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October 20, 2008 
at my previous employer’s a few years ago, i was fortunate enough to receive more work perks than i could have ever imagined receiving.
many of the perks could be seen as just ‘for fun’. quite often the 500-1000 employees over the years received free goodies in the form of company swag (mugs, greeting cards, crew jackets, etc.), to breakfasts and lunch. other benefits were acquired at a discount and were more ’serious’, such as health benefits or pensions.
i realized that although i made use of many of our benefits, not everyone did. a problem initially could have been that others just were not yet aware of the various perks that were available to them. perhaps they had not yet pored over their employee manuals, or checked out the company’s internal web pages. or perhaps they just didn’t see a need for certain features.
regardless, in taking advantage of one’s work perks, one can possibly save (or even earn) money! i certainly saved plenty of money by making use of what i could at work.
here, i list the perks that i became familiar with/am aware of. my goal is to share with you what i learned from my experience, and to perhaps remind you that you may not be aware of free money or discounts of various resources at your workplace.
health insurance
with a generous PPO health plan, i was able to go to any doctor i wished, and if the physician was in our ‘network’, i may be required to pay a small co-payment. on the other hand, if s/he was not, then i would pay the payment in full, but would later get reimbursed 80% of almost all of my medical-related expenses. this was also true more or less for our dental and therapy plans, with limits on how many times a year we could receive each type of service.
some examples: i paid
- $5 co-pay to see the arm doctor when i broke my right hand from an automotive accident, and
- $40 co-pay for each visit to a mental health therapist
- a co-pay of $3-5 for prescriptions
thereby saving anywhere from $20-100s not having to pay out of pocket.
have you checked in to make sure you are aware of the various medical/dental coverages that you are entitled to, under your employer? are you maximizing use of the various features available?
recreational facilities
luckily, i was blessed such that the workplace had the following facilities:
- full gym with equipment (ie, treadmill) + locker room
- swimming pool
- soccer and frisbee fields
- basketball courts
- park-like path to stroll in
- subsidized on-campus yoga, cpr, and other classes
as a result, i could exercise for free on campus, use their shower, towels, and electricity and not pay a monthly gym membership elsewhere.
does your company have either subsidized off/on-campus recreational facilities, or classes you can make use of for free or at a discount?
commuter passes
work also helped the employees acquire public transport passes at a discount or free in order to encourage us to make use of alternatives to driving cars. as a result, we were able to receive discounted/free BART tickets (our SF bay area local subway system), bus passes, and train passes. there were also programs on-site for free vanpooling. one can also find coworkers to carpool with, if from near your neighborhood or city.
do you know if your employer might have such programs? is there someone you can carpool with, to save gas money?
stocks
at the time of initial employment, we were given a schedule for our stock options with the company. over the course of various time intervals while with the company, a certain number of shares that we were allotted would ‘vest’, which meant they were available for us to do something with: whether to buy them, to sell them, or to do nothing and wait instead for another time. as a result, i was able to sell my options several times over the half dozen years there in order to make a profit so that i could make additional payments towards my college and other personal loans.
do you know if your employer offers stock options? if so, have you been making use of it?
parking
occasionally, if an employee was traveling for the weekend, but did not wish to leave his/her car at home or was meeting up for carpooling with coworkers on campus, we were allowed to leave our cars in the parking lot. free parking! an additional bonus was that the campus was monitored 24-7 by security, so we knew our vehicles would be safe!
free breakfast foods, snacks, coffee
we had the option of eating breakfast at work for free, choosing from a dozen types of cereal or oatmeal. we also had the typical office coffee. at some point in the past many years ago, we also had free junk food (candy bars) and bottled beverages (snapples), but that went away after our company grew too big. we also had fruit daily, such as apples, pears, and oranges. soda and water (at water coolers) were free too.
can you eat or snack at work?
video games
in our halls, especially near tech support and in the main lobby, a guest might marvel at the array of video game consoles to choose from. one did not have to pay for them — they were rigged to be played for free. as a result, family guests and friends could come over to play for free while visiting.
additionally, there was a ping-pong table, foosball, and a pool table. it was a popular way for my colleagues to decompress or re-energize during breaks.
in-house cafe
although not all food was free, we also had an in-house cafe/cafeteria, such that employees and their guests could have lunch together on campus. the food was fairly well priced though — not too expensive. the menu changed more or less daily. also, one had the option of ordering half-plates for a little over half the price, which was my favorite feature.
occasionally, i would brown-bag my lunch. and when i did, i just used the utensils at work. they have a full kitchen and cleaning staff there that handled the dishes.
retirement plans
our pension plan was our 401(k) plans. our employer matched 5%, as long as you put in at least 5% as well. therefore, it was a little foolish not to take advantage of this, as we got free money for our retirement accounts while practicing/learning saving habits!
does your employer match? have you been contributing to your retirement account?
cell phone, dsl
depending on your employment position, one could also receive subsidized utilities. because i was in technical support, i needed internet access from home to work and to be easily contacted via pager. as a result, my cellphone and dsl were about 90% paid for monthly. this was pretty nice.
