What's the best way to handle holiday tipping at a memory care residence?

I think it's ridiculous for workers in a care facility to expect a "tip" for the holidays.

It cost a fortune to live in managed care. It's not a hotel. You don't have to grease the porter who carries the luggage or the maid who cleans your room and brings the clean towels.

I often ask people of they think they tip their doctor? Or their auto mechanic. Or the cashier who checks them out at the grocery store.

I was a supervisor at a high-end AL. The supervisors and administrator had a meeting to decide your actual question. They took my suggestion that small gifts (not over $20) could be given to staff members of choice by residents and their families.
There were a lot of boxes of chocolates and wine.

The facility your husband is in is going to pool the money collected and give a percentage of it to the hourly employees after they take their cut. I wouldn't give to that if I were you.

If there are particular aides that take good care of your husband take care of them on the down-low.

The problem I see with bringing in little treats (bribes) at any time is they almost always go the the day shift, those who work overnights or morning shifts won't see any of that.

No tipping, but I take occasional goodies to the staff--clearly labeled for the different shifts

I'm planning on a Christmas cookie tray delivery that can be shared by all the floor staff.

At Easter I took a very large box of pick-a-mix from the Russell Stover candy store. All individually wrapped pieces and a huge variety for all tastes.

Best way I've found to try to give something back to the staff at my mom's place. They also have a no tipping rule and request that those who want, donate towards their staff party, all funds to be used for raffle prizes (gift cards).

My mom's facility used to do a lump sum sharing. Every employee is a value to the building. Management or salaried should be separate. You might not think of the staff members who do the laundry or cleaning up.

I always brought in one of those super huge boxes of chocolates you can get at holiday time and handed them out to the caregivers that were especially kind to mom in her AL and MC, on the down low. I also wrote a check for $100 to the pool, and I didn't care how it was distributed. The caregivers worked hard for little wage and I hoped a portion of it DID get to them. Even the garbage collectors get a tip at Christmas time.

Like all tipping it is not required, and there is no way in h3ll I would contribute to the staff parties and bonuses that should rightfully come from the facility purse. If you do want to acknowledge certain caregivers who you feel deserve special consideration keep it small and discreet, a $5 or $10 gift card in a sealed holiday card.
PS - if you hand out cards to everyone and only include the tip for your chosen few it will be even more discreet.

I agree about the people working behind the scenes Alva, there are many people who are going the extra mile or simply performing with competence that we never see or notice. Those making sure there's no missing laundry, the facility looks and smells clean, repairs are taken care of promptly, and even office staff who put in unpaid overtime to ensure all shifts are covered often never get anything. Pooling tips can be a good thing for those workers, it really depends on how it is handled. My sis works at a not for profit facility with all donations going through the foundation, for profit places that don't handle this at arms length always make me skeptical.

Tipping is not mandatory in America. When you tip someone it’s a way of showing appreciation for the service rendered.

It’s very unethical for this MC to ask clients to provide money that they are going to use as “bonuses” for their employees which I’m sure the MC will present to the employees as though they are the ones giving their employees these bonuses and they are not going to tell the employees the truth that the money came from the clients. Meanwhile, the MC is making a profit and instead of passing some of those profits as bonuses onto its employees, it’s just going to pocket their profits. This is a rip off.

I would secretly go against their policy and give gifts to employees that helped your LO. If you are going to give money, just place it in an envelope and secretly give it to your LO’s caregiver.

A few $25 Starbucks gift cards handed out to those specific people in your husband's care is thoughtful and in line with what professional ethics boards typically allow, according to my ethics learning in school.

Maybe this is naive thinking. I don't know what's happening in the real world around holiday gift-giving.

I'd say just hand them a holiday card. You don't have to tell them there's a gift card inside. It's a token of appreciation, which is what is meant... from you, to them.

A for-profit business suggesting contributions to a pooled anonymous distribution is a new one by me. I have to agree it defeats the purpose of wanting to give to those people one interacts with and very much appreciates during the holidays.

It's not that those folks behind the scenes are lesser; only they aren't the ones you interact with. Can't it be more personal..?