Contributing to the Memorial Fund

Yay, my first question!!!

Question: The wife of one of the guys that works at my job passed away after a long battle with cancer. I've only ever met the coworker in passing (he works at a different location) so I don't know him well and didn't know his wife. My boss sent me an email stating that she was gathering contributions for the wife's memorial fund. Am I obligated to contribute?

Answer: Well, no, you're not obligated to contribute, but before you decide not to I'd evaluate whether or not contributing will be seen as a political no-no in your workplace. You don't mention whether you're a member of management or not, or whether you're known as a highly compensated employee, and while this shouldn't matter, when it comes to office politics it does.

So, basically, if your boss is expecting you to contribute, and will hold it against you if you don't, I'd go ahead and do it. But if not, skip the contribution if you want to.

**NOTE: This is why I hate crap like this! This poor guy now feels obligated to contribute money to something he isn't interstesd in contributing to, and may be ill equipped to. When will employers (and employees for that matter) get that not everyone wants to give money to X cause but they will feel obligated to do so once asked.