The company which runs this site gives its employees free meals in the
first two weeks after their baby is born... one casino in Reno offers
to pay back half of employees losses at its slots...

I'm looking for a list of at least five very creative employee
benefits, with company name. The information should be fairly recent
(last 2-3 years).

---

Clarification of Question by jhabley-ga on 06 May 2004 07:32 PDT

Great stuff, thanks. Let's use that as the answer. :)

Hello again Jhabley,

Benefits with a capital "B" ? Unusual employee benefits 
      
 Free onsite car washes and oil changes ? BMC Software.  

 $50 for someone you love (including yourself) ? Inlumen Inc. 
 
 Four years and housing costs at University of Louisville ? UPS.  

 Elder care consultation ? Fannie Mae. 

? Source: Fast Company

ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/WorkingWounded/workingwounded_010119.html
 

Ways to Provide Creative Employee Benefits
January February 2004 

The unusual 
	
?On-site fitness centers, nutrition guidance, massages, on-site flu
shots, employee referral cash awards, half-days during summer Fridays
and even concierge services are among the more unusual perks companies
offer employees. Costs vary, but so do the benefits for both companies
and their employees. Consider the money saved by having healthier
employees or the missed work hours that could be prevented because of
flu shots.?
http://www.ltmonline.com/wleggiere/common/issues/article.lasso?x=67&y=13

NAM Employee Benefits
- Periodic free on-site neck and shoulder massages 
http://www.nam.org/s_nam/doc1.asp?CID=83&DID=225212


WHITNEY, BAILEY, COX & MAGNANI, LLC offers:
? FLU SHOTS
Annual vaccination free to all employees, at-cost to family members.
http://www.wbcm.com/employee_benfits.htm

Personal Concierge: The Hottest New Benefit 

Car due for an oil change? No problem. Theater tickets for your
anniversary? Sure. The house needs cleaning before your parents visit?
Done. The cost of the oil change, the tickets, or the cleaning service
is your responsibility, but the concierge can have it billed directly
to your credit card. That?s one less thing for you to worry about.

Concierge service providers are paid by the company anywhere from
under $50 per employee per year to over $1,000, depending on the
services contracted.
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=401&article_id=52168&cat_id=1089

Microsoft and Ernst & Young are clients of this service.
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=401&article_id=52168&listelement=2&cat_id=1089


This article published in 1997 in Inc. Magazine mentions some
unique employee benefits.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/19971101/1359.html



The Promotion Network - Range of benefits includes appliances

?Every Thursday morning, Hill, an account executive at The Promotion
Network Inc., piles his laundry into his backpack and takes it to his
30th floor office on Madison Ave. in New York. There he uses the
office's washer and dryer.?

(..)

?The washer and dryer aren't the only unusual benefit The Promotion
Network offers: Hill also has a free gym membership. He gets a free
massage at the office and the kitchen is filled with free food.?

(..)

?Even more unusual perks are found at the firm's Dallas headquarters,
where a chef prepares meals, a masseuse gives free massages and its
on-site exercise facility has staff trainers. In Chicago, in addition
to a masseuse, perks include an on-site day care center and tickets to
Cubs and Bulls games.?

Amarillo Globe News
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/030101/bus_022601-2.shtml



?Perhaps one of the funkiest perks at Small World is a futuristic
coffee machine. The company Keurig machine brews fresh, individual
cups of java within seconds. Employees love the novelty - and the
coffee. Other culinary enticements include snack time every Friday at
4 o'clock. There's usually plenty of junk food on the menu. "We tried
healthy stuff once," Goldberg notes, "but it never happened again."
The weekly company gathering gets employees together and gives them a
chance to socialize.?
Vault.com 
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=402&article_id=19632&listelement=2&cat_id=1342
 

SSH Communications Securities

?Adams, who is president and CEO of SSH Communications Securities,
wanted to make his Finnish employees feel at home. He imported white
aspen wood from Finland and, six months ago, installed an eight-person
sauna in SSH's south Palo Alto office.?

(..)

?Other perks at the company include daily catered lunches, massages
every Friday and occasional onsite visits from a psychologist.?

Palo Alto Online
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/monthly/2001_Jan_24.PERKS000.html

A number of unusual company perks are discussed in the article ?Bodacious Bennies?
by Stephanie Patrick; Dallas Business Journal (April 2, 2001).
http://www.people-solutions.com/site4/hrbuzz/news134.html


Association for Research and Enlightenment

?Here, think peaceful meditation in a room that overlooks the
Atlantic. Think discounts on massages and foot reflexology. Did we
mention the free almonds -- touted as a cancer preventive here -- or
the apple brandy fumes that can be inhaled daily from a charred oak
barrel to purify the lungs??
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=58538&ran=57629

Venturcom offers, at no cost to the employee, an EAP program through
UnumProvident?s Life Phases. EAP provides a wide variety of
counseling, consultation, information, and referral services for
employees and their family members. Services include professional
counseling, childcare and eldercare consultation and referral, legal
and financial advice, and a "virtual concierge" for helping to locate
services needed (such as house cleaning, health/fitness programs, home
improvement specialists, pet sitting, relocation assistance, and much
more).
http://www.vci.com/corporate/job_benefits.asp


Search criteria:
company benefits
creative benefits
unusual benefits
wacky benefits OR perks

Thank you for accepting my comments as the answer to your question.


