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MP Wants Businesses To Give Staff £200 Instead Of Christmas Parties

MP Wants Businesses To Give Staff £200 Instead Of Christmas Parties

It'd certainly help people through what promises to be a weird Christmas

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

UK businesses have been urged by an MP to give their employees £200 instead of having a Christmas party this year.

Either way, it seems as if the normal Christmas parties aren't going to take place this year, so this suggested initiative might help to boost morale, and give those struggling a bit financially a lift over the festive period.

It's been put forward to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak by Labour MP Chris Evans - not that one - who said the government could help employees give a 'few extra quid' to staff without costing the country anything.

So, as it stands, companies can throw a tax-deductible Christmas party worth £150 ($198) per head so long as all employees can attend and it is for team-building purposes.

In addition to this, they can give employees a tax-deductible gift up to the price of £50 ($66), so something like a nice bottle of wine or a Christmas dinner.

PA

However, with it being increasingly unlikely that anyone will even see their colleagues in person for the rest of this year, let alone get together for a pint and a sing-song, Evans suggested businesses could apply that £200 ($264) of tax-deductible cash to something else.

As we're in lockdown until 2 December anyway, and with the rule-of-six expected to apply into the new year, Evans has proposed giving the cash to workers directly to let them use it for their own family Christmas, whatever format that will take.

According to The Sun, Evans wants companies to line the pockets of staff as a way of saying thanks and to 'make up for the odd working conditions of 2020'.

He added: "It's win-win for everybody. The workers would get a few extra quid, it would be a morale booster for the company and it wouldn't cost them an extra penny.

"It would be up to the employers to decide if they want to do this of course, but it would be a good way of saving money in the long run. And it might just save Christmas spirit for a few people along the way."

PA

With the infection rate still high and the death toll still rising, there's been a lot of speculation about what will actually be allowed this Christmas.

Last month the Environment Secretary George Eustice said that families could be prohibited from 'coming together in large gatherings' if the government deems it necessary.

When pressed on whether the police would be breaking up people's festive meet-ups, he added: "We want people to live and have Christmas as close as possible to normal. It's a really important family time, we understand that.

"It's too early to say though exactly what restrictions will be in place by Christmas and obviously if we do need to have restrictions in place and prevent families from coming together in large gatherings, if that's necessary to control the virus, that's what we'll have to do."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Christmas, UK News, Money, Politics