What non-traditional benefits could my company offer?

speaking as a cycle commuter, any workplace that offers me shower facilities or access to a nearby health club wins points in my book. communal recreational equipment, like ping pong or pool tables, are also nice.

Whatever benefits you offer for married people with kids, be sure that single people without kids aren't left out in the cold. If you offer paid maternity and paternity leave, have paid family leave for people who take time off to care for sick family members. Recent studies have shown that given current lifespans, most of us will spend more of our lives caring for our parents than we will caring for our children, and such http://www.caregiving.org/pubs/data.htm can have a significant effect on work life. Don't offer flex time only to parents, either by policy or by custom. We all understand that it's important for parents to be able to take a day off when a child is sick or leave early to go see a school play. But single, childless people have non-work lives too, and a huge amount of resentment is created if they see the benefits of flexible scheduling granted for kid-related things but not for non-parents' plans, passions, and hobbies. Make sure that single staff are getting their fair share of the benefits and not working extra hours to pick up the slack for others. Monetary benefits, such as family health insurance or life insurance, could be offered cafeteria style, giving people who don't take them the opportunity to take other, equally valuable benefits instead. I'd love to get a cash bonus (or extra vacation time, more company-funded retirement contributions, disability insurance, etc.), in the amount that my company spends on health insurance premiums for a coworker's kids; it seems unfair to me that he essentially makes more money than I do (in the form of health benefits) just because he happens to have children. Obviously, any benefit you offer isn't going to be of interest to everyone. My last company had really good coffee that my coworkers raved about; I don't like coffee, so I didn't care. But when you're thinking about big institutional changes that represent large financial or lifestyle benefits, take care to ensure that those benefits are distributed as fairly as possible so that everyone feels taken care of.

I once received a hot cocoa sampler box.

We get dismemberment insurance. Which wouldn't be so weird in a factory, but I work in a public library.

Transit passes come to mind. The TTA serves the Triangle area; http://www.ridetta.org/Bus_Shuttle/Fares_Tickets_Passes/faresTicketsAndPasses.html#discount.

Shower facilities are awesome. This is a bit of an odd one, but where I work, we work 9 hour days, but every other Friday is an off Friday. I think we'd lose 40% of our work force if we ever went to 9-5.

At my job, we have the following awethum perks: * Working longer hours for a flex day off every other week * No dress code * Dogs are allowed (mine is here now, snoring under my desk) * We get to travel around the world at least once a year to do "research and development" (we're an adventure travel company), all expenses paid. Usually it's for a minimum of 2-3 weeks and it's usually in some incredibly exotic location. I love my job. Boss occasionally treats us to dinners out or concert tickets. We live in a town that has "locals only" private beaches, so we get to use guest passes if we want to wander down to the beach for our lunch break. With the economy the way it is, I think gift cards for gas stations or a little shopping spree at Costco or dinner at a nice restaurants would be lovely perks / incentives.

No dress code.

My wife used to work for a feminist non-profit that gave staff time off to have their hair done! Strange. I used to work for a dotcom that had free good coffee, and occasional chair massages, but it came across as coercion to work 20hr days rather than being valued and appreciated. I think there's a fine line there. I always appreciate perks that help me fit work in with the rest of my life (work from home, flex time etc) over perks that make work a happy fun place to spend my whole damn life.