8 work perks you wish you had

By Melinda Fulmer

Receptionist Chipper "Bro" Bell isn't making tons of money. But he's convinced he's got one of the best jobs in the country. That's because his employer, outdoor-gear maker Patagonia, lets Bell satisfy his personal aquatic passion: taking off three months each summer unpaid to run a surf school.

More and more, experts say, companies are taking a chance on innovative benefits such as sabbaticals in an attempt to attract and retain the best employees.

Though a generous one-size-fits-all package of health insurance, vacations and a 401(k) plan used to do the trick, prospective employees today are looking for perks that help them address work-life balance and satisfy their creative needs, human-resources experts say.

"I think what we are seeing more of . . . is a total rewards package," says Rick Beal, a managing consultant at benefits firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

Some of these rewards, such as paid sabbaticals, on-site child-care centers and subsidized elder care, can come with a high price tag for employers. Others, such as concierge services and takeout meals, cost far less and have the added bonus for employers of keeping workers at their desks longer.

Many of these in-demand benefits aren't new or revolutionary. But surprisingly, analysts say, they are still the exception rather than the rule.

What is clear, analysts say, is that benefits -- other than health-care coverage -- are getting richer. Here's a look at some of the best work perks in the country and some of the companies offering them:

Paid and unpaid sabbaticals

Forget vacations. Think monthlong paid trips to work with the Sierra Club in Hawaii or summers off to river raft without losing medical benefits. To keep employees committed or keep them from burning out, more companies are offering several-month unpaid sabbaticals or shorter paid charitable stints.

Take Bell's employer, Patagonia, for instance. Its employees can take up to four months off without pay annually to take care of personal business. During that time, Patagonia pays to keep up the employee's health-care coverage and professional dues. For those taking one of its environmental internships to preserve beaches or wilderness land, the times comes with full pay, a nod to its eco-conscious brand image.

For companies that have to hire additional manpower, these sabbaticals aren't cheap. In some cases, they can backfire as employees decide to quit or spend the time looking for another job. But for many, experts say, they can provide a helpful safety net when a personal crisis looms, help bolster a company's image and aid employees in managing stress.

"I field between 1,800 to 2,000 calls a day," said Bell, a receptionist. "When I leave (in the summer), I'm so ready for that submersion (in the ocean) all day. When I come back to work, I'm so energized."

Set your own hours

"We are seeing more interesting things happening with time off and work hours," says Carol Sladek, a principal at Hewitt Associates and leader of its unit for work-life balance. "Companies are trying to get away from the 9-to-5 mentality."

About 70% of the Minneapolis corporate-headquarters employees at Best Buy set their own schedules, working just enough hours at whatever location they like to meet certain agreed-upon performance objectives.

The program was developed after benefits managers kept hearing employees ask, "Can't you just trust me to do what I need to do to get the job done?" said Best Buy spokeswoman Dawn Bryant. Though its people may not get much face time, productivity among these teams has jumped 33%, according to one report.

Lisa Anderson, an information-technology recruiter at OpTech in Detroit, also has a tremendous amount of freedom in her schedule. One week she might work 20 hours; the next she might put in 50 or 70 to achieve her goals. No one, including owner Ronia Kruse, keeps track.

"I work my butt off, believe me," Anderson says. "But all Ronia is looking for is people getting their work done."

The flexible schedule allows Anderson to go in to work after her 10-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter leave for school. She's back at home by 3 p.m. to help with homework and keep an eye on them.

"I want to be here so I know where they are and who's coming over," Anderson says. "I think this makes me a more loyal employee."

On-site child care

Surprisingly, only 4% of the companies surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management offer child care at work. The reason? It's expensive, takes up a lot of company space and time, and can present liability problems, says Beal, of Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

Still, for those using it, it's a resource that gives parents more time to spend with their children during lunch hours, plus a quicker commute because they don't have to make a separate trip to drop off the kids.

Six Johnson & Johnson regional centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey offer infant and preschool care. Patagonia and Rodale, a Pennsylvania media company, offer after-school care as well, according to a survey by Working Mother magazine. Discovery Communications in Maryland offers its employees up to five days of in-home baby-sitting if a child-care emergency arises. And it's not just parents being offered child-care benefits. Increasingly, grandparents are allowed to help out their adult children by providing access to quality, subsidized day care.

