DC Tom Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 And while I'm thinking about it...you may as well ask about the most useless perks anyone's ever had. In my case, I worked for a company that offered in-office 15-minute massages twice a week. Completely useless perk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac17 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 at circuit we get some good perks, often get cd's, dvd's. if you ask the right people you can get other products. stuff that fell off the truck?? LA - I'm a big fan of the little stuff. Free soda in the fridge, let me go to the doctor without worrying about a 1/2 day etc. Wife with a business trip would be awesome. and for gods sake give a bonus of some sort at christmas. Even if it is little, it's better than nothing (my current employer - one of the largest in the world, could have at least tossed me a bone this year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Benefits: -401k profit sharing (they allocate a % of company profits yearly into my 401k even though I only put in a minimal amount) -wellness days (started after CEO/owner married doctor, earn days off by completing personel health tasks) -company holiday party and picnic Disadvantages: -temperature in building reflective of outdoors (ranging from 40 degrees to 110 degrees) -facilities operational 24/7, even during holiday party and picnic -complete seperation of factory workers and office workers (office personell haven't even seen inside of factory, even though they work directly on top of it) -houry employees only given 8 hours holiday pay even though 90% of plant works 12 hour shifts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Best benefit I have is sick time: you're sick, you take time. You don't collect x hours per paycheck, you don't get X sick days per year, you don't use any personal time. You're sick, you tell them you're sick, you don't work, you get paid anyway (short-term disability kicks in after 13 days or something, so it's not like it's open-ended). I'm not sure if I'd like that or not; sometimes I like to take what my wife calls "mental health days," days where you wake up and just think "I need to recharge my batteries." I only take a few a year, but I don't know how I'd feel about doing that if I had unlimited days. I guess that's good for the company in way... One perk I forgot to mention about my company (along these lines) is that we get 8 sick days a year, all allocated on January 1st. All of the hours you don't use by December 31st get put into a short-term disability account for you. This time gets applied to help offset the loss while on disability (ie: I get 66% of my salary if I have to go on short-term disability. If I have hours banked, they pull from that to pay the other 34% of my salary while on disability). That's a unique one I hadn't seen before, and even though I don't plan on using it (I have 5 days banked in that account), it could come in handy at some point. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VABills Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 But I think maybe I don't give enough credit to things like unlimited sick time and flex hours. I've been thinking about letting them expense their vacations, but that's a dangerous precedent. Last company I worked for would allow you to expense a vacation up $3500 every 6 years. It's more now, but it was something to look forward to especially if you were at 5 years. You really didn't want to leave before. Also, it was a big company so they had their own travel group. I made a personal trip reservation through them to Disney. they upgraded me for free to the concierge level at the Grand Floridian. Nice little benefit to show up and realize that they popped an extra 2K to push me into the best hotel at the highest level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Free college tuition for my kid Free gym and olympic pool membership Free graduate courses Ability to travel internationally Great health and okay dental benefits Nice atmosphere. Interesting legal work I think I have the best job in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 And while I'm thinking about it...you may as well ask about the most useless perks anyone's ever had. In my case, I worked for a company that offered in-office 15-minute massages twice a week. Completely useless perk. I don't know about that... My company apparently had that a few years back, and a lot of people liked it. What one person finds useless, another may like. (I agree with you in that I wouldn't personally use it though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 On friday afternoons my company has girls come in & give massages for an hour. They usually end in "happy ending". