What does your boss give you? How about your birthday off work or 'Bacon Thursdays'

Updated
Portrait of a Young Woman Biting into a Bacon Sandwich
Portrait of a Young Woman Biting into a Bacon Sandwich



What does your boss offer you? A glass of warm wine at Christmas and access to a chocolate vending machine on the second floor? Your employer is definitely going to have to up their game, because a new study has revealed there are plenty of other people out there just waiting to woo you with far more exciting benefits.

If you want your birthday off or free use of a villa, Glassdoor reveals the 20 employers to seek out:

1. Huddle gives employees a £5,000 joining bonus called a 'Huddle Cuddle', as well as a gift worth £500 every year.

2. TranserWise takes all staff away on annual, all-expenses-paid company holidays.

3. Airbnb offers employees $2,000 (£1,413) to travel and see the world.

4. Skyscanner has negotiated employee discounts at the local pub and beauty salon.

5. The Body Shop pays for five volunteering days per year.

6. Peninsula Business Services lays on a Christmas party for employees' children.

7. AutoTrader UK has a Wine Club, giving employees discounted wine delivered to their door every month.

8. Jive Software offers staff free food including Bacon Thursday and Hot Food Friday, healthy snacks, free drinks including soft drinks, beers on tap and coffee.

9. Opus Professional Services has a villa in Italy that employees can use free of charge whenever they want.

10. Visualsoft offers unlimited holiday time and unmonitored flexitime, allowing staff to take the time off that they need.

11. CA Technologies helps parents out with an on-site Montessori day care facility.

12. Rackspace offers employees an extra day off for their birthday.

13. Allen & Overy provides a GP and dentist on-site, helping to keep employees' health in tip-top condition.

14. Pentland Brands provides an on-site swimming pool, gym, tennis court and football pitch.

15. ARM Holdings offers employees a 4-week sabbatical for every 4 years of service.

16. ASOS employees benefit from a 40% discount on website purchases.

17. Swinton Insurance gives employees an additional day's holiday for Christmas shopping.

18. Google provides employees with free food while they are at work, with a range of different cuisines on offer.

19. Jagex offers staff free bicycle repairs at the office, encouraging them to cycle to work and keep fit.

20. Holiday Extras hires out a cinema every year and offers a free film showing to all employees and their families.

Should you be wooed?

Of course, as Joe Wiggins, Career and Workplace Expert at Glassdoor, points out, benefits are just a small part of the picture. "While benefits and perks are a great way to get employees interested in a company, they're not among the leading factors that keep employees satisfied on the job and with a company long-term." He says the keys are if you like the culture and values of the firm, you respect the boss, and you get plenty of opportunities at work.

However, this doesn't mean you can afford to ignore benefits altogether. The Glassdoor study found that only a third of people said benefits were an important reason for accepting a job, but generous perks can be worth a fortune to you in the long run.

If your employer doesn't stretch to these incredible benefits, then it's still worth asking questions about the stuff that seems a bit duller now - but will come to mean everything to you eventually.

The pension is key. Almost everyone has to offer a bare minimum under the auto-enrolment rules, but find out if your employer will offer higher contributions (even if this means putting more into your pension yourself). If they offer a defined benefit pension (where instead of getting a pot of money when you retire you get a guaranteed income for life), this can be an even more valuable benefit. You should also ask about life cover and health benefits.

They sound rather boring, but alone these three things can be worth another third on top of your salary - or more. So it pays to take them into consideration. Of course, it's still going to be hard to turn down the free bacon.

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