Time off to bond with the kids

Though government may be slow to recognize a father's need to bond with his newborn child, more companies are giving fathers paid time off to supplement maternal family leaves. At Rodale, Johnson & Johnson and Ikea North America Services, fathers receive one week of paid leave to spend with their child.

At Minnesota hospitality company Carlson, adoptive parents have six paid weeks off to bond and travel with their child, according to the Working Mother survey. Moreover, 22% of companies surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management, including Verizon Communications, are starting to provide adoption assistance that can total up to $10,000.

Help caring for aging parents

At many companies, elder-care benefits are limited to referral services that help employees track down facilities or caregivers.

Prudential Financial takes it one step further, providing its 20,000 employees with 80 hours a year of subsidized backup care for their aging parents. Officials say this move is helping to prevent absenteeism and boost productivity among its workers who are often sandwiched between caring for their children and their parents.

With one phone call to its provider, Work Options Group, workers can line up a home-health-care worker for a parent at a co-pay cost of $4 an hour.

"These are the realities of our employees' lives, and we have to help them manage those challenges and provide support if we want them to be there for us," says Garry Giannone, Prudential's vice president of health and wellness.

Help with the errands

A majority of companies claim to provide some kind of on-site personal services to make employees' lives less hectic. However, at most companies these services are pretty mundane: ATMs, dry cleaners and film processing.

At Genentech, a biotherapeutics company in South San Francisco, Calif., there are massages, an on-site hair salon and a dental office to keep employees smiling. Genentech also provides free concierge service that can help arrange a child's birthday party, deal with the cable guy or score hard-to-get tickets for events.

A break on the mortgage

This benefit could be one of the most financially meaningful for an employee's future. Real estate companies, banks and many universities offer mortgage assistance to employees with reduced interest rates, discounted appraisal fees and help with other processing costs.

Eligible employees at Fannie Mae can also obtain a loan to use toward their down payment and closing costs. As employment continues, a larger share of the loan principal is forgiven, according to company information.

More vacation time

The average number of vacation days is slowly edging up, rising from 10.9 annually in 2000 to 11.7 in 2006, according to Hewitt Associates. With health-care costs rising, many companies see increased vacation time as a good way to offset more-constrained medical coverage.

At Hewitt Associates, for example, workers get vacation bonuses for milestones in service: one additional week for five years of employment, two extra weeks for 10 years and three for 15 years.

"It gives (employees) something to look forward to without going on sabbatical," says Sladek, of Hewitt Associates.

Companies such as Wells Fargo are simply putting vacation power in the hands of workers. Most employees with a year of service are given at least 25 days annually that they use for sick time, vacation days or holidays, according to company officials. The number varies with job classification and years of service. If workers stay healthy, they wind up with more time to spend basking on the beach.

"It's kind of legitimizing what's already out there," Sladek says. "People feel entitled to their sick time" whether they use it or not, she says.

At some companies, such as American Express, employees can buy vacation time with pretax dollars, using the time as an insurance policy against personal business or just to take that extended tour of Europe. In these programs, if the time isn't used by the end of the year, the money is refunded to the employee, Sladek says.

What's typical?

These benefits may not be realistic for most companies, but experts say there are many benefits that prospective employees should reasonably expect to receive from a new employer. The following company benefits are offered by more than half of the 916 U.S. companies surveyed by Hewitt Associates. See how your company stacks up:

• Immediate eligibility for a health-care plan.
• A 401(k) plan in which the typical match is 50 cents for each $1 an employee contributes, up to a certain percentage of pay.
• Retirement eligibility at age 65 and health-care coverage to retirees.
• Access to a dental plan with 100% of exams covered and 80% coverage for dental work.
• Access to a vision plan separate from medical or dental coverage.
• A group life insurance plan that pays a year of salary or wages as a death benefit.
• Long-term-disability benefits with pay replacement of 60%.
• On average, 11.7 days of vacation after one year of service and 15.4 after five years of service.
• Eight to 12 paid holidays a year.
• Dependent-care spending accounts and access to a health savings account.
• Educational reimbursement up to a median of $5,000.

Published March 27, 2007