We all got frozen turkeys one year. There is a big dinner for those that get patents. That's about it.

I once got a new mouse pad.

we gave a month's pay - had a good year last year. for those employees that have been here for more than 5 years - a month. Under 5 but more than 2 got two weeks - those under 2 years got a week. Scaled for each salary level - reward for those employees that stuck with us during the tough times.

I should correct my previous statement. Five minutes ago I got a 10% raise with an incentive structure worth potentially another 12% or so.

congrats Lee that's big money these days...

A local CA company went public and everyone that worked for it was an instant millionair, some far more.

One of my uncles worked for GM in during the depression, he received a bonus of $27,000 in the early 1930's.
I have received pay increases of more than 60 percent and stock options. Significant bonus, very significant. But I have also worked for some of those companies similar to HP and I have a lot of worthless paper to paste on the wall, oh and there was the $100 from the civil service for a patent I got when I worked for the AF.

Bottom line, if you work for a good company and you contribute you will be rewarded, if you work for a schlock place you will get the golden banna. I once came up with a new reward for one place I worked for, I called it the copper turd award. Then if you were CEO of say ENRON....

I guess I could also add that small businesses have different motivations and flexibilities compared to large/public companies; specifically, there is a big focus on 'optimizing' profit/retained earnings vs. taxes at the end of the fiscal year. We will typically try to balance investment in new hires, equipment etc. with bonus comp to key personnel and keep taxable profit at a somewhat 'fixed' level. In a good year, bonuses can be quite significant (5-6 digits) and I see them as a worthwhile 'golden handcuff' to incentivize the top people to stay and do even better the next year, vs. handing a big chunk over to Uncle Sam.