are you paying for something work would pay for?
shipping center & receiving snail mail
we each received a free mailbox slot in the buildings’ mailrooms. there, we were allowed to receive personal as well as work-related snail-mails. this was particularly convenient because we could receive packages that needed to be signed for, rather than having to waste gas, time, money at home chasing down our packages with ups or usps or other.
we also had a shipping center. the guys there were the ones who actually signed off for our packages that arrived. in addition, the employees could go here to mail their packages with ups, usps, rather than waste time and money going to the post office.
mailing lists, in-house craigslist
when you had something you wanted to sell — whether it be a bicycle, video games, or a car — you could post to our internal mailing lists, our version of craigslist. in this way, i was able to sell my bicycle, my motorcycle, some games, cds, and other miscellany. i was also able to purchase used or new things from my peers. often times, if you just wanted to give away something rather than ask for money, you could post that too. it was our form of freecycle/craigslist.
in this manner, you could save time and money by just going up or down the stairs to make the exchange of money and goods.
movies, theater
we also had occasional free movie screenings. being part of the entertainment industry, our company was privy to sneak previews/early screenings of various movies now and then. we also had specialized screening nights, where a colleague might be showing an old foreign film. in this way, i was able to save on movie tickets (instead of paying $10 a pop!), and electricity if at home. i also saved gas in not having to drive anywhere for that entertainment. and my friends would be able to come and enjoy the experience with us occasionally, thereby having a free social gathering.
what source of entertainment might your employer offer at low or no cost?
educational classes, books, supplies
if there was a class that you wanted to take at the nearby community college or elsewhere, and it was relevant to your work or career, my previous employer would subsidize the expenses. in fact, every year, each of us would get a ’stipend’ that we could use, the amount depending on your position and department. if our costs exceeded the amount available, additional resources might be found for you elsewhere. in this way, i was able to take a handful of programming classes at the nearby state university thanks to work. i also attended a handful of conferences.
do you know if your employer subsidizes ‘continuing education’ related programs/supplies?
furniture, computers
if our company was already a customer of some other company that sold something at a discount, the employees may qualify to also purchase goods with a discount, for personal use. for instance, if you wanted to purchase an aeron (ergonomic) chair, instead of $1000 you might pay $600 instead (i don’t recall the exact figures). we also were able to receive discounts on apple computers and accessories. saving 15-40% was quite nice. before i left the company, i was also able to purchase the laptop that i had been using while there at a decent discount.
massages
i did not know this until the later part of my time there, but there were subsidized massage therapy sessions as well on-site! for $20-40 (i believe?), one could have really good massages from a masseuse that came every few weeks. i never took advantage of this, but my colleagues while there told me that it was helpful indeed. apparently, it was to help with ergonomic issues people may have been having as well, while sitting at their desks working all day on their computers, etc.
toys, posters, books
occasionally we would also receive company swag for free, or at reduced prices. in one instance, we had partnered with a publishing company, chronicle books, so that we received discounts for their books. it was mutually beneficial as it helped promote the other company’s products, and their items could be in high demand to us during the winter holiday season.
EAP
the employee assistance program (EAP) was a program available at no cost to employees for counseling whether it be related to mental well-being, stress, family, or personal finance issues. this was also confidential.
nearby businesses
because a pharmacy was just around the corner on the same block, i could pick up any prescriptions i may have had, supplies, or snacks without driving. i would go there during lunch, after work, or work breaks to stretch a little (free exercise too!) while i was at it.
are there businesses within walking distance from your work that you might be able to make use of?
banking
we were spoiled, yes, and had our own atm in the building. our employer had partnered up with a bank for a program where if the bank offered accounts with bonus features to us and gave us an atm, not only would the bank gain additional business, but the employees would have an additional day-to-day resource only steps away! as a result, i opened up an account with them, and never had to pay atm fees at work. i actually did not have to pay for atm fees anywhere, really, as the bank offered ‘rebate checking’, or reimbursements for any atm fees anywhere we were charged in the US.
through the various methods and bonuses my ex-coworkers and i were offered, we were exposed to plenty of money saving resources. we might have been able to save money by making use of discounted commuter passes, earned extra money through our 401(k) plan, or had free socializing settings or networking opportunities while working out in the gym or swapping books.
* * *
i realize that some people may only receive one or two of these benefits, much less all of them. heck, at my current job, i only receive maybe 3 of these perks (coffee, insurance (minus dental), and simple IRA). however, my goal in sharing this was not to brag or anything of the sort, but to remind readers of possible money saving opportunities they may be missing out on at their employers’, perhaps without knowing it!
tomorrow (if it’s a workday), i encourage you to bust out that employees’ manual, or surf the intraweb and make sure that you are making use of all the free or discounted perks that might be available to you and your family!
how about you?
do you know what your work benefits are?
have you been taking advantage of your work perks?
if so, what sort of discounts/freebies do you get that has been saving you quite a bit of money?
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