Find out which companies let you surf during lunch, drink freshly brewed beer at your desk, and stay in the company beach house on the weekends. Here are the best summer perks and the 10 generous companies that offer them.
It's easier to take a summer vacation when the company you work for rents out rooms and apartments all over the world—and gives you $2,000 to go and try them out! On top of a quarterly stipend, Airbnb pays for the airfare to get to the city you’re trying the “product” out in. So during those peak summer months, peak prices don't factor in for these employees!
Vacations can be annoying to plan, even if they’re just weekend getaways. Thanks to Squarespace's Long Island beach house, employees can escape the city for a quick reprise any weekend they want. With flexible time off as an option, those weekend getaways can become weeks, if not months—anywhere.
This one might not come as a surprise, but with over 20 cafes onsite, gyms, a bowling alley, wellness center, free laundry, dance classes, massages, campus bikes, and more, tech giant Google has really found a way to keep employees happy not just in the summer but year-round. Summer interns tend to get the best of it, with free housing, shuttles to and from work, and generous pay. To top it off, the company's push for team-building excercises leads to a plethora of fun and memorable events.
Not many can say that they can go to the beach during a summer workday. But much like founder Yvon Chouinard’s memoir, the people at Patagonia do, indeed, go surfing—at lunchtime, to be exact. The laissez-faire Cali lifestyle is embedded in the Ventura headquarters, where employees can use company bikes to get around to on-site fitness classes, volleyball court, cooking classes, yoga classes, or home—to pack for a two-month paid vacation.
Most employees (about three out of four) get paid when they take a vacation, but to get spending money to use while you are on your break? That’s a true Paid Paid Vacation, according to FullContact, which offers 15 days of PTO to employees as well as vacation spending money. And the only thing employees need to do at FullContact in order to get $7,500 to use on their vacation is to promise no contact when they’re away: stay off work emails and just unplug for as long as need be, thanks to the open vacation policy.
A cold beer after a scorching summer workday is refreshing, especially if it’s free and freshly brewed at your company. After a year at the hip brewing company, New Belgians can bike home on company gifted cruiser bikes, and after five, actually enjoy Belgian beer in Belgium, as paid for by the company.
Delivering packages may not be that fun, unless you get to go to different countries to do it. After a first year (full of barista made coffees and dogs at work), employees get a giving trip, on top of the retreat the company takes each year and personal vacation time. Chances are, you'll be taking more than one summer holiday when working at TOMS. Just don’t forget to bring a pair of free shoes (employees get eight a year) when you pack your bags!
If Asana employees get tired of the healthy three meals provided each day day or in-office yoga classes, then they can rely on the unlimited PTO that is readily available. Summer vacation just got that much longer! Life coaches can sit with employees at their personalized (by the company) work stations to walk them through their full (vacation) potentials. Just don’t forget to use the Uber credits to get to the airport!
While some companies partake in some version of “Summer Fridays,” WWF goes one step further and allows employees to take off every other Friday, also known as “Panda Fridays.” So while the rest of us only enjoy four day workweeks during the summers, these Pandas enjoy it year round.
Waiting in line for tickets on a hot summer day, running out to grab dry cleaning during a lunch break, or planning grocery shopping after work are just some things to further remind you of how you’re not on summer vacation. Not at SC Johnson. The work/life balance-obsessed company has a full-service concierge to take care of everything from flower deliveries for employees to car oil changes. With so many of the little things taken care of, even those summer days when you're not on vacation can be relaxing.