What's been your best work perk?

[gildalily]

I was reminded on one of those fb nostalgia posts about Luncheon Vouchers. In my first job I got luncheon vouchers as a perk. I think it was about 50p a day. The idea was you put them towards buying your lunch and in those days (1989) lots of places accepted them in payment. It was a nice perk if the job at the time and I'd save mine up and go for a pizza once every couple of months. It seems like an ancient concept now.

I then moved to work at M&S head office where the perks were amazing and legendary - hairdresser; chiropodist; staff discount; medical area like a full-on hospital with nurse; discount; fed at all lunches and breaks (and after work if you wanted!) for £10 a month. I think I lucked out perk-wise there.

What have your best perks at work been? Official or unofficial

Current jab also has free flu jab. A day off for volunteering. No flexi building as such but has a do what you need to do as long as job gets done and you tell your manager if you need to approach. Currently able to drop off and pick up daughter a few times a week which is really nice for both of us. Then I carry on working from home. On the days I’m required for visits/meetings I do a long day to compensate.

Previous job time off for blood donation. Flexi time.

We get an allowance for medical things like dental, glasses, physio, private scans etc. I use as much as I can every year. We can also purchase extra things with another pot of money - extra holidays, extra into pensions, gym etc.

We get the Tuesday off every time there is a bank holiday as well as January 2 and full Christmas closure.

But my best perk was when I worked for a company in Germany as an intern - free three course lunch every day, free cake and coffee at all times of the day and a fob to enter the building at weekends to get leftover cake.

So many interesting and generous perks here. I'm glad as I was wondering if job perks had disappeared over the years. Clearly not the case.

Working in local government means no perks. Apart from a great boss who i can text in the morning telling him im off on leave or extended lunch when i never put more than 30 mins on my flexi. But i do work hard and in before 8am every morning and most days im there till 5. My flexi rocks! I only work 7 hours a day and cover a lot, whilst lots who were on furlough refused to help out in other departments.

Oh and the odd biro.

Free entry and complimentary tickets for the two public attractions I work for.
Access to the site I'm based on which is a really beautiful place to work.
Plus a few years back I got an all expenses research trip to Florida to spend time with Disney and Universal ahead of an event we were running. It'll probably never happen again but it was amazing!

I used to work for Vodafone in the late 90s when mobile phones were really taking off. Every year the company threw a huge 'ball' for all the staff from all over the U.K.. They were amazing, more like massive festivals with funfairs, bands, entertainers, different dance rooms for different musical tastes all preceded by a wonderful meal. All food and drink was provided as well as transport to the venues (often by plane for staff from NI and Scotland) and overnight hotel stays for those who needed them.

DH worked for a city company that one year gave every staff member from the cleaners to the CEO £1000 in BA vouchers. We used ours to go to Vegas. Another year the same company gave everyone £750 in Harrods vouchers. Not only that but they hired out Harrods on a Sunday morning from 10.00am to 12.30pm for a private shopping event for the staff including free breakfasts in the Georgian Restaurant.

@MusicMenu

13 weeks holiday and a gold standard pension scheme obviously don't count as perks of the job

That goes without saying. It’s probably the main thing keeping many staff in the profession. Unfortunately a severe lack of investment means there’s nothing frivolous as an additional perk and not even enough to have the good running of the school . Many staff have to fork out from their own pocket for supplies, contributing to food parcels for some of our children, and even donating toiletries etc as Christmas gifts. It’s a sad state of affairs in many schools unfortunately.

Been working from home last few months. Loving it! For me the perks are wearing slippers to work in and being able to make a nice lunch.

Work in a school, I believe there’s a scheme we can use that gets us 10% off entry to really obscure places
Obviously the holidays are a perk but being the lowest paid in the school (support staff) and not being allowed holidays out of term time it doesn’t always fill me with gratitude
(Disclaimer, I do largely enjoy my job!! I’m not being a woe is me person!)

My favourite and most used was free train travel. We would often be popping to London for the day (from NE). Not been to London for over 10 years now and I miss it.

My dh's job means he gets all his tax back!!best perk ever 🤣🤣

Relocation package to move to somewhere we were thinking of moving to anyway. Paid for rental, trips back and forth, all moving costs right down to the pets being transported by a specialist company.
Negotiated working from home one day a week before it was considered normal (about 25 years ago). Always worked flexitime. Excellent holiday and pension package.
First class travel, meal vouchers etc when working in locations off site.
DH got us a cheap mortgage and loans when rates were sky high for a few years before he changed careers.

I work in a school and I needed to line some wooden garden planters with plastic so I brought home the staple gun to fix it in place.

Best work perk I had was when I was in the civil service and could ring for a day's leave on the morning. It wasn't guaranteed if too many people had called already but it was nice if you were just having one of those meh days or fancied going shopping/out for lunch etc. I always had tons of flexi time as I started early and worked late so it was even better that I could use that instead of dipping into my annual leave. That perk kept me there longer than I should have stayed.

It's been a long time since I have had a job (been a SAHM & now self-employed) but my favorite perks were:

Working 40 hours but 10 hour days so I had a three-day weekend every week

Complimentary passes for many special events i.e., Disney on Ice, Food & Wine Shows, etc...

Complimentary cinema tickets, symphony & theatre tickets, many different national sporting events in the city (basketball, baseball, football, hockey)

When I worked for a wine company, I would have a 29% discount on wine I purchased but I also earned a case of wine for hitting sales targets.

Profit sharing! It equated to an average of US$4,800 (£3,474) yearly added to our wage.

My husband was given a car allowance of £600 a month back in the mid-90's. Our rent was £525 so that car allowance was quite generous, especially as he drove a Mondeo.

Civil service in early 90's

Tea trolley with home made cakes and biscuits came round at 3pm

Cost = 15p (nominal, just so they could say it wasn't a 'perk')

Home made apple crumble and custard/Victoria sponge/cheesecakes ...
(One of the cooks used to work for the Savoy)

@dobidobidooo what does your dh do?! That's an unusual perk!

@gildalily he works at Sea/shipping.

My job comes with puppies and kittens!

I work on HE and if it’s related to work we can study a masters at 10% of cost. Normally worth about £20k.

Oh and trips abroad

Free tickets to virtually any concert. Free breakfasts and fruit baskets once a week

Free study and paid study leave, I did 2 postgrad diplomas and an MBA worth about £20k for free

I did an internship at the Tate Modern for a few months.Could go in early and see the exhibitions for free on my own before it opened.