Office perks you love?

[getawayfromme]

I've always worked in genuinely shit offices - leaky air con, no natural light etc.

Then today I visited the new site I'm being moved to and it's amazing - there is a free hot chocolate station, free breakfast, free electric scooter hire and it's own roof terrace. I'm quite excited for it all.

So what are your best office perks?

Currently WFH but when we were in it was just free tea, coffee and biscuits plus the remains of any buffets that the delegates hadn’t eaten. Now, when my husband used to work in the private sector, that was loads between! We once went to his work ‘training event’ where families were invited after the employees had finished for the day. Everyone was given 2 free drinks tokens 😂 I must have had at least 8, everyone was just swiping stuff and the barmen were handing out bottles of wine rather than glasses. Ideal! Then, they had a raffle and DS won a mountain bike. It was held in local attraction that we’d been wanting to take the kids to but was too expensive so it was great that we go to go for free (4 of us) and the kids got to go on everything. His work used to do lots of things like that but now he’s public sector he doesn’t get stuff like that anymore.

Sometimes people bring me cake ... I work for the c of e.

Oh and I get free tea and instant coffee plus parking

One office I worked in:

• private chefs and free hot meals (5-7 types to chose from) from 6am to 9pm. Proper restaurant. With awesome food.
• free drinks and snacks in every kitchen, and there were many per floor. Everything from nuts to chocolate to crisps
• 5 big coffee machines with a barista coming in every month to tell us about the specialty extra coffee we hve that month
• multiple games rooms, some with xboxes, some with snooker
• loads of working/desk space
• huge showers, bathrooms, massage rooms
• free massage when you wanted
• gym

Oh I’ve just remembered that one site we got free hair cuts and occasional three course meals for free. Another site had free parking. Now I get none of those things and would just love free parking.

Previously pre global economic crisis -/Drinks trolley on a Friday where they'd wheel a trolley of champagne red wine and beer and park it in the atrium. We'd drink it dry then go somewhere after. Usually digress or tiger tiger. Maternity package 6 months full pay 3 months statutory 3 months unpaid bank a bonus resign the next day didn't have to pay back a penny 👍🏻

Now public sector and it's the pension, the people and the parking.

I bring my own coffee 😜😎

Public sector here so every penny scrutinised. We have a kettle and a microwave we can use. Offices are in an old building so on the plus side huge with lots of light. On the downside draughty with ill fitting windows and ancient heating.

@dementedma

Public sector here so every penny scrutinised.

I did a brief stint in a London based media office, the only bit of it I liked was a drinks fridges with cans of coke etc that were unlimited and free (there was beer and wine too that could be paid for 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Charity sector here.

There was a big kerfuffle about removing free tea and coffee a few years back, which was later reversed as it caused too much ill will. So now we get free teabags and instant coffee again, the luxury! I don’t drink either so it makes no difference to me.

My DH works in the city and has worked in places with loads of perks - totally different world!

Free parking (we all had to double park though) literally opposite a station with fast trains into London. Unmanned stationery cupboard.

@TheSunIsStillShining that sounds absolutely amazing!

My DH is a public sector worker and is astonished by the hot chocolate, he can't believe how I can have a bad day when I could just go for a hot chocolate with squirty cream and calm down!

Worked in the public sector for years.
When I first started, salaries were lower than private sector equivalents, with the final salary pensions being the trade off. These are long gone and I’m told that salaries are now comparable, or higher in some cases, than in the private sector.
I used to have my own office and storage, free use of internet, free parking, kitchen facilities and showers. We could use the phones, but were billed for personal calls. When we ate with the children and young people we worked with, food and drinks were free, as we didn't take meal breaks.
As an essential car user, I used to get free parking and a monthly depreciation lump sum.Or there was a car lease scheme. We had a generous mileage allowance, and after hours meal allowances. If we were away overnight on training or long distance visits, there was an entertainment allowance for each evening.
Latterly, hot desking was brought in, essential car users stopped and out of hours meal allowances ceased. Mileage payments were reduced and the majority of the free parking capacity was sold off for building, (making life difficult for those who used their vehicles for work.)
To keep the open plan offices tidy and non smelly, eating at desks was forbidden, but at the same time the kitchen/canteen facilities were reduced, so that only a few staff could be seated at the same time. A new cafeteria was introduced, not subsidised, but to ensure tidiness, we got free tea and coffee, in regulation white mugs (no personal mugs allowed).
The new system had its advantages in terms of hygiene. Every social work office I have ever worked in prior to that had nightmare kitchens that were cesspit of unimaginable filth presumably because we were all too busy and stressed out to actually wash up.