[a fool in paradise]

I’ve worked for companies that shook down departments to participate so they could boast 100% participation.

[mountn man]

Same here.

Had a boss try all sorts of intimidation tactics.

Then he tried shame.
The “Your Fair Share” slogan.

That’s when I told him I probably already gave a higher percentage of my income, to charitable causes, than he did, and that I volunteered x amount of hours a week and had been for y amount of years.

Then I got up and left.

Never question me about “my fair share”.

[Leaning Right]

> I’ve worked for companies that shook down departments to participate so they could boast 100% participation. <

Back in the 1950’s my mother worked for a major corporation. One day her boss called her in. You are the only one from your department who hasn’t donated to the United Way. Please donate so we can have 100% participation. No, my mother said. I prefer to donate to my church instead.

Okay, said the boss. I’ll give you $5. Use that $5 to donate to the United Way. No, my mother said. That would not be ethical.

Mom was not fired. She was too good a worker.

[vmpolesov]

Thankfully I have never been shaken down by my employer but the phenomenon is curious to me. Does the employer or manager get kickbacks? Why would they push so hard?

My response if I were shaken would be that my religious beliefs require my charitable acts to be anonymous.

[Mears]

“I’ve worked for companies that shook down departments to participate so they could boast 100% participation.”

-

So did I.

Back in the mid 80s I decided United Way was a big boondoggle and I refused to give.

My manager pleaded with me to donate,even if it was 10 cents a week. She wanted 100% participation.

I refused and never gave to UW again.

.

[xzins]

Yep. Give a buck or as little as you can get away with. Designate even that. Then do your real giving direct to the organization you like

[EC Washington]

At my previous place of employment, we were taken into an office with the door closed and given the United Way card to sign in front of our manager. My son was a Boy Scout at the time so I picked the smallest % and designated it to the Boy Scouts. The troop leaders said they never received the $$, the United Way donations went to the Boy Scout Corporate office.