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Real-life benefits gain foothold at some firms

By Melanie Nayer, Globe Correspondent, 9/18/2005

Marie Louis, a certified nursing assistant at the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home, shops at the company-sponsored grocery store. (GLOBE PHOTO BY JOSH REYNOLDS)

From groceries to gasoline, today's workers are constantly searching for a good deal. In some cases, their employers are helping out with the costs.

For the employees at Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home in Chelsea, clipping coupons is a thing of the past.

Barry Berman and Betsy Mullen, executive directors, opened an in-house grocery store in the basement of the assisted living facility in an effort to help staff members decrease their expenses for everyday items.

''For someone who makes $15 to $16 an hour, how do they grocery shop for their kids? Everything is so expensive,'' said Berman.

At the store, dubbed ''Betsy and Barry's,'' each employee is issued 80 points per month, recorded on a plastic charge card. In essence, one point is equivalent to $1.

The company subsidizes every item so that the box of Cheerios that costs $3.99 at the grocery store might cost 1 point at Betsy and Barry's.

Berman and his staff shop full-scale grocery stores once a month for sale items and overstocks of brand name items including laundry detergent, cereal, spices, cleaning supplies, and back-to-school supplies for kids.

According to Gladys Perez, a single mother of two and a certified nurse's aid who has worked at the nursing home for 19 years, the program saves her $200 a month on grocery items.

Perez said she shops twice a month at the in-house store. ''We also get movie passes and restaurant gift certificates, and that saves a lot of money,'' she added.

Berman made arrangements with two Revere businesses, China Roma Restaurant and Showcase Cinemas, to offer employees discounted gift certificates for a night out.

''We could have worked the budget to give everyone raises, but we felt it was better to do this,'' he said.

Corporate consultants said that instead of gym memberships and other luxury perks of the past, employee benefits today are aimed at trying to help employees improve their work-life balance.

Jack Dolmat-Connell, a compensation and benefits consultant at Dolmat-Connell & Partners in Worcester, said the addition of convenience stores, in-house banking, and onsite insurance companies are part of an underlying motive for
employers.

''Companies want to keep their employees productive, for example, they don't want them to leave during the day to run errands like dropping of dry cleaning, going to the post office or the bank,'' said Dolmat-Connell.

''We're doing this as a crutch because of the society we've set up. American life is very focused on work,'' he said. ''I don't think these perks or additional benefits really retain employees. Yes, it makes their lives easier, but it really comes down to do you like your job and do you believe in the company.''

One Watertown company is going so far as to help employees with one of the most expensive everyday items: gasoline.

SHIFT Communication, a public relations firm last week received approval for a gas-reimbursement plan for full-time employees who commute five times a week.

The company will reimburse employees 50 percent of the current government rate for a tank of gas, which currently is $40.50. The price is based on the mileage each employee drives to and from work, which was determined by Mapquest. The company also offers what it calls a ''cultural reimbursement plan'' which encourages employees to go to the movies, see a play, and enjoy dinner out at the expense of the company, up to $150 per employee per year.

''We work our people really hard and we want to continue employee loyalty, but we don't want to take that for granted,'' said Carolyn Fedigan, director of human resources at SHIFT.

''It's a young group [of employees] and some of them commute far and gas prices are hitting them hard,'' said Fedigan.

While these types of benefits seem to be popular, some analysts beg the question: are employers asking what their employees really want? One local consulting firm recently surveyed over 900 laid-off employees and managers to find out
what programs and benefits they would like from their next employer.

Renée Gilson, senior vice president and managing director of Lee Hecht Harrison, a career management and leadership consulting firm in Westborough, said the survey results are heavily centered on career development.

According to the survey, 80 percent of job hunters want a laptop or other technology, which is up from 52 percent in 1999. Flex-time and tuition reimbursement were next on the list.

''Priorities are shifting and employees are looking at programs and benefits that will enhance their professional capabilities and allow them more flexibility in terms of when and how they work,'' said Gilson.

But some specialists say additional real-life benefits will not necessarily buy company loyalty.

Lonnie Pacelli, a human resources consultant said ''nice-to-have'' perks won't influence a worker if there is a better offer in the wings.

''If you've another job offer of $10,000 more and the only difference is the movie ticket perk, it's pretty obvious what route the employee would take,'' said Pacelli. ''More important is the work environment. An employee may get free movie tickets but if the boss is a jerk, the perk doesn't matter.''

For Berman, however, the in-house grocery at Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home has made a big difference in his employees' morale.

Some have donated grocery store points to other employees who are having trouble financially, said Berman. ''It's brought out the best in a lot of our employees,'' he said.

''We felt we had a moral and social responsibility to help our employees to live the best lifestyle they could.''

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