I have two full time employees that hav been covering my arse for the better part of the year. One has been with me since Feb and the other this summer.

Both make about $15/ hour and rather young (sub 25 years old). I was thinking of hooking them up with some year end gear or bonus.

What have or would you guys (gals) do for your top people?

They do get first dibs on trade in gear which I some times push for when it is something cool for them. Me I have way too much crap. I just want them to finish my rack and make it look good.

My previous employer would let us buy gear at cost and it would be taken out of our paychecks before taxes. That might be another incentive for them to buy stuff instead of you forking over cash. I say give them both options. Here is $xxxx or you can spend $xxxx on junk.

Have any new tech you are bringing in? You could always treat them to that, which is will help benefit you in the end since they will be able to learn it inside out.

If gear then it needs to be the exact same pieces or dollar value. You will be second guessed otherwise.

If they are "into" this stuff then gear is always good. If you were going to give them a $500 bonus it's $500 towards the cost of gear. If they are not "into" it then give them cash.

My boss used to give me remotes and touch panels and processors as bonuses. Worked out great for both of us because i got cool stuff that i learned to program at home on my time. AVR's & speakers are also good mutually beneficial bonuses. Your guys can geek out at home and learn to position speakers and configure surround receivers.

Yeah they are both sorta of into it. One wants to learn more about programming and control where the other one just wants a cool surround system.

Wouldn't be able to give them both the exact same thing as they both have amassed parts and pieces.

I like the cash or credit towards gear deal.

What else?

$15 is cheap. Good for you, if they are good. But at $15 I guess they don't have to be that good, lol.

Yeah one is slightly under paid at this moment. I don't even know what the going rate is for a certified tech but I trained them so I put in some work.

They are awesome kids though. Just want to show them they are appreciated.

Only as good as your folks.

Last year I got a aventage 3020 for Christmas.

My boss never gets me anything :-(

It's nice to get something personal. There's one thing that is most personal because you can use it now or include more of the same for even better effect. That one thing is money. So, money is a good idea.

However, you have a strange audience here: guys who are interested in gear that might not be modern, might even be obsolete, might be worth less (or worthless) than the value these guys perceive. So old stuff can easily be really nicely personal, too.

Pay attention to your guys and make the choice that looks like it will have the best effect.

Nice little stocking stuffer :)

I heard that guy was cheap.

Cash is good but is quickly forgotten and then there is an expectation to repeat same treatment next year with an increase.

Gear is nice because it stays with the tech, it's not quite cash and if next year you choose not to give them anything, you can always say that they already have xyz

Also, I think the business deductability is the same, but I could be wrong.


Speaking of Christmas bonuses, just today I ran into old client that I haven't seen in 4-5 years.
Last time we spoke he was giving out between $500 and $1500 to each employee in CASH.
Oh, and he is in stucco business and had 150 field workers at one point.
He also didn't want to tie the Christmas gifts into their paychecks to be taxed and so forth, so he would withdraw cash as a personal draw and disperse money that way.
150 guys in the field plus office staff adds up to a nice chunk of change.

Regarding cash vs. gear:
A bonus will result in taxes for both you and your employees unless you are able to stash away those "cash" jobs. Gear means you could hide the "expense" within a job (shhhhhhh). So gear is going to give you the most bang for you buck plus there will be a higher perceived value because you are getting it at cost.

Regarding bonuses:
We are hoping to implement an employee profit sharing plan by 2015. I'd prefer not to discuss those details on RC.