There Are Employee Perks. And Then There Are Google-Employee Perks…

By Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, I came across this article from Meghan Casserly on Forbes.com, which discusses the benefits that Google provides its employees and their families.

One of my favorite bloggers in the HR/employment-law space, Mark Toth, lives by the mantra that companies that really love their employees are the best places to work. Well, then, look out Disney World, because Google must be the happiest place on earth!

In addition to free haircuts, food, laundry and fitness classes, affordable on-site childcare, on-site doctors, generous paid leave for new moms and dads, and high-tech cleansing toilets — Xanadu! — if a Google employee dies while still employed by Google, their surviving spouse or domestic partner will receive a check for 50 percent of their salary every year for the next decade!

As she wrote at Forbes:

What makes the death benefit notable isn’t just its generosity — Google is, of course, far from cash-strapped — but rather that, unlike most employee perks on Google campuses that aim to increase happiness, creativity and productivity, providing death benefits is a no-win for the company. “Obviously there’s no benefit to Google,” (Chief People Officer Lazlo) Bock concedes. “But it’s important to the company to help our families through this horrific if inevitable life event.”

But it doesn’t stop there. Mashable.com confirmed that the surviving spouse or domestic partner will also acquire vested stock benefits, and children will receive $1,000 a month until the age of 19. The timeline can be extended if the child is in school full time.

Hmmm, I wonder if Google has any general counsel openings…

[Kidding]

This was originally published on Eric B. Meyer’s blog, The Employer Handbook.