Companies offer a variety of perks and benefits to attract the right talent into their business. After all, the workers are one of the most valuable assets a business can have, so it’s worth making sure that they feel happy and productive both in and out of the workplace.
Unfortunately, some employers seem to have a different idea about what makes their staff feel truly appreciated. Reddit user Chocolat3City asked fellow r/AntiWork members: “What’s the most insulting ‘benefit’ a job has offered you?” and the thread spread fast, with more than 26.2K people finding it relevant.
Whether it’s a free uniform, personal protective equipment or lunch, stories that people shared seem to be serving the employer, not the employee. Take a look at some of the best answers we collected from the thread and be sure to share your experience in the comment section below.
#1
Free lunch every day.
Sounds great but let me explain.
I started a job some years ago and one of the benefits they sold us on was that they bought us lunch everyday. Each day, they would take our orders in the late morning to have lunch delivered by lunchtime. We only ever ordered from like 2 or 3 places but hey, it was free. Cool. Great.
But the problem was when I tried to do anything other than sit at my desk and eat. After a couple weeks, I started leaving my place of work for lunch here and there just to run errands, have a phone convo with family/friends/gf, or just eat by myself at a restaurant (the food they ordered wasn’t bad but it got old quick).
After having done this a few times, my manager stopped me one day and asked where I was going and why I sometimes leave. I replied “I’m Going on lunch.” He told me that the whole point of them ordering lunch for us was so we could eat at our desks while we continued to work. I was shocked lol. I asked him if he understood how lunch breaks worked in relation to the law and that he can’t keep me hostage, especially since I’m not being paid for being there during that hour. He then passively aggressively said “okay do what you want I guess”.
Image source: djaypete, Marcus Aurelius
#2
Food stamp eligibility. They paid so little that they listed government assistance as a BENEFIT.
Image source: dirtyswrk, Dario Crespi
#3
Retail worker. As a reward for working through the Pandemic, the toilet paper crisis, not getting our pay for another 4 weeks and having one of our colleagues die of covid unexpectedly…
A box of 6 capri sun. There are 8 of us.
Image source: CompetitiveHabit5, Vadim Andreev SP
#4
Silly socks day. To make up for the increase in abuse from patients (start of COVID). Thanks, my mental health is… great.
Image source: smolpidge, Jonathan Borba
#5
A ‘wobble room’. Basically a room where it was okay to go and have a little cry/freak out/meltdown if you got overwhelmed at work.
Instead of, you know, attempting to address the reasons why people were crying/freaking out/melting down at work…and then you were expected back front and centre for the rest of your shift.
Image source: ruthh-r, RODNAE Productions
#6
Free personal protective equipment. Literally required to be provided by the employer too.
Image source: Accomplished-Pen-69, CDC
#7
The 45 minute commute each way as a “great way to prepare for the day and de-stress when you go home.”
What the f**k man.
Image source: RhodyChief, Ono Kosuki
#8
Company listed “withholding taxes” as a benefit. You know, the thing that they’re legally obligated to do as an employer. Still laugh at that one.
Image source: Sad_Efficiency_1067, Mikhail Nilov
#9
Weekend events, xmas parties.
Like I want to spend my personal time with work people…?
Image source: shapeofthings, PS Imaging
#10
Free uniform.
Image source: LongjumpingMess9248, Paul Sableman
#11
I have no maternity leave and hr told me that’s the benefit of working remote – I can just watch my baby while I work.
Image source: chrisant4345, Sarah Chai
#12
A pinball machine and pool table for use on breaks that people got shamed for using.
Image source: gmotsimurgh, Zakaria Zayane
#13
Casual Fridays. We’re a tech business with no customer visits, why can’t every day be casual?
Image source: DanWallace, Fox
#14
Contact stated “flexible hours”, but I was pulled aside and rinsed by a colleague and one of the company directors when I turned up at 9.30am on my second day.
