Ben & Jerry's Employee Benefits

This is great. Not sure if it is still valid, but it sure gives us an idea of how to make employees feel good about working for you.

1. A pension program with company matching funds of up to 2% of an employee's salary
2. Medical and Dental insurance (company paid)
3. Group life term insurance
4. Disability insurance
5. Adoption support (company paying cost of an adoption)
6. Maternity, paternity, and adoptionleave (Paid leave without loss of job rights and benefits)
7. Health club (Free membership in several health clubs)
8. Confidential employee counseling (company paid)
9. Cholesterol screenings, hearing exams, and other wellness services (Periodic)
10. Massage therapy (Periodic)
11. Profit-sharing
12. Guarantees on bank loans for house downpayments
13. Employee stock purchase (15% below market price)
14. Tuition aid
15. Childcare (onsite with sliding fee schedule)
16. Three free pints of ice-cream a day (factory seconds)
17. Fresh-baked, free chocolate cookies delivered to everyone on Fridays.

(Thomas Naylor, William Willimon, Magdalena Naylor, The Search for Meaning, Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1994, 165)

How's that for a Friday? Perhaps, if you have been praying for something like that (or even better) to happen to your company, why not pray that one day, when you are able to set up your own business, you can better the above for your employees?

conrade