Some 44% of workers will receive or have already received a Christmas bonus . . . a substantial increase on the 33% who got a bonus last year as Irish bosses shake off their Scrooge image.

Of those who received a bonus, twothirds received 1,000 while almost one-third got between 2,000 and 5,000. But around one in 20 employees got up to 10,000 and beyond in some cases.

However, while employers believe that a Christmas bonus boosts morale and helps retain top staff in a tight labour market, employees say they are working ever harder and longer to get that bonus.

Fifty-nine per cent of employees in the RecruitIreland. com survey said they worked more than 40 hours a week while 5% said they worked more than 60 hours a week.

Cash is the most popular bonus at this time of the year, and one-fifth of workers say they put their Christmas bonus straight into their credit card account to offset the crippling bills that drop through the letterbox in January.

While most use the bonus to go on spending sprees, a relatively high 25% save their Christmas bonus, with a pension fund being the most popular if unseasonal option for staff to avoid paying tax on their Christmas gift.

Apart from cash, gift vouchers are the next most popular gift, followed by extra leave, again because these are tax-efficient.

Cash bonuses are fully taxable but non-cash bonuses, such as vouchers up to the value of 250, are allowed free of tax. But hardly in keeping with the seasonal spirit, finance minister Brian Cowen will only allow one such voucher in the year to be tax-free.

And if the voucher exceeds 250 in value, then the whole amount will be subject to PAYE and PRSI, not just the portion in excess of 250.

The popularity of hampers, a noncash Christmas bonus which would qualify for Cowen's favourable tax treatment, has plummeted. Virtually all workers said that not only would they not want a hamper, but they wouldn't even bother bringing it home.

The vast majority of employees (82%) do not pay anything towards their office Christmas party. Of the few who do, one-third pay between 10 and 30, another one-third pay up to 50 while the remainder pay over 50.

On the perils of such functions, 2% reported that they had actually resigned at the Christmas party, though the survey did not specify whether this grand gesture of defiance was done at the start or closer to the end of proceedings.

Irish workers are also more amorous than they were last year, with 41% reporting that they had a "romantic interlude" with a work colleague at the Christmas party compared to 36% last year.