Quote:
Originally posted by th'engineer
Why they get Bonus scheme, health care, would think its easier if other employees paid full price as previously suggested
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The schemes you mention are not at all comparable with the freebies we're talking about here.
Bonus, health insurance, company car ... all these things are treated as 'pay' for tax purposes, either because they
are pay (in the case of a bonus) or ntl has had to pay for them in order to give them to staff for 'free'.
Perks related to the business or trade of the company, that don't cost the company to give away, are not 'pay', or treated as such. They are take-it-or-leave it perks designed, as Orangebird says, to make life at ntl more comfortable. It makes the pay and conditions at ntl better without costing ntl anything significant.
Where I work, we get very cheap hotel nights, booking a room for £15 per person. That room would have been empty if I had not stayed so the company actually makes money out of me. But we don't get up in arms and demand that no-one else gets a free night if I phone the staff booking line and find the hotel I want to stay at is booked up.
The point is, these things are take-it-or-leave-it, great if you can get it, pity if you can't. They are not part of your contract so you have no right to them - unlike a bonus or insurance.
Perks are very, very common in business, even if it's only taking home all the stationery you can carry every once in a while. I don't understand the problem.