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I’M OLD ENOUGH TO remember when companies rewarded employee anniversaries with lapel pins. The number of years you served determined the quality of the metal and how many jewels were embedded in the pin.
I also remember when two different hospitals where I worked moved away from this practice in the 1980s and 1990s. Human resources departments came to realize that many employees didn’t value the pins. Perhaps there had been a day when pins were something people wore, but by the 1980s it was a thing of the past.
Instead, creative vendors developed catalogs of merchandise that employees could choose from. The value of the merchandise varied with your tenure. At the time of the transition, the value was set to correspond to what the organization had previously paid for the anniversary pins.
Therein lay a big surprise—and it explained the frustration of the HR staff: Those anniversary pins, particularly for long-tenured employees, were expensive. The jewels may have been small, but the higher-level pins were gold. As the price of gold went up, so did the cost of the pins.
As a result, instead of pins, long-tenured employees could be offered nice clocks, luggage or household appliances. The feeling was that an employee would value the recognition more if they picked something they wanted or needed, rather than receive a pin that would live out its life in a drawer or a jewelry box.
One of the more ironic choices I observed as a hospital CEO: A woman, who had completed 35 years in the hospital housekeeping department, selected a new vacuum cleaner. Certainly, people who clean the hospital also have to clean at home, but it didn’t seem very sentimental. I hope she thought of us when she used it.
This whole transition hit home for me when my mother passed away. She had worked for nearly 40 years at AT&T. As we went through her jewelry box, we came across several gold service pins. I don’t believe she ever wore them. As part of our own downsizing, we took the pins to a gold dealer, who verified the gold content. We were surprised by how much he paid us for them.
The lesson: If you have old service pins and they have sentimental value, by all means keep them. On the other hand, if you’re cleaning out a drawer and come across old pins you don’t want, consider selling them. You might use the proceeds to buy yourself a clock—or a vacuum cleaner.
Thanks for this article, Howard. I retired a year and a half ago from AT&T, after 26 years, and have a few pins. I had no idea they were real gold.
When I began with my employer in 1984, they gave out the lapel pins with a tiny ruby for 5 years service and a diamond chip (probably a CZ) for ten. Back then we had to wear blazers or suits to work so it made sense. If you reached 25 years you could get a 10K gold ring with the company logo, two diamond chips and a ruby, which I did. They transitioned to silly stuff you could buy, so at 30 years I got an exercise bike. At 30 years I also took my ring to a local jeweler and had him replace the ruby with a diamond chip. Looks good.
At 33 years, shortly before I planned to retire, they radically downsized my department and eliminated my section. So no retirement gift. But thanks to following the advice in this column, I cried all the way to the bank. Actually to Vanguard and my wife and I enjoy doing volunteer work and babysitting our granddaughters.
I still wear my Coast Guard retirement pin on my blazer lapel when I go out to business casual lunches or dinner. That pin, although of little or no monetary value, means a very great deal to me. Thanks for the article Howard.
It’s an interesting coincidence that I found my 30-year pin from 2019 just today.
In the few years before I retired it was tradition for the company to give a retiring officer a Movado watch. Back then it cost about $700. When I retired at the same time as another officer we were told the (S&P 500) company didn’t have the money to buy the watches.
The truth was a very vindictive person just made that decision, but it still hurt.
A few months after I retired a group of people who had worked for me took me out to lunch and gave me with a present. I unwrapped it and it was a Movado box. I was about to express my joy and appreciation but when I opened the box I found a picture of the watch. It was a joke, but I avoided making a fool of myself.
I would never want them to buy such a gift, but that joke hurt more than not getting the watch from the company.
Ugh, that’s awful on both counts!
People can be insensitive, Dick. When the joke is at someone else’s expense it’s not funny. Glad you gave them no satisfaction.
Did you ever get a Movado watch later on?
My wife bought me one.
I bought my husband one a few years back, in black and a muted orange, our San Francisco Giants colors.
Per the professional SHRM organization –
Under certain conditions, there are awards that do not have to be considered taxable income. For service awards, the value of up to $400 can be excluded from income for awards given to employees for length-of-service if certain criteria are met:
No good deed goes unpunished.
The megacorp I worked for had a catalog. I think you had to reach 25 years before you got anything. I have a pearl necklace and a pair of candlesticks which are certainly more use than a lapel pin since I don’t have lapels. I also have several framed awards but they came with cash and I certainly don’t hang them.
I’m not sure why you expect someone who works in the housekeeping department (or probably a lot of other departments) to be “sentimental” about her job/company. The notion has a feudal undertone. Why are you sentimental about yours?
Wife received a wristwatch (brand name: Skagen) for her x years of work anniversary. At the beginning of COVID 2020, her task was to clean out the team closet. She found more than 10 of those anniversary watches laying around in the closet. I guess some people don’t care about what the company thinks of them when it comes to work anniversary memento.
A story I never thought I’d be reading. It never occurred to me to take my pins to a gold dealer; and some have diamonds. Probably should since I never wore them and they’ve been put out of sight. The clock I received was cheap and battery operated and probably has less value than a pin.
Howard, thanks for an enjoyable article. Like other commentators, it reminds me of my early days with GE. Employees with long service got to choose form many of GE’s small electronics products and TV/VCRs. Those were the days.
My division was sold to a PE firm just before my 30th anniversary. It took a couple years but the new company finally recognized all of us that had missed their milestones – I got a $15 wine cooler! I still use it when we got to a BYOW restaurant.
Now they send an email when you reach 10, 15, or 20 years.
I used to manage service award plans for my company. I still have a key chain for the company’s 75th anniversary from decades ago.
Believe it or not there was a time in the stone age when many workers were proud of where they worked and valued those pins, even service award certificates. There were luncheons for those who reached 25 years and the company paid. It was a big deal.
When a worker retired we gave them a special retiree ID card with their name and years of service. It was meaningless, they couldn’t even use it to get in a company building, but what a crisis it was if they lost it.
The days of any kind of allegiance between employer and employee are pretty much gone.
When I hear how current employees talk the company where I worked nearly 50 years and see what the company is doing to workers and retirees these days, I am shocked and disappointed, but I see it as a reflection of our society today – we have corporate goals to meet so get out of my way. 🥲
I agree. But sometimes individuals buck the trend. I worked as a federal employee at the U.S. Department of Energy Yucca Mountain geologic repository when it was unexpectedly shut down in 2010. I don’t know which senior official made the actual decision, but the deputy Secretary of Energy took additional steps (beyond what was required under law) to ensure that every federal employee who wanted to continue to have employment with the DOE was able to do so. I was greatly impressed and appreciative that a senior official made a significant effort (beyond what was required) to look out for the employees. So while I agree with your general observation, I’m happy to share this instance of a senior manager bucking the trend and honoring that allegiance you spoke of above.
Nice to hear that kind of story, but remember he didn’t worry about EPS.
Good point.
My last employer – a Not For Profit – gave out Coffee Mugs for every 5 years of service.
They had the organization’s named along with however many “years of service”.
Since they provided “free” (were our wages lower?) Coffee they seemed like a good idea.
Then starting with tour 20th year you also got a plaque.
Howard, my employer still offers pins, but also the option to take cash instead. When I hit 15, and then 20 years of service, I’m somewhat ashamed to admit I took the cash. I don’t recall buying a remembrance gift. I’m probably sometimes foolish, but apparently not a sentimental one.