Employees share the most cringeworthy benefits they’ve ever been offered at work: 'It's a benefit just to work here'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Jul 19, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

When you're deep in the job search trenches, the whole process starts to feel like a never-ending cycle of résumé tweaks, awkward video calls, and praying for a salary that's at least as good as your old job. By the time you're in that final interview, you just want the job (and a paycheck that lets you afford iced coffee without guilt). Benefits are probably just an afterthought. But sometimes they can actually make or break the whole gig.

Maybe you've got a medical condition and need solid health insurance. Or maybe you're a world traveler who lives for PTO. Those are real benefits, the ones that actually impact your life. But somehow, employers keep trying to pass off the most cringeworthy "perks" as if they're doing you a huge favor.

Like… a pizza party? Seriously? Has that ever worked on anyone above the age of 12? Employers love tossing in these hollow little perks, hoping we'll magically forget about the low pay or the lack of healthcare.

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  • Get ready to laugh (or cry) at some of the lamest “benefits” people have been offered.

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    via Tim Gouw For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • What is the lamest "benefit" you've been offered by an employer?
    via Aarunascut
  • Afraid Argument580 Not technically an employer but at a job interview I was told that some benefits they wanted to highlight were a legal work contract with no unpaid overtime and they
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  • wouldn't fire me if I took my legally guaranteed 30 days. of vacation so long as the dates were convenient for them. Unfortunately, that wasn't even the first time I was told about "benefits" like that.
    via Afraid_Argument580
  • ParcelPosted Jeans on Friday. Be serious.
    via ParcelPosted
  • SparkleWildfire Not a benefit as such, but when I left a job in a supermarket pharmacy once, the store manager gave me a bag of wheat snacks "as a token of their appreciation".
    via SparkleWildfire
  • On my way out, I noticed the table where they were giving away free bags of the same wheat snack.
    via SparkleWildfire
  • Gullible Solution Saw this on an old work place listing today Employee discount
    via Gullible_Solution
  • Free parking Company pension On-site parking
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  • to inhing
    via Van Tay Media For Unsplash+
  • booduhcookie Reduced price adult day care for those remote employees who had to take care of their parents. The
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  • thought was to have the adult day care bus pick them up for your work day so you can concentrate on working. A zip lock with a rubber band, a penny, a pepermint candy and a piece of torn
    via booduhcookie
  • paper saying it was an emergency kit for bad days, the penny was for good luck and positive vibes, the candy for a quick refreshing pick me up when your running low on energy and the rubber band was to
    via booduhcookie
  • help us keep it together when we are stretched too thin. It was a nurses week present. I'm a RN. OH and a big fat raise of ten whole cents! Yeah, I don't work their anymore
    via booduhcookie
  • Used Clock_4627 "It's a benefit just to work here." I kid you not.
    via Used_Clock_4627
  • klassykunt Not exactly a "benefit" but my company has a holiday party on a Saturday that's a 2 hour drive from our work site and you have to pay
    via klassykunt
  • $40 per person (you're encouraged to bring your whole family!) I'm always shocked that people actually go
    via klassykunt
  • tmach1 Nurses' week, thought we were going to get a mixed bag of all kinds of cool treats and things I saw in the supply room. There
    via tmach1
  • were boxes of these goodie bags filled with shot glasses from their pharmacy, lanyards, and pens. I made the mistake of mentioning. it to a fellow nurse, and I don't know if he said
    via tmach1
  • something to the admin but the next time I went down to the supply room, they were gone. All we got for nurses week was a stupid paper bag filled with rocket candies, a typed message saying how were
    via tmach1
  • all heroes and a couple other little things. I can't even remember but freaking useless junk. I was so mad. It was another nail in the coffin. Not really a benefit, sorry but more of a perk or show
    via tmach1
  • if appreciation but a show of it. Just still miffed lol and it's been six years
    via tmach1
  • nasturshum After the first lockdown, management wanted to welcome us back to the office with a buffet. We all had to bring our own
    via nasturshum
  • food. 15 people crammed into a tiny office eating sad curled up sausage rolls. 7 out of the 15 caught co id that day. It was not a success.
    via nasturshum
  • LitterersARETrashy 2 tea bags with a thank you letter after a really hard, busy week
    via LitterersARETrashy
  • ecodrew Unpaid internship, long hours, + discount at their cafeteria. It was at a museum/aquatic center (forgot details) that
    via ecodrew
  • would've otherwise been a great job for me at the time. Not sure how you're supposed to pay for the discounted food with their imaginary salary.
    via ecodrew
  • Jayytimes2 Law office. They took us out to eat at an Italian restaurant.
    via Jayytimes2
  • We were told to share our plates with each other instead of getting to order individual meals. No I'm not kidding
    via Jayytimes2
  • West Abrocoma9524 One Christmas we were all given a paperback copy of our bosses self published book. Some of the copies were clearly used.
    via West_Abrocoma9524

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humor job perk employee lame work outrage employers contract comedy benefits pathetic bad bosses company cringeworthy funny laughable
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