Present imperfect

That white elephant gift may backfire at the office Christmas party.

Kristi Blackburn once brought a Christmas present to an office gift exchange that backfired.

The wrapped gift contained a gigantic pair of panties and the largest woman on staff wound up with them.

“It was embarrassing for her and for me, and not so funny after all,” said Blackburn, a State of Oklahoma retiree.

Naughty or not-sonice gifts are common in workplace gift exchanges, according to surveys conducted by Seyfarth Shaw at Work global legal compliance company.

One client ended a business relationship after receiving nude-shaped, matching “his” and “hers” bar glasses, while an exploding confetti bomb gift caused a startled elderly doorman to fall down a set of stairs.

My friends on Facebook tell of other tales.

K.C. Moon once inadvertently brought a book that his boss had given him, and she was present at the Christmas party. Oops.

Christine O'zee worked for a doctor’s office where a new physician from out of state grossly misunderstood the definition of a “dirty Santa” gift.

“The poor man was so embarrassed. I felt terrible for him,” O’zee said.

Similarly, a co-worker of Barbie Mize Horn once gave her former boss what looked like a supersized roll of Life Savers candy, but was actually a set of colored condoms.

“The boss was embarrassed, but did laugh good-naturedly,” Horn said.

My Midwest City High School classmate and engineering firm owner Elizabeth Broadway ignores political correctness when she — every year — gifts a cheesecake Hooters calendar to her draftsman.

“A client once asked him why I allowed this in my office to which he replied, ‘She gave it to me.’ Honestly, I don't recommend this gift, but our long-standing relationship and the fact I own the joint, makes it OK,” Broadway said.

Gift-giving should be voluntary

Seyfarth Shaw President Philippe Weiss said managers shouldn’t demand employees participate in gift exchanges or group gifts. All gift-giving should be voluntary, he said.

Meanwhile, Weiss recommends avoiding cash gifts; “close-to-the-skin gifts,” including clothes and jewelry, and gifts with potentially romantic undertones, like chocolates, flowers and perfume. At a minimum, managers should limit dollar amounts for gift exchanges and set some basic rules for appropriateness, he said.

“Of course, the best holiday gift,” Weiss said, “is a manager's or colleague's sincere ‘Thank-you' for the work performed this year."