A common trend among the 2010 winners of the Top Small Company Workplaces was to offer employee benefits outside of the typical package offerings. On such offering is providing time off to improve professional skills: not so uncommon. However, many companies offer it with or without pay and vary the weeks offered based on years of service. Outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, based in Ventura, California, provides 16-week, unpaid sabbaticals at every year of service. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based technology consultancy MAYA Design offers six weeks of paid leave at five years of service.
A Yard & A Half Landscaping, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, provides breastfeeding/pumping accommodations for mothers; and St. Louis-based general contractor Tarlton Corporation, has a family room furnished with books and games on their premises (pictured) where children can spend the day. Patagonia offers adoption assistance of up to $5,000 per employee and has an on-site childcare center.
Air quality consultant All4 in Kimberton, Pennsylvania, provides full meals, enlisting a vendor to deliver ready-to-eat healthy dinners that employees can elect to purchase and take home to their families. San Diego-based e-business strategy consultancy Red Door Interactive offers on-site seminars on both stress and time management, and electronic ID technology supplier Biomark, based in Boise, Idaho, went so far as to intentionally locate their office in an area that would allow for a maximum number of workers to walk or bike to work.
A Yard & A Half Landscaping lets religiously-observant employees opt to work on a company holiday in exchange for taking their own religious holiday off with pay. Daphne Utilities a water, natural gas, and wastewater services provider in Daphne, Alabama, allows workers to work split duty in divergent roles in order to satisfy their personal needs for challenging work—or a little sunshine. For example, a receptionist works part-time as a meter reader to get some time outside the office.
Dixon Schwabl, an advertising and marketing firm based in Victor, New York, offers both a Defensive Driving Day for employees with an auto insurance provider and a free financial consultation with representatives from several financial services firms to encourage employees to invest in their future. And Ginger Bay Salon & Spa in Kirkwood, Missouri, offers the extremely-uncommon-for-their-industry benefits of legal assistance and identity theft protection.
