Gym memberships, pension matching, car allowances and technology credits are just a few perks employers offer employees in an effort to edge out competition and attract great talent.
Some industries like the technology sector have introduced luxury perks over time to fend off employee attrition. The better the perks, the better the culture and the happier (and more hardworking) the employee.
But perks are a privilege.
In a recent story covered by Forbes and CNN, Meta has reportedly terminated approximately two dozen employees for abusing the company’s meal credit perk. Grubgate, as the incident has been dubbed, flowed from the company’s meal program created for employees working late at the office or for Meta offices that did not have in-office catering.
Under the meal program, employees working in the office were given meal credits to order food through food delivery services with a maximum spend of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch and $25 for dinner. Oh, the premium $8 coffees I would order every morning with this budget.
It turns out, however, that some Meta employees allegedly abused the program by using the meal credit to order food to their homes (instead of at the office) or purchase non food items like laundry detergent and wine glasses.
To put this into perspective, the median income of Meta employees is $379,050 (excluding the CEO’s income).
In 2022, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the company was undertaking cost-cutting measures and slowing down hiring. He expected higher performance from current employees, too.
At the townhall he said, “I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is okay with me.”
The Grubgate terminations have not been extremely popular within the organization as reportedly intense discord regarding the application of corporate policies and cost-cutting measures ensued following the announcement.
While it’s hard to sympathize with a profitable tech giant like Meta, its decision to remove Grubgate employees is unequivocally correct.
We can’t look at employment perks as a bundle of rights or entitlements to be manipulated to meet our needs.
After all, it would be completely offside for an employee to use a health spending account towards purchasing a new car.
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Meta introduced the meal perk to encourage employees to work through meals, at their desks, in the office. This luxury perk was meant to develop and reward a very specific behaviour. Meta removed the friction of having employees stroll to the closest food court or coffee shop, interrupting their workflow and productivity.
But the employees who were terminated used the perk when they failed to exhibit the behaviour that granted them access to it in the first place.
If a Meta employee wanted to go home for dinner, they could very well go home. Meta, however, never intended to pay for that dinner. But if an employee wanted to crush their goals for the week and put in a 12-hour day in the office working, the perk was there for the taking.
Meta has employed luxury perks to encourage a certain work ethic and intensity. Free meals were never intended to be a free-for-all though. It was a perk to help identify those who work diligently with few breaks – a trait Meta clearly values.
If you are wondering about the type of traits your company values, look at the benefits you receive and the way you are remunerated. If you are paid a commission, your company values the results you bring to the table. If you receive a gym membership, your company values good physical and mental health.
Perks are never random. Perks are particular and often signal the underlying values of a company.
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The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice.