Please Think Twice Before Buying A Holiday Gift For Your Boss

The holidays can be such a magical time of year. The joy of celebrating whatever your reason for the season with good food, great company, or even the rare, quiet moment alone takes on a special, sparklier meaning — at least, until the mood gets ruined by pressure to be the perfect gift-giver at your place of work.

Saving for the holidays is tough enough without also budgeting for all-time-high Cyber Monday spending or the expected minimum spends on coworker "Secret Santa" exchanges. These exchanges can often be fun, if they are voluntary or only for your coworker besties. However, participation in office-wide exchanges can also feel compulsory, even if it's not. The unspoken (or spoken) pressure to impress and delight coworkers for $20 or less can be tricky to navigate financially and politically during the holiday season. What might prove even trickier still: deciding if you should buy your boss a holiday gift.

Opinions on whether or not employees should purchase holiday gifts for their superiors are about as split as those on raisins in stuffing. Etiquette doesn't exactly require or forbid the practice, but some key factors should be considered before you put a boss gift on your list and check it twice.

Ethically, legally, and in terms of etiquette, there's a bit of an ick factor when it comes to gift-giving in the workplace. This ick only gets exacerbated when it comes to employees giving gifts to their boss, and bosses choosing to accept those gifts. This breach of etiquette comes down to two obvious reasons: your difference in income and power.

Generally speaking, employees tend to make less than their work superiors. Sometimes this wage gap is minor, and sometimes it's significant. Compare a surgeon's salary with their appointment-setter's wages, for example. Income disparity can both make budgeting for a boss gift take on new pressure for employees. One person's trash is another person's hard-earned $50, and having to draw the line between both with your boss isn't usually worth the effort, or the awkwardness. Meanwhile, a boss giving a gift to employees isn't so awkward. Sometimes, it's even expected, at least if the gift is within the realm of reasonable expense and good taste.

Even if your place of employment allows gift exchanges across org charts, getting a gift for your boss can be tricky. You may get your boss a perfectly lovely coffee shop gift card — only to be totally outdone by That One Coworker who buys them a Montblanc pen. When a promotion comes around and it goes to That One Coworker instead of you, you may feel unfairly inspired to save up for the next boss gift opportunity.

Of course, you may still feel compelled to get your boss a holiday gift, or you may just want to. If your workplace has no policy in place that pooh-poohs gift giving, and you are dead set on giving your boss a token of holiday cheer, there are some best practices to keep in mind.

Avoid "funny" gifts. You might think you and your boss have an in-joke totally worthy of a gag gift, only to discover your boss is very offended by such a gift. You also don't need to spend too much mental energy or so much money on your boss that you have to cut these five things from your holiday budget. Also avoid the trap of spending too much money on a lavish luxury gift for your employer because you're trying to impress your boss or keep up with the office Joneses.

Instead, keep these "keep-its" in mind as a good rule of thumb for boss and coworker gifts: keep it simple, keep it low-cost, and keep it consumable. Coffee, tea, cookies, and fruit are all classics for a reason. Feeling crafty? A dollar-store wicker basket lined with festive tissue paper and filled with apples, oranges, or pears; or cookies and a package of the boss's favorite morning beverage supply are some sweet, small ways to say "Happy Holidays" to your higher ups without breaking the bank, or feeling like a humbug.