How popular is salary lottery in your workspace?

[shield132]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

For example, imagine that there are 6 people and salary of each person is $1000. They determine via coin flip who is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. First gets $6000 in the end of the month, in the next month, the second gets $6000 and in 6th month, the 6th person gets $6000. You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary? Family members take care of them. Too many people work for fun because sitting at home is boring for them but they don't have enough money to have fun too.

[Solosanz]

I know this one lol.

But it's really surprising the culture in your country use the whole salary and there's no administration fee.

In my area, they only use some amount from their salary, maybe around 30%, so it won't hurt the participant to pay monthly bills. They also pay fees to the "owner", if there are 6 people and each of them give $1K, the return would be $5,950 or $5,900 depends on the agreement.

[Charles-Tim]

It is not happening in my country but there are cooperatives and those that will contribute money like this, but not in a way to make it in form of gambling about who will collect first. Who will receive first, second and so on is just determined in their meeting. But if done with dice or coin flip, no also bad but it is not a lottery in my opinion.

[BIT-BENDER]

In my country this is not actually popular, but we do something almost similar but this is not for workers alone, even business men and women take part in this and unlike yours here people give an amount to a collector, this amount is collected across several members and each month a member get whole contributions and thats how it goes. It's something like a daily contribution, weekly or monthly depends on how it was agreed.
This has helped people very well but also there has been cases where the collector ran away with the money so their are some dangers.

[Zlantann]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

For example, imagine that there are 6 people and salary of each person is $1000. They determine via coin flip who is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. First gets $6000 in the end of the month, in the next month, the second gets $6000 and in 6th month, the 6th person gets $6000. You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary? Family members take care of them. Too many people work for fun because sitting at home is boring for them but they don't have enough money to have fun too.

It's not called a salary lottery in my country, but "contribution ". Some people use this means to get bulk money that could be used for a capital-intensive project instead of taking loans. But we don't do it with 100% of our salary since most of us depend on it for survival. We usually write numbers on paper, fold and spin them. The number you pick will determine when you will collect the total amount contributed for the month.

I have heard people say that they usually join this contribution because they might not be able ot save if they get their full salary. Maybe they might end up spending it on wants, so this contribution helps them to save since they would be forced to curtail their expenses.

[Fortify]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

For example, imagine that there are 6 people and salary of each person is $1000. They determine via coin flip who is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. First gets $6000 in the end of the month, in the next month, the second gets $6000 and in 6th month, the 6th person gets $6000. You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary? Family members take care of them. Too many people work for fun because sitting at home is boring for them but they don't have enough money to have fun too.

I've heard of this sort of thing in parts of Asia but it might be common in many places, it just seems like poor financial planning to me and being perpetually needing to pay money out that you may have already spent a long time ago. You really have to trust that the other people in the group will honor their commitment and not become incapable of payment. If someone needed to borrow money, which is effectively what is happening here just on a constant and looping basis, then they would simply approach a bank as an individual to ask for the cash. If you cannot manage your money well enough to have fun without entering such a scheme, then you probably have bigger problems and if you are person number 6 then you'll probably be waiting around at home doing nothing for 6 months anyway by your own analogy. The whole thing seems like a mess that will have very few benefits for the risk.

[criptoevangelista]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

For example, imagine that there are 6 people and salary of each person is $1000. They determine via coin flip who is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. First gets $6000 in the end of the month, in the next month, the second gets $6000 and in 6th month, the 6th person gets $6000. You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary? Family members take care of them. Too many people work for fun because sitting at home is boring for them but they don't have enough money to have fun too.

What a strange kind of lottery this is, I've never heard of anything like it. What's the advantage of getting the money upfront if you're going to go a long time without receiving anything? Maybe it's to use the money for deals, buying and selling things, but in that case, wouldn't it be easier to just use money from the bank or a credit card?

[Alphakilo]

I can infer that the op is from a country where the quality of life is high and also the standard of living is affordable for everyone. In my region we do not have this type of salary lottery in my workspace.

I doubt if anyone can go on for six months without their salary and expect family members to be of support to them. Rather do this family members would cause them out for gambling with the salary and wanting to put financial strain on them.