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Free college tuition for my kidFree gym and olympic pool membership Free graduate courses Ability to travel internationally Great health and okay dental benefits Nice atmosphere. Interesting legal work I think I have the best job in the world. Huh?? I must be missing something here. Professor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 stuff that fell off the truck??LA - I'm a big fan of the little stuff. Free soda in the fridge, let me go to the doctor without worrying about a 1/2 day etc. Wife with a business trip would be awesome. and for gods sake give a bonus of some sort at christmas. Even if it is little, it's better than nothing (my current employer - one of the largest in the world, could have at least tossed me a bone this year... Wow...your boss let's you take his wife with you on a business trip? Now that's a neat perk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Huh?? I must be missing something here. Professor? I'm a professor of law at a law school in Virginia, but University Counsel here. Also the University pays into my retirement (12%) plan with TIAA-CREF, and there is a nice SRA available as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestojan Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 PROFIT SHARING! Sorry, I'm a bit excited about that as it is just weeks away for me! $$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I'm a professor of law at a law school in Virginia, but University Counsel here. Also the University pays into my retirement (12%) plan with TIAA-CREF, and there is a nice SRA available as well. Gotcha...would that be in Charlottesville? Prettiest college campus in the country, bar none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevbeau Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 But I think maybe I don't give enough credit to things like unlimited sick time and flex hours. Definitely don't underestimate the flex time. You allowing your employees to one, work from home and two, set their own hours is IMO the greatest benefit you can give them...especially if they have a family. For those of us stuck in traffic nightmares this perk is invaluable. My boss has no problem with me working flex time, but her boss is old school and believes in "face time," so I can't take advantage of the telecommuting option as much as I would like. As for other benefits...nothing spectacular. Actually I think they're quite craptacular. Here's my jaded outlook: 401(k) - 25% match on the first 7% of our contribution (1.75%). Used to be 3.5% until they notified us of the reduction via snail mail. Medical - So-So, I subscribe to the "Gold Level" plan just because I participate in a number of high risk activites...skiing, hockey, horseback riding, beer pong, etc...cost me about $120 a month. Stock Options - Ones that I have are under the strike price and they've been gradually peeling back eligibility to the sr.manager/director level, so I don't get them anymore. Education - $4000/year for graduate level, so by May they will have paid for about $11500 of the approx $32K for my MBA. (I've learned quite a bit, but I'm skeptical if I can get the desired payback in my current company). Insurance - One of the few bright spots. For a couple extra bucks a month my beneficiaries get 4X my salary. AD&D is also pretty good. Additional coverage for incidents that happen while travelling for work. Vacation - I top out at 4 weeks next year (10th). Additionally get 2 floating holidays so they can accomodate various religious holidays. When your sick, we call in, still get paid. Basically all the recent enhancements they tout to us is some stupid ass hotline where I can either talk my problems out with a counselor or tell on one of my co-workers who has offended me. We can then go to "Solutions" court. All in all, what keeps me here is the immediate people I work with are top notch, I have a great boss (worth a lot IMO) and the basic salary is good for the Atlanta area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 PROFIT SHARING! Sorry, I'm a bit excited about that as it is just weeks away for me! $$$ University of Virginia? Was there two weeks ago and agree with you. No, I teach in Grundy, Virginia. Not anywhere near as nice as Charlottesville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterhill Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 we charge people to work for us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 a good company man would never ask about perks and benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I've been thinking about letting them expense their vacations, but Don't do that. There could be legal entanglments if you are paying for it (is it really a 'company' trip? what happens when your employee is caught with a 10 year Thai boy?). Also it might be easy to moniter with 4 employees, but it would be a disaster when you get bigger. You can get a lot of mileage out of little stuff while the company is young and cash is tight; i.e., $50 AMEX gift certificate for job well done. When priceline was new they gave out stuffed eagles to recognize going beyond the call of duty. It sounds dumb, but people were totally pysched to be recognized with an eagle. At our company retreat, the company put up the prize money for a company wide Texas Hold 'Em game. And yes in fact, I did win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VABills Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 University of Virginia? Was there two weeks ago and agree with you. No, I teach in Grundy, Virginia. Not anywhere near as nice as Charlottesville. Appalachian School of Law Where they teach how to sue your sister when she doesn't bring the seat in from the outhouse in the winter, and suing your neighbor when he becomes friendly with your goat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Appalachian School of Law Where they teach how to sue your sister when she doesn't bring the seat in from the outhouse in the winter, and suing your neighbor when he becomes friendly with your goat. We get any dumber we'll have to start letting you marines in! At least our sisters will be safe, and we'll try to keep you away from the little boys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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