Hey folks,
I live in the US... Well, concerning the topic: I was a very blue blue-collar worker for many years, and in fact, it's only the last 3 years I've been working for a big and reputable company. At blue-collar companies, I never got anything, even a mention of a Christmas bonus.. most folks are just concerned with trying to get days off at places like that. Well, with the company I'm currently at, I remember on the first year's review, my boss tried to tell me how hard she'd fought to keep the christmas bonuses for employees. Inside I'm laughing, because I never even CONSIDERED getting a bonus like this before. But in my time here, my company always gives us SOMETHING - a $$ bonus (small, but token) on our checks, or paid-vacation hours added to our pool of vacation time, or a nice little gift. In addition they often give us little things- gift cards, event tickets, things like this... all very low-cost, these little "stocking stuffers," but in this case, it's really as they say - "it's the thought that counts."

I've never gotten the type of Xmas bonus that effects your monetary life, though. I know it's common with "high-power" jobs - I'm sure Madoff got a few in his time. But not me!