It turned out that their interpretation of “flexible” went the other direction – you had to be in the office 9-5 plus at least 2 hours a day to “show your commitment”.
Image source: InvisiblePhil, Andrea Piacquadio
#15
Windows. (The kind you look through, not the OS.)
Image source: Upbeat_Crow, Christina Morillo
#16
“Free Parking” at my workplace.
My thinking is that if it’s something that only helps me access my workplace (which I wouldn’t need but for the job), it’s a “benefit” to my employer, not me.
It’s kind of like allowing the custodian access to an elevator of the high-rise building where he works, and calling it a “benefit.” I think not.
Image source: Chocolat3City, Tim Meyer
#17
Pretending pizza is a 10k salary increase or anything significant
Image source: TaticalSweater, Thirdman
#18
I cried at work and was offered a “normalize crying at work” sticker.
Didn’t seem to help.
Image source: dumbgayidiot, Ivan Samkov
#19
They set up an online store for us to purchase company merch with and then offered everyone I think 20 or 30 in credit, which would have been nice if the cheapest thing wasn’t $65 plus tax and shipping
Image source: dontforgettheglitter, Andrea Piacquadio
#20
This is a discussion I had with my previous employer before I accepted their offer letter, discussing compensation:
Me: I’m used to my annual bonus being a significant portion of my total compensation, what’s your bonus structure look like?
Them: We don’t make specific commitments, it depends on company performance and your annual review.
Me: Sure, I get that, but I need to know a general ballpark. Is 8-12% in the general range that I should usually expect to see?
Them: Yes
I didn’t get it in writing, because I’m a dumbass.
Sign on, work a few months, Christmas/ New Year’s comes around. HR hands out bonuses. I open my envelope to find a $10 gift card to a local grocery store.
Figure “I’ve only been here a few months, maybe I’m not eligible for bonus yet, oh well”.
Next year comes around, and it’s another $10 gift card for the grocery store.
Started applying for new jobs that day.
Image source: IAmVladimirPutinAMA, MART PRODUCTION
#21
“You get to work with kids!”
My job description was ALSO my benefits…
Image source: SteadfastFox, Lukas
#22
Overtime. Yes it was listed in the job description as a benefit.
Image source: hdost34, Tima Miroshnichenko
#23
JEANS DAY
#24
In a plastics factory where you’re lifting 100+ pound iron molding pieces repetitively, they actually had the balls to point to a gym area that was “open to all employees”. They couldn’t figure out why only the office people ever used it.
Image source: anonymous67348, Jelmer Assink
#25
Company branded tennis shoes for Christmas. When am I ever going to want to wear tennis shoes that are company colors and have the logo of a hospital on them? They’re against dress code at work too lol.
Image source: lgdub_, Eden, Janine and Jim
#26
I had an employer that offered discounted tickets (theme parks, sporting events, concerts, etc) through a third-party website. The website charged a service fee that made the tickets the same price or sometimes more expensive than if you bought them through traditional methods.
Image source: use_da_schwartz_, Karolina Grabowska
#27
The “stress management apps”.
Image source: GaolangWongsawat, Karolina Grabowska
#28
Pizza on fridays in the break room.
But it’s also a Bible study.
Image source: lostprevention
#29
Bear with me, but it was a “game room.”
It was actually a nice setup: table tennis, a few cabinets, and every console of the day.
The only problem was that anybody that actually used it during working hours was judged incredibly harshly. Like, it showed up in performance reviews. I think the hope was that it would drive people to play after hours and maybe eke a bit of extra work out of them. All of us just wanted to GTFO of the fluorescent-lit prison we’d just spent 8-9 hours in.
Image source: Calkky, SageChimera
#30
“Experience”
You can get experience from a colonoscopy. Doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to use or monetize that experience outside of the paradigm within which you acquired said experience. And that’s assuming you wanted the experience in the first place.
Image source: Careful_Chemical9749, Tima Miroshnichenko
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