# Why do some management perks bother me so much? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297 "2016-12-21T14:59:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/21 "2016-12-22T19:44:17Z")
“Company car,” to me, sounds like authority to use company property for personal use. If the car is wrecked or abused while being driven for personal use, does the company pay for repair or replacement? If so, and if I were an employee who didn’t have that perk, that would bother me. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/22 "2016-12-22T19:47:07Z")
I worked for several years as a contractor at a large pharma company. I got involved in many projects that did nothing more than move walls in an office area. Why? Because an Executive Director was supposed to get X square feet of office space and a mere Director got only Y square feet. I’m not kidding when I say that these moves cost tens of thousands of dollars and often ended up giving the office occupant a stupid-looking office (door in weird place, a window partially covered by a wall, a long and narrow office, and so forth). One reason it cost so much was that we usually had to move the building sprinkler heads as well. The only purpose of the work was to comply with the perk of having a slightly larger office. We had many executives who simply wanted to keep their old offices after being promoted, but this was not an option. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/23 "2016-12-23T00:03:46Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > In some places lunch meetings are covered by the company. Managers have lunch meetings. Peons don’t. As I said, sometimes I can take a peon out for lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/24 "2016-12-23T00:40:39Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > In some places lunch meetings are covered by the company. Managers have lunch meetings. Peons don’t. That isn’t true at my place of employment. We (meaning some given group of people) have lunch meetings several times a week. Anyone that needs to be there gets a catered lunch that is usually pretty elaborate. It isn’t mostly managers either because we are pretty thin on the ground there. Most of them are blue-collar workers that also get paid their hourly rate plus free lunch for being there. The nice thing is that they almost always have way too much food so they open up the remainders to everyone else when the meeting group is done. If if you played it strategically, you could have many free meals a week. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/25 "2016-12-23T00:52:51Z")
That sort of thing has always bugged the shit out of me too. Even now that I’m entitled to some of them. As senior technical staff, I’m entitled to Director level stuff (between Manager and VP). I think it’s bullshit that I can get my phone and phone bills paid for so I decline it. Yes, I constantly use my smart phone for business but so do lots of people. I’m quirky that way. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/26 "2016-12-23T19:35:08Z")
It annoys me that the partners of this firm get all their lunches out paid for. If they go out with another attorney and chat at lunch, the event is called “discussing work” and is the reason given on the expense form submitted. Even during our horrible layoffs in 2009, this practice continued. A dozen older clerical people were laid off and looking for work in that horrible economic climate, yet free daily partners’ lunches went on. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/27 "2016-12-23T19:39:19Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That isn’t true at my place of employment. We (meaning some given group of people) have lunch meetings several times a week. Anyone that needs to be there gets a catered lunch that is usually pretty elaborate. It isn’t mostly managers either because we are pretty thin on the ground there. Most of them are blue-collar workers that also get paid their hourly rate plus free lunch for being there. > > The nice thing is that they almost always have way too much food so they open up the remainders to everyone else when the meeting group is done. If if you played it strategically, you could have many free meals a week. Honey…what did you have for lunch today? Sloppy seconds! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/28 "2016-12-24T21:48:58Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I’ve never heard of “free food” as a management perk. I’ve worked at companies (mostly in tech) where they had free snacks in the break room / kitchen. But those were available for everyone. > > In fact, a sure sign of a shitty workplace is one that doesn’t have free coffee. Most places should be able to afford those crappy Flavia pods. I’ve actually seen ‘free food’ as a perk in the hospitality industry a fair bit. The normal breakdown I’ve seen is that low-level workers pay a very nominal amount per shift for ‘staff meals’ (ie. whatever left-overs/kitchen mistakes/cheap burgers the chef says staff can eat), slightly higher-level workers get staff meal without paying, and the highest level staff can just order whatever they want from the menu for free. These were in addition to the ‘entertaining clients’ and ‘lunch meeting’ opportunities for free food that you see in other industries. ---
