03 AM
Our office has had a steady stream of baked goods - they're great! It's a present for the office without being really personal (although I'm sure the calorie-counters hate them).
Posted by: another fed | December 21, 2006 03:06 PM
I worked for City gov, not Fed, so we don't have any rules. In our office, I bought small gifts for my support staff, no more than $15. And then everyone in our office chipped in $5 to $10 for our boss' gift. We bought her a gift certificate for a restaurant. That way we could buy one nice gift without any one person spending too much.
Posted by: local gov | December 21, 2006 03:47 PM
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There are government-wide ethics rules in place regarding workplace gift giving. Your friend's might want to find out how strictly his agency follows them.