Best gift cards for employees when one gift has to suit a whole team

The trouble with a hamper is that half the team doesn't want what's in it. The trouble with a branded fleece is that nobody wants it, however soft it is.

That's why the All-in-1 Choice Gift Card is the default choice for a team. You set one amount for everyone, anywhere from €10 to €500, and each person decides where it goes: new runners, a meal out with their other half, a few things for the kids' rooms.

When the message is appreciation rather than a season, the Thank you Choice Gift Card says it on the front. It fits a project that ran long, a busy quarter that went well or the team that covered for everyone during the summer holidays.

Letting people choose also takes the pressure off whoever is organising. A lot of corporate gifting comes down to logistics, and not having to guess forty tastes is half the job done.

Most Irish employers who look at vouchers for their team are doing so because of the Small Benefit Exemption. It's the scheme that brings the question of staff vouchers and tax free gifts onto the table in the first place.

The part to keep in mind is that the conditions and the amounts change, and they don't apply the same way to every company or every situation. So before you buy, check what applies to your company at that time, rather than working from what you did last year or what someone mentioned at a conference.

We don't set those rules, so this page gives no figures and no thresholds, and the same goes for any question about the tax side of staff vouchers. Sort out that side first and choose the card after.

For how ordering works in practice, from quotes to payment options, have a look at our business gift cards.

If the team has had the same card three years in a row, the gift has quietly stopped registering. A grocery card is useful, but nobody tells a story about it on Monday morning. Changing the kind of gift does more than changing the amount.

An experience is one way to do it. The Global Experiences Card turns the value into something they go and do on their own time, with the people they choose.

A night away is another. HotelCheque suits a milestone, a long-service moment or a team that has been under real pressure. It gives them a reason to switch off, pack a bag and take the Friday.

For something with a bit of meaning behind it, the Evertreen Gift Card is about planting trees rather than filling another cupboard. Between them these cover most of what people look for in a corporate gift, and they stand out from the cards everyone remembers from last year.

December is when most of this lands: the Christmas party, the last day before the break and the end-of-year thank you. It's also when the list of names turns up on someone's desk with a fortnight to go.

The Merry Christmas Gift Card is the seasonal choice. It reads as a Christmas present rather than a bank transfer, which matters when it's handed out in front of the whole team, somewhere between the speeches and the second round.

For the ordering side, our corporate Christmas gifts page is the place to start. The Christmas gifts are best settled in November, and it all works far better when the names are confirmed before half the team is on leave.

Three things to settle before you order. The list of names and email addresses. One amount for everyone, or different amounts by role or length of service. And digital or physical, which usually depends on whether the team works in one building or all over the country.

Digital cards arrive by email within minutes, and at checkout you choose whether they come to you or go straight to each employee. Our personalisation options page shows what can be done with the card itself, and the business pages cover quotes and payment.

On tax, one last general point: the rules differ per company and situation, and they change, so check what applies to yours before you settle on an amount.