**Author:** ![Mrdeals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/29 "2016-12-24T22:30:41Z")
I can only speak from one experience: My father is issued a company vehicle, it is a heavy duty pickup truck since he has to drive out to some off-the-beaten-path sort of places (so that makes sense for him to be given one) But i wouldn’t want the headache that goes along with possessing a company car. He is liable for ANYTHING that happens to the car. Leave it outside and it hails? Tough. Get rear-ended at a stop light? Tough. Not sure if all companies treat the company car like his does, but it may actually be more of a burden than a perk. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Gnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_gnomer/32/3466_2.png) [@Miss\_Gnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Gnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/30 "2016-12-25T00:07:02Z")
The biggest perk I get bothered by: the flexibility of their work time. Many high level managers are able to move things around, arrive an hour later, “work from home”, go out to lunch for hours … and the lower level people are the ones on time clocks, stuck to a desk or a location that they can NOT leave - even if all their work is done. As a lower level person you have to ask for permission to leave an hour early if you need to see a doctor (or take time off with no pay), you can’t just walk out of work a bit early. Of course there are some downsides to having to work outside normal times for management (the travel time that is never counted etc) … but when the receptionist is 15 minutes late from public transport delays, it is considered their bad planning and their fault. I also struggle with the idea of higher paid people working “hard” … how hard does the toilet cleaner work vs management!!! And not to mention the horror of being tied to a desk all day with little to do and absolutely no way of generating work … but you’ve got to be there to get paid. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/31 "2016-12-25T13:04:16Z")
> [@Miss\_Gnomer](#): > > The biggest perk I get bothered by: the flexibility of their work time. Many high level managers are able to move things around, arrive an hour later, “work from home”, go out to lunch for hours … and the lower level people are the ones on time clocks, stuck to a desk or a location that they can NOT leave - even if all their work is done. This is not a good environment. I am a manager and I try to set the tone for the office. Managers should set an example for how they want their people to work, not give themselves privilege and rub it in people’s faces. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/32 "2016-12-25T14:54:23Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > It annoys me that the partners of this firm get all their lunches out paid for. If they go out with another attorney and chat at lunch, the event is called “discussing work” and is the reason given on the expense form submitted. > > Even during our horrible layoffs in 2009, this practice continued. A dozen older clerical people were laid off and looking for work in that horrible economic climate, yet free daily partners’ lunches went on. The biggest cost is not the price of the lunches. The biggest cost is the resulting cynicism it creates in the lower-rungs of your workplace. It is too bad most employers do not understand the how cynicism can ruin morale in the workplace. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/33 "2016-12-25T15:22:17Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > the perk of having a slightly larger office. I worked in a place like that once; my only foray into warm-body contracting (as in I was just a warm body). They were doubling and sometimes tripling people in cubicles, meanwhile this mucky muck director (who was out of the office most of the time, I assume on business travel but don’t really know) had a walled/doored office so big that you could easily fit six cubicles into it without making him sit with his legs together. That was the same office where they had seriously nasty attitudes about contractors using company materials. I asked for a pen to take notes with and you wouldn’t believe the nasty glare I got and the tone when told “We don’t provide office supplies to contractors, but just this once tell Mary (the supplies guardian) that I said you can have one.” :rolleyes: > [@Miss\_Gnomer](#): > > The biggest perk I get bothered by: the flexibility of their work time. … Of course there are some downsides to having to work outside normal times for management (the travel time that is never counted etc) … but when the receptionist is 15 minutes late from public transport delays, it is considered their bad planning and their fault. I agree that a hard-ass management attitude to punctuality isn’t great, but there are some jobs where you just have to be on time. (My point being that attitude and a little grace can compensate for that necessity.) Most non-management professional jobs have this flexibility and it is nice. But you’re right, travel time in a job that requires travel really sucks because it’s never compensated for financially. At this level, you’re paid for your responsibility, not your time. On occasion that can work out to being paid less than minimum wage, effectively. There was one time I had to go to Hawaii on a business trip. On my return, my first flight was delayed, resulting in missing my second flight from California to the east coast where I live. After negotiating alternate flights to get myself home, the net result was a 23-hour travel day. No company compensation or even a “bummer, sorry that happened”. I was rather annoyed and a lot less eager to travel after that. