介绍:
Lincoln: The end of the year is approaching, and Chinese employees are starting to look towards their end-of-year bonus. This is a tradition in China, but it has two sides. Will the boss finally give out that promised bonus, or do they have to wait for another season? It can be a stressful time if you don’t know. Wu You, maybe you can walk us through this a little bit?
WY: So this is like a year-end bonus, it more serves the purpose of a red envelope in China. It’s from the boss to the employees. The Chinese Spring Festival is coming, and people can usually use these kinds of year-end bonuses to buy gifts for their families and relatives.
Lincoln: Also, these aren’t small numbers! I’m looking at the numbers now, and within the 80% of employers who paid those end-of-year bonuses, 77% pay more than 5,000 RMB and 4.1% pay more than 30,000 to each employee, although the bigger numbers, we are assuming, are for people in the fields of commerce, and automobiles, or aviation, and things like that. This is quite a generous bonus, it seems like. But what about in the UK, is this something that’s a trend at all, or is this something that you’d see?
Nick: Well, it’s not like it’s in your contract, it’s not a regulated payment, I think it’s very much up to the company. It became quite a big issue in terms of bonuses for the top executives of banks and financial companies when there was the financial crisis, and people were very unhappy about the fact that despite the fact the banks were receiving loads of taxpayers’ money to help them out in the crisis, the chiefs of the banks were still getting their bonuses.
Lincoln: Yeah, and in certain places, as well, in certain sectors of society, especially when it comes to if there’s been a scandal or something like this, it’s on top of what is seen to be quite a big salary, as well, Wu You.
WY: I think no matter what kind of bonus it is, whether it is money or an ordinary gift, I think if it’s a bonus, people will be happy, and people will appreciate it. Maybe what people like the most is money, but still, if they receive some kind of nice gift, they will still be very happy, because it varies in different companies. In a company based in finance, or e-commerce, or automobiles, those are high-profit companies. Maybe their bonus is higher than in ordinary companies. But in some non-profit companies, I think, even though they are giving out ordinary gifts, people still appreciate it.
Lincoln: But what about when the bonus is given out? Is it given out at the end of the financial year? Is it given out at the beginning of December? When exactly would the bonus actually be given?
WY: Usually, in China, it’s at the end of December, because that’s near the end of the year, and also near the Chinese Spring Festival holiday.
Lincoln: Well, I’m thinking, as well, in terms of people being entitled to a bonus … in South Africa, it’s not just your employer; it’s not just the person who you actually work for. It’s also everyone who does a little bit of a service for you. We spoke in the past about tipping culture, and how different it is in other parts of the world. But for example, if I go to the barber shop, and the barber cuts my hair, who’s the same man who’s been cutting my hair for two years, at the end of the year, I often give him something extra, because you think ‘Well, he has a family as well’, and it’s the festive time, it can be quite expensive, and you know, it’s a time for giving.
WY: Maybe they’re the same thing. The tips work in the same way, showing you appreciate others’ work for you. And then you can decide how much you give people. So in that case, it is more like appreciation of other people’s work.
Nick: I think that’s something which, as you say, does happen around the world. Everyone’s in a good mood coming up to the end of the year, it’s the festive time, and if you want to show your appreciation for, as you said, someone who has been performing a service for you the whole year, why not?
WY: It’s more like a Christmas gift!
Lincoln: It is a Christmas gift, and I know in certain parts of the world, it’s called a Christmas bonus for that reason, because Christmas can be quite expensive. It’s a nice way to end the year, as well.
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