Tips for therapist - bp

amother

Maroon

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 6:15 pm

I am a therapist. My licensing board strongly discourages accepting gifts, even in private practice. Most of the places I've worked for have policies saying not more than a specific amount. One even had a policy that we could only accept things that could be shared with the office, like a box of chocolates or flowers to put in the break room. I would tell the therapist that you wold like to get him or her a thank you gift for the holidays but didn't want to put him/her in an uncomfortable position with agency policies and ask if it was ok to give something and if there were any limitations you should know about.

amother

Navy

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 6:20 pm

I'm a therapist. In Williamsburg. $50 is very generous and I have only received that much once when I saw twins. Showing your hakaros hatov in any way is always appreciated. I have a file of beautiful cards I have received over the years. I go through them every so often. I once received a chocolate bar with a nice card. Please don't overspend... if I knew that I would feel so guilty....

amother

Mustard

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 6:52 pm

I am an OT. It really depends on the school. Average I get as chanuka present is 25, cash, gift card, check, manicure, mani and pedicure. I have received 50 from a couple parents and it is a generous thoughtful gesture! Some schools I worked in, I got minimal chanuka gifts. The people who don't have money don't give. We do want to feel appreciated, even though your child won't be treated differently because of it.

amother

Beige

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 8:30 pm

Technical question - my son sees a speech therapist in school and I got her a present. I don't want to send it with my son because it will probaby get lost or damaged or given to the wrong person. Can I leave a present at the therapist's door? Do I ring the bell? What is protocol?

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 9:23 pm

This is insane. Therapists are very well paid! Many teachers go off to get extra training to become therapists or SEITS so that they can work fewer hours, make more money, and do an easier job. It is certainly not a profession that should be tipped.

amother

Tan

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 9:58 pm

I’m a speech therapist and recently got $40 for Chanuka from a student. I was uncomfortable taking it because it’s a lot of money and I can’t imagine the family can afford it (child has multiple therapists). I also got a small candy dish from a different student that appears to be less than $10- this I was totally comfortable accepting. In the past I have gotten $18 amazon gift cards which were nice as well. For my own child’s PT I either give $20 gift card or a gift costing $20 or less. Spending more than $20 is unnecessary!

amother

Tan

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 10:00 pm

amother wrote:

I’m a speech therapist. I would be uncomfortable if a parent dropped a gift off at my home. I suggest labeling the envelope/gift with the therapist’s name and texting the therapist that there is something for her in the child’s knapsack.

imasoftov

Mon, Dec 03 2018, 11:11 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

So I guess teachers arent "intellectual professionals"??
I am against tipping anyone in any professional capacity as it can give a bias. Many professional organizations are against tips or gifts for that reason. Including many public school districts. We see the bias here on imamother- moms post "if I don't tip the rebbe then my kid won't get treated right..."

One of my future research projects will be to see if there is a positive or negative correlation between a teacher being one who parents are expected to be tipped and the extent to which that label can be applied to the teacher.

ILOVELIFE

Tue, Dec 04 2018, 4:19 am

My daughter’s OT told me years ago that the standard gifts are: cards, mugs, chocolates, $20 gift card at most.

Beyond that is more than a token of appreciation and feels weird

b from nj

Tue, Dec 04 2018, 10:48 am

SuperWify wrote:

Interesting... I never knew getting a gift could be a pffense?!

what about my child’s OT or PT? Is $30 offensive? Or is a gift card better? I don’t think she needs my chocolate platter?

Not offensive at all. My husband is a PT and receives gifts from some patients for Chanukah or the holidays and we are very touched when we receive them. We also try to show hakaras hatov to the various professionals that service our family's needs as well by getting them something for the holidays such as a gift, a gift card, chocolate or just anything to show them our appreciation with an attached card.

married2020

Tue, Dec 04 2018, 5:38 pm

amother wrote:

You made one poster very happy. She found the word “tip” extremely offensive.

I was responding to her LOL!