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > It is too bad most employers do not understand the how cynicism can ruin morale in the workplace. They sort of understand it, but the problem is that it’s hard to measure cynicism and morale. Companies are trying to dig into things like that with the “employee engagement” surveys that are popular these days, but that’s still an unreliable metric. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/34 "2016-12-27T16:42:02Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > That sort of thing has always bugged the shit out of me too. Even now that I’m entitled to some of them. As senior technical staff, I’m entitled to Director level stuff (between Manager and VP). I think it’s bullshit that I can get my phone and phone bills paid for so I decline it. Yes, I constantly use my smart phone for business but so do lots of people. I’m quirky that way. I think pretty much my entire company gets to expense their phone (up to $200) and their monthly bill. I never really considered it a “perk” since they are the ones who occupy most of my phone usage. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/35 "2016-12-27T16:43:17Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > This is not a good environment. I am a manager and I try to set the tone for the office. Managers should set an example for how they want their people to work, not give themselves privilege and rub it in people’s faces. LOL…then why BE one?😃 ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/36 "2016-12-27T17:00:06Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I think it’s bullshit that I can get my phone and phone bills paid for so I decline it. I find this rather eccentric. You make it sound like it’s a matter of principle, like the king wants to give you gold because you’re a landowner, while the peasants starve. In reality this is a business, they are offering you compensation to do you job–it’s just another way to pay you besides the cash in your paycheck. I don’t follow your reasoning at all as to why you would decline this. Would you turn down a raise or a cash bonus? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/37 "2016-12-27T17:22:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I find this rather eccentric. You make it sound like it’s a matter of principle, like the king wants to give you gold because you’re a landowner, while the peasants starve. In reality this is a business, they are offering you compensation to do you job–it’s just another way to pay you besides the cash in your paycheck. I don’t follow your reasoning at all as to why you would decline this. Would you turn down a raise or a cash bonus? It’s definitely eccentric, I will grant you that. I feel like I would have a smart phone anyway so I should pay for it. If I have to buy something for work that I wouldn’t ordinarily buy, I charge them. Also, I have this feeling that if they pay for it, they actually own it. I want my phone to be my own. Some of my co-workers have a separate work phone and personal phone but that is way more of a pain in the ass than to be worth it. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/38 "2016-12-27T22:41:32Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > The free car your boss is getting is his/her good luck. And if s/he wasn’t getting it, you probably wouldn’t get it, so you’re not out anything anyway. Sort of. This is certainly a good way to think about it if you don’t want to fall into the fairly destructive trap of envy. But, at some other level, there’s a given budget the company has to pay its workers, and if they’re giving the execs lots of perks, that’s money that’s not going to the lower-paid employees. Of course, that’s not quite true either, since there are other market forces at work. But it is a way that some people (particularly some of the non-managers) will think about it. I agree with those who say that management should be careful that they’re not destroying morale with highly visible displays of status. There’s not an obviously correct one-size-fits-all solution here, but there are lots of demonstrably horrible ones! ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/39 "2016-12-28T01:58:29Z")
One perk that management had at a previous employer was a larger percentage on short term disability. Regular workers received 50% and management and above 70%. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297/40 "2016-12-28T10:40:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’s definitely eccentric, I will grant you that. I feel like I would have a smart phone anyway so I should pay for it. If I have to buy something for work that I wouldn’t ordinarily buy, I charge them. Also, I have this feeling that if they pay for it, they actually own it. I want my phone to be my own. Some of my co-workers have a separate work phone and personal phone but that is way more of a pain in the ass than to be worth it. It’s fucking stupid is what it is. Where do you think the money you use to pay for your phone comes from? Presumably your job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-management-perks-bother-me-so-much/775297.md?page=3)