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Ask HN: What are unusual perks of a job?

24 points by bryanrasmussen ↗ HN
Companies often offer perks aside from wages, common perks in the Western world include:

Company Computer

Phone service

maybe paid lunch (in Denmark my experience is not because of, as I understand it, tax rules)

in the U.S Health Insurance (also in European countries but as an add-on, not an all-important employee lock-in device)

Banks often have low interest rate loans for employees.

Other stuff people can think of? And also if you know anything about how particular perks are used by companies, tax-wise or studies on how they affect employee retention/enticement please let me know.

edited: improved formatting

43 comments

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moviuro
In France, most employees have perks when purchasing/loaning stuff from their employer. Employees could get a discount on their company's telco public prices (e.g.: Orange or Bouygues) ; power suppliers (in France: EDF, Total, etc.) offer a discount on the electricity bill.

Some other "benefits" (some are required by law): the employer pays half of the public transportation bill for the employee; Christmas/Summer gift cards; buy one stock, get one free; Intéressement et Participation ([0] [1]); paid lunch (or "lunch checks"); professional vehicule;...

There are also "Comité d'entreprise" [2] in France, which get from the company 0.2% of the total salary mass (0.2% of the total salaries before tax) to propose many offers, such as: cheap theater tickets, discounts in select stores (not linked with the employer's domain), cheap all-inclusive abroad vacation, birth/marriage checks, custom social and financial help (debt; help to purchase a house), etc.

[0] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Int%C3%A9ressement

[1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participation_des_salari%C3%A9...

[2] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comit%C3%A9_d%27entreprise

cimmanom
In the US:

- allowing employees to buy their transit or parking passes with pre-tax wages. In some car-centric areas, some employers that don’t have their own parking lots will pay for their employees’ parking in commercial lots.

- tax-advantaged retirement accounts, often with partial employer matching of deposits

- community service days when everyone in the company volunteers together for a nonprofit organization (should be on what would otherwise be a workday, and paid)

- certain types of businesses (financial firms, high end law firms, etc) will offer their highest-paid employees concierge-type services to make it more practical to spend extended hours in the office. Examples might be handling the employee’s dry cleaning for them.

- free snacks and beverages are very common at tech companies/startups. Some also make alcoholic beverages available, with varying degrees of quantity and freedom as to when to consume.

- free coffee and tea in the office are very common but not universal

- I’ve seen some places where discounted gym memberships were available either through the health insurance provider or as a corporate perk.

- covering continuing education costs - whether that’s mandatory ongoing courses for licensing purposes or simply one course per year that the employee wants to take to advance their career

- perks that are arguably not perks (aka mandatory fun time): happy hours; company outings and office parties; catered lunch with “bonding time” strings attached once a week; etc

- shorter hours in the summer, still paid for full hours. This typically but not always takes the form of early closing on Fridays. It’s relatively rare but seems to be more common among companies that existed before about 1980.

- at companies with stricter dress codes, “casual fridays” allow employees to wear less formal outfits (at a suit and tie business, casual Friday dress code might be “business casual”; at a normally business casual office, casual Friday probably permits jeans and t-shirts, etc.)

- in the US, vacation time is considered a perk. Even in white collar jobs, as little as 10 days of paid leave per year (plus a handful of holidays) combined vacation and sick leave is common.

- parental or family leave (paid or unpaid) beyond the government-mandated minimum seems anecdotally to be becoming increasingly common.

theelous3
Nothing is more depressing than hearing about paid leave in the US. With 0 experience here going in to my first job, I have 24 days leave and 7 paid sick days on top.

Another random benefit: I work in what is technically a telco company. Free unlimited data and calls throughout the EU is nice.

nik736
I don't even get the "paid sick days" thing. In Germany you have a minimum of 20 days off by law, most of the time it is > 30 though. If you are sick you are sick, you go to a doctor who will give a paper that states how long you won't be able to work, you will get paid for that period. If you are sick for more than 6 weeks the insurance covers it and your employer doesn't have to pay anything while you get I think around 80% of your regular salary.
code_beers
It’s unsurprising job-hopping is so common these days. Sometimes it’s the most practical way to get a long (granted, unpaid) vacation and come back to a raise and a new environment.
dsfyu404ed
All of the things you listed are pretty normal at any company large enough to have enough HR/administrative staff to spend the man hours setting them up and managing them. I'd say most BigCos have 75% of the stuff on that list.

Officially sanctioned, company provided, perks are generally pretty good in tech because there's not many other perks to the job. In the blue collar world often are able to take advantage of your employer's capital investments and/or waste so long as you don't abuse it (daily drive your company truck, stay late to use the machine shop for personal projects, heat your home with discarded pallets etc.).

tenebrisalietum
> perks are generally pretty good in tech because there's not many other perks to the jo

I have so many old laptops, hard drives, and other decomissioned IT stuff.

cco
> - certain types of businesses (financial firms, high end law firms, etc) will offer their highest-paid employees concierge-type services to make it more practical to spend extended hours in the office. Examples might be handling the employee’s dry cleaning for them.