What I know that happens is a portion of the salary is removed and collected by one person. Other employees of about five may do the same thing. At the end of the month, one person gets the contribution. It is rotated among all the members until everyone has gotten. That's how it works.

[Issa56]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

I haven’t seen something like this in my country before, it’s kind of surprising to me, but my question is if the first person collects other people’s salary, how will other people survive until it gets to their turn, or is their other means which they are using to get money, at least they are going to be using that to take care of their daily expenses.

Just imagine that 6 people are involved in it, how will the last person survive before it’s get to him, for like 5 months how will the person be surviving without salary? I don’t really know how it works, but if you don’t have alternative sources of income, then thats just going to be difficult, or maybe you have enough money in your reserve account, then that’s going to be possible, but without that, then it’s just going to be difficult.

[Ziskinberg]

This is very risky, especially as the number of participants grows. If even one or two people fail to pay their dues, the total pot gets reduced, and the ones scheduled to receive later won’t get the full amount.

This setup is what we call "paluwagan". I joined one back when I was still working, but I experienced some issues and eventually it had to stop. It actually works well in the beginning, especially if you're one of the first to receive. But once you’ve already gotten your share, the excitement fades, all that’s left is the responsibility of paying every payday, which isn’t as fun anymore.

You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary?

I don't think the full salary is being contributed.

[Stalker22]

Well, I gotta say this salary lottery thing is definitely a new one on me! Never heard of anything like it at any job Ive had.  Seems kinda risky if you ask me. What if someone gets fired or leaves their job for some other reason?

[Richbased]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

It exist in my country but we call it monthly contribution or a cooperative though it's not necessary that you all will be co-workers, some of the cooperative members can own their businesses and work for other company but sometimes it faces challenges such as if a member gets sack from their job it will be difficult for the person to pay back to those who contributed for him when it was his turn. However, in life everything is about risks so it really helps the cooperative members because when you are being contributed for; you will have a lot  of money which you can decide either to use the money to establish a business or an investment. Though the person that initiated the idea doesn't take part in the coin flip, he will automatically be the first to be contributed for while the rest people will do the coin flip.

[uneng]

It's funny to read this, because someone close to me told about introducing this concept as a sustainable "ponzi scheme" where everyone could be benefited along the time.

However, for me it doesn't make any sense, because the individual will have to live a long time without receiving any money. Imagine having to face 6 long months without being paid in a monthly basis. Those 6000$ will still have to be managed efficiently in order to last all that time.

Moreover, there is a big chance someone who was already paid gives up the scheme on the middle of the process, since he isn't going to wish working for another 5 months without being paid.

[red4slash]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

In my place it also seems quite the same, where even though the name is different, the purpose is the same as you describe, only in my area not all salaries are given but in a smaller form such as 5-30 percent of the salary but with more participants it can be up to 10 or even 30 participants.
It's just that even though in my place something like this is quite crowded, I rarely participate because there are several reasons and I also don't really like this even though the purpose is clearly very good, but I still avoid things like this.

The reason I give most often is that I don't really believe it, especially with quite a lot of participants because at some moments there are still participants who cheat when they have received their share, sometimes they always delay payment so I prefer to avoid things like this.

[milewilda]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

For example, imagine that there are 6 people and salary of each person is $1000. They determine via coin flip who is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. First gets $6000 in the end of the month, in the next month, the second gets $6000 and in 6th month, the 6th person gets $6000. You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary? Family members take care of them. Too many people work for fun because sitting at home is boring for them but they don't have enough money to have fun too.

Actually its not a gamble. Why? you arent that risking something and everyone do get that share. It is just that it turned out that you are getting that 6k in bulk or simply that 6 months in advance salary pay. If you do want to have some fun and could deal up with that kind of system then go ahead and join up but if you do seem that you do need up that $1k per month on budgeting and other means then you wouldnt be joining up this one. For those who had been that getting boosted up because they can make that 6k on a single shot then its good but it would be requiring that very strict budgeting because imagine that you wont be having any salary on the next 5 months on which you would be needing up to sustain. We do know that most of people wouldnt be that too good about budgeting their money specially if they've seen that they've been holding that big and become that confident that they can make it through until unexpected things do happen along the way. This is why I can say that it all matters about money management and if you do failed on this one then you would be having that huge problem on how to survive into those next months. This is why once you have decided on joining up this kind of salary lottery then make it sure that you are that good with financial management becuase if you dont then you are totally fucked up in the end.

