Employee Who Didn’t Miss Work for 5 Years Gets $25 Gas Card as Appreciation Gift

Employee appreciation gifts often get a bad rap and it's not hard to see why; what with Amazon giving its workers grilled cheese sandwiches instead of raises, or this dude who got two slices of pepperoni pizza one day after taking up twice the workload at their job.

And if you spend enough time on Reddit's r/antiwork sub, then you're sure to come across a number of different posts from folks on the platform who are quick to share the shockingly thoughtless gifts they've received from their employers.

Like this one user who glowingly spoke about one of their co-workers who managed to uphold a perfect attendance record after being on the job for five years.

They said that they came into work even while sick and that they managed to work from home, even after contracting COVID-19, never called out for a doctor's appointment, NOTHING...and were given 5 gallons of gas as a reward for their dedication to the job.

Commenters who responded to the post began sharing instances of the most disrespectful employee appreciation gifts that they've ever come across as well, like this Burger King story that got tons of folks on the internet all up in arms: "Reminds me of that older man who worked at Burger King for literal decades just to be given a gift basket"

The BK worker in question who hasn't missed a day of work for 27 years was given a movie ticket, a Starbucks cup, and some chocolate for his service.

Shocked over the paltry gift, the worker's daughter then posted a GoFundMe to try and nab her father a better thank you than whatever his employers forked over; and the dedicated worker ended up accruing approximately $300,000 in donations from folks all over the web.

One user in the comments section of the gas card post suggested that the employee in question should more than likely look for a different gig: "$5 of gas per year of employment, Time to start looking for a new job"

To which someone else replied that if they're working the type of job where one's boss thinks that a $25 gift card is an acceptable employee appreciation gift to hand over to someone who've never missed a day in 5 years, then the worker in question probably doesn't possess a lot of in-demand skills companies would be willing to pay a lot of money for: "If they treat you like this, you're probably not in the hot segment of employment market."

But this line of thinking was contested by another Reddit user who shared an anecdote from their 15-year stint working for Michelin tires. Looking for work elsewhere, they applied to another company some 3,000 miles away that said, "I got you," and not only paid for the move, but offered a much better working experience.

"Not necessarily. Worked for Michelin for 15 years, this is about right for them. Put my resume out, another company offered to pay for my entire move (just over 3000 miles) and it's a completely different world. Flexible hours, most people work 4 10's but me and a few others do 3 12's. Worked yesterday for triple pay, or you could have the day off and get a full day's pay. Lots of stuff like that," they said.

In 2019, CNBC reported on a survey of employees who shared some of the worst appreciation gifts that ever ended up in their cubicles — and some of them are downright savage.

One person said that they were given a book on how to be better at their job, so it was more of a diss than an actual gift.

Another received "melted chocolate coins," showing that they can't even get a proper raise when the money is fake.

Another person was given a seat belt cutter, presumably so they could free themselves from their vehicle if they got into an accident on the way to work, so they could still make it to their shift.

Other weird gifts: a toy horse, deli meat, a qual from a boss' hunting trip, season tickets to the CEO's son's little league games, and a tourniquet; again, presumably so they can stop the bleeding from any one of their wounds that may prevent them from getting their TPS reports in.