In Hong Kong it’s customary to give red envelopes to the staff of your residential building when you see them for the first time during the first few days of lunar new year.
Does anyone give red envelopes to their building staff here? Especially now there are more large buildings with full time reception, security and cleaning staff.
If so, how much?
Just remember, once you start, you cannot stop.
With that said, is your salary above NT$100,000 per month? if you choose to give, then maybe NT$800, as 8 is good luck. Report back on your experience.
I don’t, but every year I wonder if I should. (And if I should: how? There are at least six or seven different people working at different times.)
I never have, but if I’ve been wrong about that then I figure my foreignness kind of lets me off the hook.
I always thought that red envelopes are given by heads of family, employers, etc.
Meaning if you are the CEO of a large company you are more expected to give red envelopes than lower class base employees.
Some do but most don’t give red envelopes to building staff. It’s not expected but certainly appreciated. We give gifts in lieu of money. If it’s a large complex with many in staff, then NT$200 is fine, and give NT$600 to someone who is especially helpful.
One of the government departments, I assume the MOTC, are asking the public not to give the garbage truck guys red envelopes. Seems a bit mean and unnecessary to me.
problem with giving red envelopes to any government worker is it can be seen as bribery.
I suppose they might give you some trash in return.
I think it’s more like government trash collectors have rules to follow, like they can only accept trash in official bags, probably certain things that are hazardous can’t be thrown in the trash, etc. and they could bribe collectors to take them anyways (for trash that you’d normally have to pay to throw away).
But even if not, I think government workers are under strict order to not accept red envelopes. It looks bad no matter what.
I’d like to be a cleaner in a community full of you! There are just under 1000 apartments in the community I live in, say half give an envelope with NT$800 each cleaner could expect to go home with a tax free bonus of NT$400,000, over a years salary…
There is absolutely no expectation to give red envelops to your residential building staff. If you feel you absolutely must then NT$200 is sufficient, NT$800 and you would be considered a loon.
Check whether the staff get new year bonuses in their pay, if not then lobby to have a bonus given.
A local friend I know owns one of those firms that cleans up an apartment after it’s been sold, before new residents/buyers arrive (move in).
A very very lucrative business.
Workers all older ladies. They like it, because apartment empty and no need to face any clients.
All cash business.
You pay rent and if you own you pay essentially strata fees monthly. Let them give their employees red envelopes. I have never heard of this in taiwan but wouldnt be surprised if richer buildings might do it. As mentioned, once you start you cant stop…plus they are not your employees, so why?
Depends how thick it is…it is kind of expected that government officials take bribes and are corrupt as all hell. One thing both green and blue supporters dont argue about, just argue about how much.
Yea, that’s for bosses and directors to worry about. But the average government worker? They take even 100nt in red envelope and they’re in deep shit.
Well in my case, I’m not usually here during LNY. This year is an exception because of COVID. In future, if I am here during this time, then I would still be happy to give it.
(That said, the resident committee seems to change the management company quite frequently, so chances are the staff will all be different in the next year or two.)
In terms of “Why?”, I suppose it’s just a small gesture of thanks for their help over the last year, especially as I’ve stayed here much longer than I usually do, so they’ve had to be dealing with quite a lot of deliveries and other requests for me.
As I said it’s very normal/expected in HK, and in UK we often will give something extra for some regular service people at Christmas, so it’s the same kind of thing.
Following up on this, I asked some Taiwanese friends who also live in condo-type buildings.
On the whole, they do give red envelopes to the staff that they most frequently see at their buildings.
The general feeling seemed to be that $600 each was good for smaller buildings with smaller numbers of staff (and so tend to have more personal interactions). $200 each would be OK for bigger places with more staff where you don’t have much of a personal relationship beyond saying “hello”. Perhaps $1,000 for individuals who often go above and beyond.
So using my building as a “worked example”: It has has around 100 units in the complex. There are 2 cleaners, who I see around the place quite frequently, and they are usually quite helpful (e.g. if they spot me on the way to the basement to dump rubbish they will offer to take it for me), so they would get $600 each. There are 3 front desk staff covering day and night shifts, so they would also get $600 each. Though one of them has been particularly helpful to me (e.g. often will call up to let me know when deliveries have arrived and has helped with some other stuff), so I might give him $1,000.
If you decide to give red envelopes, then anytime in the two weeks following New Years Day is fine, but it makes more sense in the first few days, on the first time you see the person and wish them happy new year.