[Roseline492]

I'm very familiar with this method but however I got a little bit confused when you call it a salary lottery because that's not what we call it in our region, we call it a Contribution, however how this is done in my country is that the company will not be involved but instead five to eight workers will decide to do a contribution for monthly basis, although most people do not use flipping of coin to decide who will be the first to received because they usually have an understanding about it so they would tell each person the month they would receive there money and sometimes they continue after everybody would have gotten there payment.

[Zlantann]

It's funny to read this, because someone close to me told about introducing this concept as a sustainable "ponzi scheme" where everyone could be benefited along the time.

This saving scheme cannot be called a Ponzi scheme because there are no promises of high profit or interest.  Everyone usually gets exactly what they contributed.

However, for me it doesn't make any sense, because the individual will have to live a long time without receiving any money. Imagine having to face 6 long months without being paid in a monthly basis. Those 6000$ will still have to be managed efficiently in order to last all that time.

Nobody would join such a scheme without planning. OP said most people in his workplace who engage in this salary lotteries have people they depend on for survival until they receive their bulk savings.  In my area you would have to give an amount you can live without within the months under consideration.

Moreover, there is a big chance someone who was already paid gives up the scheme on the middle of the process, since he isn't going to wish working for another 5 months without being paid.

This is exactly the major problem of this scheme. Someone might explain why he cannot remit his part after he has collected from others. It might be because of emergencies like health, natural disasters, or even death.  A beneficiary could also be sacked or move to another organisation. 

[kotajikikox]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

Sounds like a pyramid scheme to be honest lol. Might not be but it sounds unnecessary and inconvenient to me. It is fair at least in a way that the person chosen is through coin flip and not based on personal whims.

You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary? Family members take care of them.

Then what is the point of working? You work because you have bills to pay every month and every day. How annoying it would be to only have money 2x a year. I find it hard to find benefits of participating in this.

[Josefjix]

Then what is the point of working? You work because you have bills to pay every month and every day. How annoying it would be to only have money 2x a year. I find it hard to find benefits of participating in this.

They are actually needing to establish a project while surviving through the whole months until it's their turn, they find it difficult to do a large project with the $1000 monthly so if they could starve themselves throughout 6 months for $6000, they could build an automobile business they've been dreaming, they could get to buy a peice of land for themselves.

I think that's the reason while they participate in all these, in fact, participants needs to be much for greater rewards, the disadvantage of this initiative is lack of trust, they 1st person or the 2nd or third may not be willing to deposit $1000 for other round again but decide to hide out, but it's impossible since they both in the same work environment.

[Yaunfitda]

In my region, salary lotteries are very popular in many workplaces. I don't know what's the exact English term for his but we call it that name. The purpose of salary lottery is that 5-6 employees collect together and they play lottery. The first winner gets the salary of every worker, in the next months the second winner gets everyone's salary and that's it. There isn't a random winner, everyone gets their salary back but the fate of who is the first person to receive the salary is decided via a simple coin flip.

For example, imagine that there are 6 people and salary of each person is $1000. They determine via coin flip who is the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. First gets $6000 in the end of the month, in the next month, the second gets $6000 and in 6th month, the 6th person gets $6000. You may ask me how do they live for 6 months without a salary? Family members take care of them. Too many people work for fun because sitting at home is boring for them but they don't have enough money to have fun too.

I heard about this, but I haven't been in this kind of "salary lottery". But yeah, here it was a different term. Regardless though, I thought that this is just in my country, so I was surprised to hear that from you. I know that it's going to be very hard to live without money, but I guess people here who join this has some kind of back up. It's not just their family members that might take care of them, but for sure he has some money that has been save and so it will be enough for him to continue to survived until such time that he will get all the salary and be rich. Sort of delayed gratification I guess. But the thing is that this could be universally, mechanics might be different, but at the end, it will accomplished the same thing.