# What's the greatest or most interesting job perk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831 "2015-01-25T06:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/21 "2015-01-25T17:59:34Z")
I worked at a Harley shop and was an inspection mechanic. A small fine-print item back then was that a road test was required. Almost never did we actually do one - but every so often there was a bike that just begged to be tried out. One I remember was a dual-engined that ripped tires apart but my all time favorites were the police bikes. We had a sort of understanding with the motor officers that if we turned on the lights and sirens out of sight, their hearing was just bad enough that they didn’t notice it. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/22 "2015-01-25T18:19:27Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Free college tuition. Huge benefit. My current job offers this as well, I hope it’s still around in 14 years when I’ll need it! Up until a few years ago when things got a little tight, they offered to continue providing health insurance for employees and their spouses after they retired if they were older than age of 65 and had worked at least 10 years with the company (actually the formula was age \>65 and age+years of service\>75, sucked to be the guy who was already 70 and still working full-time when we merged with that company, he had to work another 5 years!) ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/23 "2015-01-25T18:38:30Z")
I get free week long vacations in resort condominiums all over the world. I also get $350 in travel expenses each year. We have an on-site gym and personal trainers. On-site massages, and a subsidized cafeteria with decent food. Nobody bats an eye if I get up and go over to the Foosball table to take a break. I can also take my laptop and plop down in front of one of the big screen tv’s to watch a special event. We have a nurse practitioner on site if you want that sore throat or what ever checked out for free. Best though in my opinion is a very flexible schedule and the ability to work from home when needed. It really makes balancing work and family life so much easier. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/24 "2015-01-25T18:55:41Z")
I don’t have any really interesting perks, but my great-grandfather certainly did. He was an executive for the now-defunct Lehigh Valley railroad. Somehow he not only got free travel on the LV, but he had passes for literally dozens of other lines across the US, which he collected in a scrapbook. He likewise could reserve one of the LV’s executive passenger coaches for personal travel if he wanted. My Uncle told me of great-granddad sending the executive coach to Ithaca (he was going to Cornell at the time) a few times to bring him back home for school vacations. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/25 "2015-01-25T18:55:55Z")
My former employer used to charter a jet and fly everyone on our floor to Atlantis resort in the Bahamas for a long weekend of “meetings” (maybe 2 hours of total meetings for the whole weekend). Free booze all weekend long – booze on the bus to the airport, booze in the airport lounge, booze on the plane, then they took us straight to a bar when we landed. They stopped doing it a year after I joined, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/26 "2015-01-25T19:03:08Z")
When I was travelling for Accenture, they let us install games on the company laptop. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/27 "2015-01-25T19:33:33Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > They stopped doing it a year after I joined, though. What they hell did you do? 😃 My favourite were corporate hospitality tickets to sports arena. I got it for an Ashes series, a Barca-Man Utd Champions league game and my personal favourite, Wimbledon. Other perks included five star accommodation (which I hated), chaffuer driven cars on out of station trips (which I really liked) and from one client, literally gallons of free ice cream ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/28 "2015-01-25T20:04:15Z")
Not my perk…and some wouldn’t necessarily call it a perk… A friend of mine worked for a cable box company. His employment contract specified that he may have to view and test channels that include pornographic material. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/29 "2015-01-25T21:14:18Z")
Every foreign teacher in China is required to have a house outfitted with specific items, including a DVD player, and is allotted a small amount of money for domestic travel so that they can learn about the country. Not every teacher gets these things, as schools sometimes try to hold on to the cash, but I was able to ask nice enough and to get some nice little trips out of it. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/30 "2015-01-25T21:44:09Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Not my perk…and some wouldn’t necessarily call it a perk… A friend of mine worked for a cable box company. His employment contract specified that he may have to view and test channels that include pornographic material. Not quite a perk put that way. Now had they given him a bottle of lotion and a box of tissues as well ---------- ---
**Author:** ![chiquitita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@chiquitita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiquitita)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/31 "2015-01-25T22:03:59Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Many years ago I was a projectionist at a United Artists theater. There was a cooperative agreement between all of the local chains that employees at any theater could watch free shows at any other theater. So, if the movie I wanted to see was at AMC or General Cinemas or whatever, it was a simple matter of having our manager call the other theater and ask for free passes for an employee and his/her guest. I was a projectionist for more than twenty years, until the job was finally liquidated, a couple of years ago, by the shift to digital cinema in movie theaters. We had a similar agreement in my hometown: by joining an association of movie theaters’ employees, for a 20€ membership, we were issued a card allowing us two shows per week in all the theaters in the city. I used to watch at least 50 movies in a year. Nowadays, I’ve got an employee card that’s only valid for one show a week, and only in the theaters of the chain that I work for. Since it would mean going back to my workplace on my time off, I don’t often take advantage of it, and my movie-going has been drastically reduced. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/32 "2015-01-25T22:05:38Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Being able to work at home has to rank as one of the greatest of all job perks. This . . . as well as being self-employed. There’s no downside. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/33 "2015-01-25T22:21:31Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > My former employer used to charter a jet and fly everyone on our floor to Atlantis resort in the Bahamas for a long weekend of “meetings” (maybe 2 hours of total meetings for the whole weekend). Free booze all weekend long – booze on the bus to the airport, booze in the airport lounge, booze on the plane, then they took us straight to a bar when we landed. > > They stopped doing it a year after I joined, though. You took’em good that first year though and damn near bankrupted the whole company after they paid for the damages. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/34 "2015-01-25T22:31:35Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > **“What’s the greatest or most interesting job perk?”** “You keep what you kill” -Chronicles of Riddick ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/35 "2015-01-25T22:44:12Z")
Well, the perks for teaching high school used to be June, July, and August off. Now a teacher is lucky to get much of a summer off at all, since they get sent to all manner of summer professional development stuff. However, high school science teachers do have a few perks the other subjects don’t have, usually. One is a private lab and storage area where we keep all the cool stuff. These areas are off-limits to kids, and _have sinks with potable water_. This means science teachers can have their own coffee makers, microwaves, and refrigerators (yeah, I know the sign on the frig says “for biological specimens only”, but that’s just to keep the social studies and English teachers out)! The other is Van De Graff generators. Nothing better than lighting up a kid with a few hundred thousand volts! ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/36 "2015-01-25T22:48:08Z")
Spent some years in the record store retail business. Lot of free records at work and in the mailbox. Had 1000s. Spent some years in the video store wholesale business. Lots of free videocassettes from both work and other sources. Had 1000s. Best of all: Spent almost 20 years at a company that _actually appreciated_ work and input, and was reasonably well compensated. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/37 "2015-01-25T23:27:23Z")
College faculty: free tuition for me and my spouse and children (although with some limitations); free textbooks on new computer technologies that I want to investigate; no classes on Friday; summers off. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/38 "2015-01-25T23:53:12Z")
Thought of another fun one. When I was in college, my roommate worked in the local mall. In the food court. In the cookie shop. He was allowed to bring home unsold product at times. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/39 "2015-01-26T00:22:20Z")
When I worked in radio, I went to lots and lots of concerts for free. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831/40 "2015-01-26T00:24:57Z")
I once taught scuba lessons that were offered through a health and wellness benefit of one of the major local employers. They had an on site gym and pool to use in addition to something like $500 per year for other healthier employee activities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-greatest-or-most-interesting-job-perk/710831.md?page=3)