Google is delivering the gift of gadgets this holiday season, outfitting all its employees with Android phones. While a seemingly kind gesture, the move's causing a bit of a stir online, with accusations of Scrooge-like behavior, as the phones are replacing a traditional cash bonus.

The company is sending out phones worldwide, to any employees living where it would be legal to use the handsets - about 85% of them are eligible. Instead of the US-only T-Mobile G1, Google's gifting Dream phones (referring to the HTC Dream, the G1's name before T-Mobile branding) which are unlocked to work on any GSM network across the globe.

While there's nothing fundamentally wrong with a technology gift instead of cash in principle, the way Google's going about all this is raising some eyebrows. Those employees who can't legally receive a Dream phone get a cash bonus instead, but there's no way to voluntarily claim the money for everyone else. There's not even an opt-out for employees who already own a G1 and don't want another. Worse, Google forbids its employees from selling the phones, so they can't even turn them around for cash.

So, while it may not have the allure of a nice big check, a free phone, especially an unlocked G1, is something most of us wouldn't mind in the least. Have any readers received cool tech gear from their employers as a bonus this year?  

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