We asked people to share the most insulting “benefit” they’ve ever received at a job.
The responses ranged from laughable to downright infuriating:
1. “Peak Efficiency” Comes with an Unexpected “Reward”
“I used to work at an Amazon warehouse, and during peak season, management told us we were the most efficient warehouse in the entire national system for some metric.
They said we’d be getting a prize soon.
By February, someone put a note on the suggestion board asking what the prize was.
The response? “It’s on its way now.”
Turns out, the “prize” was one of our Kivabots, the robots that bring shelves to our workstations, being autographed by Jeff Bezos.
He didn’t even visit the warehouse, so they probably just printed a sticker of his signature and slapped it on.
Now, every once in a while, we get to see the “great” Jeff Bezos’ signature on a robot delivering us tasks.” – Eric Thompson
2. “Flexible” in the Worst Way Possible
“Flexible work hours” sounds great, right?
Well, at this job, it just meant you had to be in the office from 8 AM to 5 PM.
But don’t worry, they generously let you show up even earlier or stay even later if you wanted.
– Sarah Miller
3. “Lunch Perks” You Pay For
“They brought in a food truck to park behind the building for us. Sounds nice, right?
Except they didn’t pay for any of the food or even ask what kind of food we’d like. So the big “benefit” was basically:
You can buy lunch here, if you like it.
But of course, they hyped it up like it was some amazing treat.”
– Kevin Brooks
4. A “Special Deal” That Wasn’t Special
“The company announced with great fanfare (complete with a full company meeting) that they’d signed a deal with a gas station chain to give employees a discount on gas.
The catch?
The discount was less than what regular customers could get just by signing up for the gas station’s rewards program online.
They spent months negotiating a deal worse than what anyone else could get on their own.” – Lisa Carter
5. The Gift of Water
“They proudly announced:
Free water for the employees!
Wow, how generous.” – Mark Taylor
6. The Gym “Benefit” No One Wanted
I once worked at a place where the big “benefit” was free access to the company gym.
The catch?
It was just a single treadmill in a dark, windowless basement room.
No thanks, I’ll skip the dungeon workout.
– Rachel Adams
You may also like reading: 11 People Share the Most Unethical Things They’ve Seen at Work
7. 23 Hours for Half a “Thank You”
I started a bar job, and the people scheduled to take over after my shift quit.
So, on my first day, I ended up working three shifts in a row, 23 hours straight. My boss said he’d give me a bottle of liquor as a thank you.
He gave me a half bottle.
– Jake Wilson
8. The Midweek “Treat”
I worked at a radiology clinic where they “treated” the staff to lunch on Wednesdays.
What was lunch, you ask?
A single plain white bread roll.
No fillings, no spreads—just the roll.
– Emily Davis
9. Overtime Appreciation, in Cap Form
“I worked insane overtime for a month to get critical computer security updates done. Every single computer had to be updated manually.
Those of us on salary were promised we’d be “taken care of” for putting in 20+ extra hours every week.
Hourly workers got time and a half.
Salaried workers? We got a company-branded baseball cap as a “thank you.”
Oh, and so did the hourly workers.”
– Brian Harris
10. Staff Appreciation… Except for the Kitchen Staff
They held a staff appreciation BBQ and invited everyone, all 300 employees.
Sounds great, right?
Except the kitchen staff had to cook for everyone else.
By the time it was over, we never even got a chance to join in.
– Laura Bennett
11. Christmas Spirit… for the Favorites
“I worked at a company with about 35 office staff and 100 technicians.
For Christmas, the CEO decided to give a special gift: an overnight trip to see Metallica in concert.
But here’s the kicker, he handpicked 20 office staff and 26 technicians, no contest or criteria, just whoever he liked.
For the rest of us?
They grabbed some prepackaged Christmas cookies from Walmart on the day of the concert.
– Mike Daniels
You may also like reading: 11 People Share the Most Unethical Things They’ve Seen at Work
12. “Company Gifts” That Came Out of Our Paychecks
“I was once “rewarded” for hard work with an invitation to a concert.
Sounded great, until the day of, when the boss emailed us saying the $150 tickets would be deducted from our paychecks.
This wasn’t a one-time thing.
The company did the same for other so-called gifts. If someone had a baby, they’d give them a stroller or something nice, but the cost was split up and taken out of everyone else’s paychecks.
It wasn’t a gift from the company, it was a mandatory gift from other employees.
I refused to participate in this wage theft and kept pushing back when random $20–$50 deductions for “gifts” appeared on my checks.
Got into a shouting match with HR and was eventually fired for standing my ground.
It was a subsidiary of a big corporation too. I still think about it regularly. Completely illegal.” – Daniel Foster
13. Casual Dress Code Doesn’t Pay the Bills
“I told our HR person that we were losing employees because of low pay.
I even showed her examples of similar jobs paying 25% more at other companies.
Her response?
The casual work atmosphere is a huge benefit and should be taken into account.
I told her, “I can buy a lot of neckties for $10K a year.”
Resigned a few weeks later. They tried to counteroffer after I quit. Idiots.”
– Chris Morgan
14. The “Extra 15” Trick
“I was working at a shop while actively pursuing a teaching job, something everyone, including my boss, knew about.
One day, I needed to come in an hour late for an interview.
My boss said, “Go ahead and take an extra 15.”
I thought he was being nice.
Turns out, dropping below 7 hours was exactly what he needed to deny me a lunch break that day.
– Jamie Parker
15. Ice Cream… for Everyone Except Us
“I once worked in a huge factory, so big it took 15–20 minutes just to walk from my end to the front offices. That detail matters here.
Management asked us to pull a ton of overtime for a few weeks to hit some overpromised production numbers.
As a “thank you,” they announced they’d bring in ice cream trucks for everyone to get free ice cream.
The trucks? They parked them near the offices, of course. Our breaks weren’t long enough to walk there, grab ice cream, and get back to work on time. Only the office staff, the ones who caused the mess to begin with, actually got the ice cream.
So basically, the “thank you” for us pulling extra hours was watching the desk job folks enjoy free ice cream while we got nothing. That one still pisses me off.”
– Alex Turner
You may also like reading: 11 People Share the Most Unethical Things They’ve Seen at Work
Sometimes, the “perks” are worse than nothing at all.