Remember Clark Griswold sweating out receiving his Christmas bonus check to cover the downpayment on a new swimming pool in National Lampoon's all time Holiday classic, Christmas Vacation? Nearly every time I watch that movie with other people, the question invariably gets asked, "Have you ever received a Christmas Bonus?" A conversation then follows where individuals offer up their best, or worst Christmas bonus stories. I have noticed a trend over the years that fewer and fewer people can say they currently receive any kind of specific holiday bonus. Most concede they and their spouses are invited to attend a company "holiday event" such as a lunch or dinner party and/or are presented with a nominal gift card or voucher for a Holiday turkey, ham or cheese roll. Holiday social events and nominal gifts are looked forward to, appreciated and acknowledged, but really not considered by the worker to be a "bonus" even though providing them is completely optional and costs the company thousands of dollars to provide.

Some companies do time end of year performance bonuses conveniently to coincide with the holiday's. Usually these are for sales or revenue generating positions and reward employees for achieving certain financial benchmarks. These goals and the bonus compensation for their achievement are usually known in advance by the employer and the employee. And since year-end revenue numbers are not final until after Dec. 31. many of these bonuses are not paid until sometime in January.

So it really does come as no surprise that a recent Hewett Associates survey found that fewer and fewer companies actually distribute year-end cash awards.

In fact the survey concludes that holiday bonuses are a thing of the past. Nearly two-thirds of organizations will not offer special holiday or year-end bonuses to employees in 2007, continuing a trend that has grown in recent years, according to HR consulting firm Hewitt Associates. Of the 350 companies surveyed by Hewitt, 53 percent said they have never offered a holiday bonuses. About 10 percent of companies have torpedoed such measures in favor or more strategic approaches, primarily pay for performance. Companies that continue to rely on bonus programs use different forms of compensation, with 42 percent offering gift cards, edging out cash awards (41 percent) as the preferred option. One-quarter give employees seasonal food gifts, while another 20 percent allow them to select items from gift catalogs.

Data source: Workforce.com / Garry Kranz