Best regards,
Bobbie7

Once again, Bobbie7 comes through!!

Hi Jhabley!



Benefits with a capital "B" ? Unusual employee benefits 
      
 Free onsite car washes and oil changes ? BMC Software.  

 $50 for someone you love (including yourself) ? Inlumen Inc. 
 
 Four years and housing costs at University of Louisville ? UPS.  

 Elder care consultation ? Fannie Mae. 

? Source: Fast Company

ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/WorkingWounded/workingwounded_010119.html
 

Ways to Provide Creative Employee Benefits
January February 2004 

The unusual 
	
?On-site fitness centers, nutrition guidance, massages, on-site flu
shots, employee referral cash awards, half-days during summer Fridays
and even concierge services are among the more unusual perks companies
offer employees. Costs vary, but so do the benefits for both companies
and their employees. Consider the money saved by having healthier
employees or the missed work hours that could be prevented because of
flu shots.?
http://www.ltmonline.com/wleggiere/common/issues/article.lasso?x=67&y=13

NAM Employee Benefits
- Periodic free on-site neck and shoulder massages 
http://www.nam.org/s_nam/doc1.asp?CID=83&DID=225212


WHITNEY, BAILEY, COX & MAGNANI, LLC offers:
? FLU SHOTS
Annual vaccination free to all employees, at-cost to family members.
http://www.wbcm.com/employee_benfits.htm

Personal Concierge: The Hottest New Benefit 

Car due for an oil change? No problem. Theater tickets for your
anniversary? Sure. The house needs cleaning before your parents visit?
Done. The cost of the oil change, the tickets, or the cleaning service
is your responsibility, but the concierge can have it billed directly
to your credit card. That?s one less thing for you to worry about.

Concierge service providers are paid by the company anywhere from
under $50 per employee per year to over $1,000, depending on the
services contracted.
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=401&article_id=52168&cat_id=1089

Microsoft and Ernst & Young are clients of this service.
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=401&article_id=52168&listelement=2&cat_id=1089


This 1997 article published in 1997 in Inc. Magazine mentions some
unique employee benefits.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/19971101/1359.html


Do these examples meet your needs?


Regards,
Bobbie7

Here are a few more examples:

The Promotion Network - Range of benefits includes appliances

?Every Thursday morning, Hill, an account executive at The Promotion
Network Inc., piles his laundry into his backpack and takes it to his
30th floor office on Madison Ave. in New York. There he uses the
office's washer and dryer.?

(..)

?The washer and dryer aren't the only unusual benefit The Promotion
Network offers: Hill also has a free gym membership. He gets a free
massage at the office and the kitchen is filled with free food.?

(..)

?Even more unusual perks are found at the firm's Dallas headquarters,
where a chef prepares meals, a masseuse gives free massages and its
on-site exercise facility has staff trainers. In Chicago, in addition
to a masseuse, perks include an on-site day care center and tickets to
Cubs and Bulls games.?

Amarillo Globe News
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/030101/bus_022601-2.shtml



?Perhaps one of the funkiest perks at Small World is a futuristic
coffee machine. The company Keurig machine brews fresh, individual
cups of java within seconds. Employees love the novelty - and the
coffee. Other culinary enticements include snack time every Friday at
4 o'clock. There's usually plenty of junk food on the menu. "We tried
healthy stuff once," Goldberg notes, "but it never happened again."
The weekly company gathering gets employees together and gives them a
chance to socialize.?
Vault.com 
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=402&article_id=19632&listelement=2&cat_id=1342

SSH Communications Securities

?Adams, who is president and CEO of SSH Communications Securities,
wanted to make his Finnish employees feel at home. He imported white
aspen wood from Finland and, six months ago, installed an eight-person
sauna in SSH's south Palo Alto office.?

(..)

?Other perks at the company include daily catered lunches, massages
every Friday and occasional onsite visits from a psychologist.?

Palo Alto Online
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/monthly/2001_Jan_24.PERKS000.html

A number of unusual company perks are discussed in the article ?Bodacious Bennies?
by Stephanie Patrick; Dallas Business Journal (April 2, 2001).
http://www.people-solutions.com/site4/hrbuzz/news134.html


Association for Research and Enlightenment

?Here, think peaceful meditation in a room that overlooks the
Atlantic. Think discounts on massages and foot reflexology. Did we
mention the free almonds -- touted as a cancer preventive here -- or
the apple brandy fumes that can be inhaled daily from a charred oak
barrel to purify the lungs??
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=58538&ran=57629

Venturcom offers, at no cost to the employee, an EAP program through
UnumProvident?s Life Phases. EAP provides a wide variety of
counseling, consultation, information, and referral services for
employees and their family members. Services include professional
counseling, childcare and eldercare consultation and referral, legal
and financial advice, and a "virtual concierge" for helping to locate
services needed (such as house cleaning, health/fitness programs, home
improvement specialists, pet sitting, relocation assistance, and much
more).
http://www.vci.com/corporate/job_benefits.asp