Isn't this just a traditional assistant/secretary?

cimmanom
Traditionally, a secretary or administrative assistant does clerical work, not errands. A personal assistant might run personal errands, but that position is usually hired and paid by the individual being assisted, not by their employer.
ryanmercer
I've seen Air Force One twice?

We get bagels and room-temp cream cheese, sometimes, on Thanksgiving?

potta_coffee
Sounds like my company!
ryanmercer
You've worked the past 13 Thanksgivings too? My sympathies!
qxmat
At Games Workshop we had a huge discount ~ 60% IIRC. Staff were regularly terminated for reselling - a big no no. If you were a hobbyist the discount was great perk to make up for low the low salary.

The share-save scheme, in hindsight, was amazing. You could buy at a good discount. While I was there it traded between 380 and 425p. Last year it hit 4000p. Currently at 3200p. Unfortunately I couldn't make ends meet on my salary there (even opting out of the workplace pension scheme). I try not to dwell on it too much but I really did miss out on easy money.

If you worked at the HQ you were fortunate to have an on-site gym. For £5/m you could join the "Sports & Social" group for access (local gyms were £40+/m). The balance was spent on cinema trips and bowling... great get-to-know-your-department events.

Oh, did I mention they also have a Dwarf themed pub with £1 a pint staff nights?!

dominicr
I remember the financial unattainability of some of their larger figures & sets from when I was young.

Considering that they're a profitable company, do you think the low salary is partly because they know people will work there because they love the GW universe, so can low-ball salaries?

dsfyu404ed
My employer happens to have an office that's ~25mi outside their main HQ in the city. They love it because the cost per body of this office space is much lower and those of us who can take advantage of it love it because it reduces our commute times.
bsvalley
A few weird ones I've seen in Silicon Valley:

- Bring your dog at the office

- $20K credit to freeze your eggs (for women)

- In-house bar with barista training for employees

- Indoor garden where you can grow your own plant at the office

etc.

leesalminen
We have a bring your dog to work policy! We end up with 7-8 dogs pretty regularly. They mostly get along and play with themselves during the day.
bsvalley
This perk is a dangerous perk :) Some people love it some hate it.
titusjohnson
Especially those coworkers with allergies. I work in an office, not a dog park. Your fur-friend will give me hives if he licks me, and because he's near me I have to start packing an emergency inhaler again.

No thanks.

leesalminen
I'm sorry to hear that!

We're in a bit of special circumstance- we work in the pet-tech field. Most applicants to our company are pet lovers!

I would definitely consider a no-pets at work policy if we were in a different industry.

titusjohnson
Thank you for the sympathy. Don't count me out as a pet lover though! I would have dogs and cats if I could, but I'd be huffing the inhaler constantly and I can't live like that. I make do with pocket pets, and am currently co-parent 2 hamsters.

Something you should consider however, is how your pet policy might make other allergy sufferers self-select out of working at your company. With 30% of the US population having allergies, and 10% reporting pet allergies (https://www.webmd.com/allergies/allergy-statistics), it's not inconceivable that a massive portion of people you interview would experience moderate physical discomfort during an interview at your office.

I think the intersection of development-types and severe allergies is pretty high (personal opinion from observation). Something about not being able to breathe outside or near animals makes one spend more time inside on the computer.

Pets in the office are another reason why I'm sad we don't have a better culture of private offices in this industry. Being able to close the door and equip my personal work space with a high-quality HEPA filter would make such a situation tolerable, while also allowing those with pets to keep them separate from the general population.

leesalminen
Luckily we're a pet-tech company and work with owners of pet care businesses all day. I think only 1 employee (out of 20) doesn't have a dog/cat currently.
justaguyhere
That dog perk makes a lot of sense and doesn't sound weird at all. Rest of it though...
BenjiWiebe
Free peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (Walmart #2428)
mvelie
Working at a theme park doing technology work, it allows for free access to the theme park (significant other included) and other theme parks in the area. Deep discounts are provided on merchandise and hotels in the area.
chad_strategic
US Marine Corps: -Traveled all over the world. -I essentially got a new job every 2-3 years. -Forced physical fitness (but I like exercise) -Constant challenge -But there were downsides, but I liked those as well

Web Develop: -I have had positions in web development, where I'm the only developer. So I get to call the shots and my hours. -Work from home, has got to be the best perk of any job -Free postage meter

theriddlr
In the UK:

Cycle to Work: A scheme which involves an interest-free loan from the employer to buy a bike and safety accessories for cycling to work. This is a salary sacrifice so the employer pays less National Insurance and the employee saves on National Insurance and income tax.

