What is a good Christmas bonus?

Decent Christmas bonuses vary by industry and level. The average range for end-of-year bonuses is 5 to 10 percent of annual pay for lower-level employees, 10 to 15 percent for supervisors and 10 to 20 percent for middle and senior managers.

A 2005 survey by a human resources consulting firm, Hewitt Associates, indicates that bonuses linked to performance can be much larger than the former holiday bonuses. For workers making $40,000 annually, performance-based bonuses may supply 10 times more cash than the average December bonuses. Holiday bonuses are not guaranteed, even for employees that are performing well. Some companies opt not to give bonuses if the economy or business is particularly bad.