fancy garlic, toast trollies, and office cats: let’s discuss unusual work perks

Let’s talk about unusual perks you’ve had at work! Some examples that have been shared here in the past:

“In my first job, our trolley in the morning (I’m in the UK) also brought toast (you had to put your toast order in the day before but most toast lovers had a regular daily order) with the choice being white or brown bread, one or two slices, with tiny pats of butter or margarine and tiny pots of jam or marmalade at a small additional cost. Everything was served on proper plates with real cutlery, all of which was collected in the afternoon when the trolley came round again…

In my second job for a similar organization, the tea trolley also had delicious freshly baked scones and again, butter and jam all again served on proper china with proper cutlery. The afternoon trolley also had freshly baked biscuits (cookies) and cakes … That job (local government) we also had a bar in the staff restaurant where you could get an alcoholic drink with your lunch!”

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“We have some sort of relationship with some sort of co-op or charity that grows and sells garlic. There used to be an annual sale for the staff, but I guess our leadership team decided it was better to just buy it in bulk, so periodically we each get hand-delivered fancy bags of garlic by management.”

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“When I worked for a national park as a interpreter (tour guide), if we did a particularly good job that day (helped out in a tricky situation, really rocked a program or something), our boss would give us what she called a “Take a Hike” coupon, which was good for one hour of hiking time on work time. (We’d give it back to “redeem” the coupon when we scheduled a time with our boss to go hiking.) We were the perfect audience for that and the boss usually found a reason to give each of us two or three a season.”

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“My workplace has a cat. He was not originally ours, he moved in at some point. We are a very secure site, with badging in everywhere, secured perimeter, 24/7 security guards etc., and a cat who is just allowed to wander around. He has a Facebook page which has more likes than that of the institution’s leader, he features in the Newcomers’ Guide and if we have visitors, we sure check whether he is at his usual spot, to show him off. He has an official entry on our website. Search for Micky the Space Cat!”

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Let’s discuss the best or most unusual perks you’ve had at work. Please share in the comments!

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