Season ticket loans: Interest-free loans from the employer to enable the employee to purchase a yearly train/Tube ticket. Yearly tickets work out cheaper than monthly tickets.

Antoninus
As a remote employee, I liked that my data usage was paid for. I worked out of East Africa and SE Asia and the data rates were fairly expensive. Being able to set your own hours within a certain frame was nice. I prefer to work 11-7pm as I like to exercise in the morning and have breakfast with my wife.
hadlock
In-building daycare is a pretty amazing perk.

There are a handful of companies in downtown where I live that offer this. You pay slightly above market rate for daycare, but it is incredibly convenient to travel with your child to your place of work, pop in to the 8th floor to drop them off, and be on site in case anything comes up.

The office subsidizes the square footage in the building for the day care, but the actual cost of daycare is offset by the rates they charge (and believe me, parents are willing to pay for the convenience)... actually the company makes a very small profit on the daycare, which incentivizes the company to keep it.

The other advantage of having in-office daycare is that employees cannot get this perk anywhere else, and are extremely unlikely to job-hop and lose this perk. Once you have in-office day care, it's like health insurance - you are unlikely to want to lose it.

godot
If a company makes a very small profit on it, and it's being used as a retaining feature ("employees cannot get this perk anywhere else"), why would more companies not offer this perk? Seems like something pretty much all companies at a size that can afford to offer it, would and should offer it, right?
rajacombinator
Why even try to make a profit? The company should be willing to offer this below market because the retention, productivity, satisfaction and other benefits to them would be incredible. I suppose having the critical mass of employees with daycare age children and sufficient facilities would be a limiting factor. Plus any negative aspects of liability etc.
rjkennedy98
The very large company I work for has:

1. A discount site with discounts on everything from electronics to cars.

2. A gym at the office with instructor-led courses.

3. Payment for classes at an accredited university.

4. A company owned bank that allows you to buy a house with a lower down payment (this is a cool perk for young employees).

Torgo
Early in my career I used to work in the public sector, one place I worked everyone's salary was public information. But discovered that several checks were printed every month for the executives "refunding" expenses like "transportation costs" and various other things, substantially boosting their pay, which was not reported as part of their official salary.
planteen
In addition to what others have said:

ski passes - had a job in Colorado where you got up to 4 passes for the same day once per season

flex time - for jobs where you are billing hourly, as long as you get 80 hours in a 2 week period and manager buy-in, they are happy. Other variations are doing 9 hr days, getting every other Friday off (9/80) or every Friday off (4/10).

employee discounts with partners (typically if supplier to a larger company) - this can be substantial on cars and appliances

old computer and test equipment - when old equipment is being retired, it is sometimes given out to employees. I've gotten a very nice soldering iron & Agilent power supply this way.

cell phone & internet - if you work from home some or all of the time, your company might pay for your cell phone and internet service.

sports tickets - the company may have season tickets to pro or college games available for occasional use by employees.

LiamPa
Consulting, points! Annoyingly we are limited to using company Amex but can still collect hotel points / air miles which when you are travelling first class can soon add up. Many of my colleagues have there holidays paid for with a few on Marriot platinum.
rajacombinator
Not a very unusual one but a lot of employers are willing to pay for classes if they’re directly relevant to one’s job.

More unusual: worked at a place that bought a guy a motorcycle once, just because. (No clue how he swung that.) Same place claimed to be willing to directly underwrite employee mortgages at below market rates, although not sure if they ever did. (Maybe founders only perk.)

I’ve always thought it would be fun for someone else to pay for me to travel internationally for work or to meaningless conferences at hotspots like Vegas. (The kind that hire headline bands just to play the conference.) But as a lowly entrepreneur/engineer this does not appear to be in the cards.

laurieg
In Japan it's not unheard of for a company to help you find a wife by hiring cute young office staff, arranging drinks parties etc.

It's definitely unusual...

cbanek
Working at Blizzard, they give you a card good for 10 years of free World of Warcraft (along with all the other games they sell, in a cute little bag). There's also a tavern (with full bar) in one of the buildings, funny enough called the World's End Tavern.

Working at LSST, after 2 years, you are considered a "builder" and automatically put on the major papers as an author/contributor.

At Xbox, if you're a good engineer, or maybe even not a good one, they have take home consoles with the latest test builds that you can play at home and give feedback.

SpaceX, every mission that launches when you are there you get a personalized mission patch for with your employee number on it.

Everywhere has its own little things, usually related to what they do, although I wouldn't call them game changers.

nojvek
Work from Vacation part time so you can have longer paid time off.

I really enjoy that perk, I work at night and then chill around during the day at different cities.

flukus
The view. I work fairly high up and have a great view of much of the city and bay. Doesn't sound much but when you're untangling legacy spaghetti and ready to throw a monitor across the room being able to spin your chair around and admire the surrounds is a great stress reliever. Also nice to look out when stuck in yet another useless meeting.

I'll take that over a Foosball table any day.