Employee invites

Do you socialize with any of these people outside of work? That is the general rule for inviting coworkers. If you don't, you won't miss them on the day and none of them will expect to be invited anyway. I know coworkers are different from supervisees, but I would strongly consider not inviting any of them to avoid all of the potential issues this could cause.

I initially had the same issue. I supervise 5 people, and also wondered about inviting my boss as well. We get along great, but I'm not necessarily close to them and don't socialize with them outside of work. I was afraid they would have hurt feelings if I did not invite them. In the end, I decided not to invite any of them, and they completely understood. I had been worried for nothing.

Do not invite anyone that you supervise. It creates a very awkward situation around the obligation to attend and buy the boss presents, etc. Also, if you're not inviting everyone there is a huge risk of seeming to "play favorites" and any additional actions that could be seen that way could even land you in HR-land scrutiny.

Unless any of these people are people you'd call regularly to hang out (not just like after work drinks that happen sometimes) then do not invite any of them.

I decided against inviting anyone from my work because I wouldn't want to invite all of them. I work in a smaller office though with roughly 20 employees so it would be a pretty uncomfortable situation if i excluded certain people. I definitely wouldn't even entertain inviting anyone I supervised.