Alternative Holiday Bonuses and Incentives

by Jim Headley

Published on this site: December 23rd, 2005 - See more articles from this month

Many employers in the United States of America are utilizing the talented pool of labor that immigrates to America from foreign countries. With employee shortages, Americans demanding higher pay and benefits, and the influx of immigrants that come to America everyday it makes economical sense for employers to hire these immigrants. The argument has been made recently that immigrants who are looking for work are more than willing to do the work that some Americans may consider to be menial and that pays below their standard of living.

Some employers have so many immigrant workers that the employers offer English language lessons as a benefit to their employees and help them in becoming American citizens. There are even employers who have so many immigrant workers that there are three to four languages spoken by the employees, none of which are English. Inventive employers are offering these English lesson classes that can be taken during work hours as a means of improving safety and quality of life for employees. Consider the fact that it would be difficult for an employee who speaks a foreign language to communicate safety problems to other employees who do not speak the same language. Many of these immigrant workers leave family and friends behind in their home country while seeking a better life in the United States of America. Many immigrant workers come to America with the intention of bringing their family over once they have enough money saved up.

For an immigrant worker, one of the best gifts for the holiday season may not be the frozen turkey that has traditionally been given as a holiday bonus. As a matter of fact, some of these immigrant workers may not even recognize the Christian holiday of Christmas. It is important for employers to offer their immigrant employees holiday bonuses or gifts, but to make sure that the holiday gifts are not offensive to other religious beliefs that the immigrant employees may have.

A practical gift or bonus that may be appreciated by immigrant workers in the United States might be a way to keep in touch with those friends and family that they left behind in their home country. The holiday season focuses so much on family ties that those who are away from their family may feel left out of the family atmosphere.

International telephone calling cards could be a great way for an employer to offer a non-offensive holiday gift to his or her employees. This gives the employee a way to keep in touch with those family members that they are away from without costing the employer a lot of money. Rechargeable international telephone calling cards allow people to call a foreign country at an affordable rate. International phone calls have long been out of the price range for most people. Now there are international calling cards that make calling a foreign country a possibility regardless of a person’s income.

An international telephone calling card would be a much more practical gift to give to immigrant employees than the old frozen turkey. These international calling cards are also more affordable than you may think. An employer can purchase a single phone card at any price they choose. These international calling cards, such as the ones offered by the company "send global", let a person call a foreign country for mere pennies a minute. A $5.00 phone card translates into a person being able to call a foreign country and talking for quite a while. Rates do vary depending on the country that is being called, but pennies a minute applies to all covered countries.

The holiday gift of being able to call home for free may be much more appreciated by immigrant employees than the traditional holiday gifts that employers are notorious for giving out during the holiday season. If you are an employer that has a number of immigrant workers then you may want to give some thought to international calling cards as an option.

Jim Headley, ([email protected]) VP of New Business Development, Telecents Communications Inc. Telecents' SENDGLOBAL brand offers free International Calling Call Free to Europe, South America, Asian, Mexico, Middle East, India. Visit http://www.sendglobal.com enter promo code "JB6LP". Want to become an agent/affiliate? Go to: http://www.sendglobal.info login TCI