Most workplace gifting advice is about what to choose. This is the other list, and it is shorter and more useful.
1. Just before an appraisal or a promotion decision
⚠️ The clearest one. A gift to somebody who is about to decide something about you is compromised by timing alone, whatever was meant by it.
Wait until after. The gift is unchanged and the reading of it is completely different.
2. When you are the only person doing it
A gift from one team member to a manager, on a team where nobody else gave anything, is visible to everybody and awkward for the manager with the rest of the team.
Join a group gift or give nothing. Gifts for a manager →
3. When it would exceed their company’s gift policy
This is the one that creates work for the recipient. Above a stated value they must decline it or declare it — which means filling in a form about your kindness.
Common in banking, listed companies, government, healthcare and anything touching public procurement. If you do not know their policy, assume there is one and keep it small.
4. To one report and not the others
Covered elsewhere and worth repeating: a manager giving one person a gift communicates a ranking to the whole team. Gifts for a direct report →
5. When it is anything personal in the intimate sense
Clothing, scent, jewellery, anything that implies you have considered their body. This is the line people cross by accident, usually with the best intentions, and it cannot be un-crossed.
6. When you barely know them and there is no occasion
A gift from somebody a colleague does not know, for no reason, is a puzzle rather than a pleasure. They now have to work out what it means and whether to reciprocate.
7. When the relationship needs a conversation rather than an object
A colleague you have had a difficult time with, somebody you owe an apology to, somebody whose work you have taken credit for. A gift into any of those is a way of not having the conversation, and it is usually read as exactly that. How to apologise with a gift →
| Situation | Instead |
|---|---|
| Before an appraisal | Wait until after |
| You are the only one | Join a group gift, or nothing |
| Above their gift policy | Keep it under ₹500 |
| One report only | All of them, same kind |
| Anything intimate | Nothing in that category, ever |
| Barely know them | A written note at year end |
| A difficult relationship | The conversation |
The one that is hardest to judge
A colleague going through something difficult — an illness, a bereavement, a divorce, a job loss coming.
The instinct to send something is good and the execution frequently is not, because at work you usually know less than you think you do. A gift referencing a situation somebody has not told you about announces that the office knows.
Two safe versions: something from the team with no reference to anything, and a message that offers something concrete rather than sympathy — covering a shift, taking a meeting, handling one specific thing.
Gifts for someone recovering from illness → · The first birthday after a loss →
What to do instead of a gift
Say the specific thing. In writing, to them, and copied to their manager if it is about work. That is worth more than any object in this price range and it costs nothing.
Recommend them. A written recommendation, an introduction, putting their name forward. That is a gift that shows up in somebody’s career.
Nothing, warmly. Not every relationship needs an object attached to it, and workplace gifting is the area where that is most true.
Frequently asked
When should I not give a colleague a gift? Before an appraisal, when you are the only person doing it, when it may exceed their company’s gift policy, or when the relationship needs a conversation instead.
What is inappropriate as a workplace gift? Anything personal in the intimate sense — clothing, scent, jewellery. It is the line most often crossed by accident.
Is it rude to give nothing? No. Workplace gifting is optional and a written, specific note is worth more than most objects in this range.
What if I do not know their company’s gift policy? Assume there is one and keep it under ₹500. Above that it becomes a form they have to fill in.
What is better than a gift at work? Saying the specific thing in writing, or recommending them. Both show up in a career; an object does not.
Part of our guide to office gifting etiquette. See also: gifts for a doctor or nurse and how to apologise with a gift.
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