On-Site Nap Rooms and Pawternity Leave: Unobvious Employee Perks You Should Consider
What can your company do to stand out from the crowd?
If you want to attract great employees—and keep the employees you already have—then you need to go above and beyond.
The problem is, most organizations don’t have the budget to outcompete on salary and traditional benefits alone. That’s where creative employee perks come in.
We’re going to take a detailed look at two unusual employee perks, seeing why they can be such winners, as well as covering a few other options to consider.
Why Employee Perks Matter
69% of employees might choose one job over another because it offers better benefits. And a staggering 73% of employees say that access to more benefits would encourage them to stay with their employer for longer.
Having access to the benefits and perks that they want can make a huge difference to your employees’ job satisfaction. That definitely applies to big, popular perks like being able to work from home (91% of employees prefer to work fully or almost completely remotely). But it also matters when it comes to smaller or quirkier perks.
Unobvious employee perks can give you a vital competitive advantage in recruitment—helping you bring on board great employees who’ll be loyal for the long-term.
And, as Roman Zrazhevskiy, Founder & CEO at MIRA Safety, points out, you’ll get the most from those employees through the perks you offer. "Offering great perks not only attracts top talent but also helps employees perform at their best. This is especially crucial in roles where safety is paramount: unstressed, well-rested employees are much less likely to have accidents."
Type of Employee Perks
There are all kinds of employee benefits and perks out there, from the obvious and traditional to the unique and unusual.
Broadly speaking, you can think of employee perks in three different categories:
Traditional Benefits
Traditional benefits include health insurance, PTO, and retirement contributions—and, increasingly, the right to work from home at least some of the time. These should come first, before you dig into more unusual perks.
However, awesome your office’s free snacks are, they’re probably not going to win over prospective employees if your health insurance offers are terrible.
Unconventional Benefits
Some benefits are more unconventional—but increasingly popular. Having access to an on-site fitness center or nearby gym, for instance, could be a great benefit for your employees. Some offices are pet-friendly, allowing employees to bring their dogs to work.
Unique Perks
As well as these benefits, many companies offer unique and sometimes unobvious perks. These include things like on-site nap rooms and “pawternity” leave for new pet parents. Some companies also offer small but mighty perks like an extra day of PTO for your birthday, unlimited PTO, travel discounts, and even free massages.
Let’s dig deeper into a couple of these perks and why you should consider them within your company.
On-Site Nap Rooms
An on-site nap room is a quiet space where employees can take a short power nap during the working day to recharge. They’ve made headlines because of their use at huge brands like Google, which offers sleeping rooms and pods so employees can recharge.
You might think that encouraging your employees to sleep on the job is a bad idea—but research shows that a short nap can bring huge productivity benefits, with a 20-30 minute “power nap” shown to improve alertness by 54% and performance by 34%.
Regular napping could also help improve your employees’ overall health, potentially leading to lower stress and less time off.
As Max Tang, CMO at GEEKOM points out, "Investing in perks like nap rooms shows employees you care about their well-being and performance. It’s a win-win for both workplace morale and efficiency."
For employees, being able to nap during the working day means they’ll feel more mentally sharp, get through their critical tasks faster, and have reduced stress levels—and less risk of burnout.
For employers, offering nap rooms doesn’t just make for a healthier, happier workforce. It’s also a great perk for attracting health and wellness-conscious employees, especially in demanding industries or for difficult-to-fill vacancies.
While some employers think nap rooms are a bit of a fad, they can mean a lot to your employees, especially if you’re in an industry where long hours are common. Nick Esposito, Founder at NYCServers, explains, "Providing perks like on-site nap rooms isn’t just about following trends. It’s about creating an environment where employees are supported, valued, and cared for.”
Setting Up an On-Site Nap Room
So how can you make on-site nap rooms work within your company? You’ll want to consider:
- Addressing employees’ and managers’ potential concerns about sleeping at work. You don’t want employees to fear being seen as “slacking off” if they take a power nap.
- What space you have available that’s quiet and feels safe and cozy for people to nap. Be imaginative here: perhaps by letting employees work from home 3 days a week, you could free up some office space for nappers.
- The budget you have available to furnish these spaces. You’ll want comfortable beds or pods, low-level lighting, and thick carpeting to reduce noise.
- The guidelines you’ll put in place. For instance, it’s unlikely you want to allow employees to sleep overnight in the nap room.
Pawternity Leave
“Pawternity” leave is paid time off for employees that’s related to their pet (typically a dog, though other pets count too). This is often time off to settle a new pet into the home, but it can also include time off to look after an unwell pet—or even bereavement leave after a pet passes away.
Essentially, pawternity leave is an extra time of PTO or compassionate leave for pet owners. It’s particularly popular among millennial and Gen Z workers, especially those who don’t have children (as they then aren’t eligible for parental leave).
For employees, being able to take time off with a new pet can make life much less stressful. If your workplace prides itself on being pet-friendly, this is a great way to live out your values as an employer (and it can help boost employees’ loyalty too).
Lifei Chen, Founder at buysmart.ai, suggests, “Creative benefits like pawternity leave show employees that you understand how important their pets are … helping you build a human-centered company culture.”
Introducing Pawternity Leave
Some of the things you’ll want to consider when introducing pawternity leave are:
- How much leave is allowed? (E.g. what if an employee adopts three new puppies within a year—would they be able to take leave every time?)
- Are you offering full PTO or time for employees to work from home while getting a new puppy settled into their family?
- Will non-pet-owning employees feel shortchanged? If so, is there a different way you could frame “pawternity” leave, e.g. by offering it as part of “family leave” that could be taken for a range of different family members and reasons.
Other Unobvious Employee Perks to Consider
There are lots more perks you might want to offer your employees beyond on-site nap rooms and pawternity leave. Here are just a few possibilities that won’t cost a fortune or involve much complexity:
Standing Desks
Want to help your employees stay healthy and also boost their productivity? Standing desks have been shown to have a whole range of health benefits, including burning more calories as you work, reducing neck pain, improving posture, and even lowering the risk of developing diabetes. They can also help workers concentrate for longer.
Summer Fridays
Some organizations offer a shorter working day on Fridays during the summer, giving employees the afternoon (or most of it) off from work. This means staff can take a weekend trip easily, or simply enjoy long lazy Friday afternoons and evenings.
Free Massages
Offering free massages could be hugely popular with your staff, especially if this is a luxury that most wouldn’t pay for on their own. Getting a massage can reduce stress and muscle tension, helping improve employees’ wellness and productivity.
John Grant, Founder & CEO at Premier Bidets says, “Free massages are a game-changer for keeping employees relaxed, happy, and ready to tackle whatever comes their way."
Birthday Leave
It can be tough to know what to give employees on their birthdays … so how about a sure-fire winner: an extra day off! Letting employees have an extra paid day off from work on (or near) their birthday is a small perk that could provide a big boost in loyalty.
Paid Training Courses
While many employers offer paid training that’s 100% work-relevant, some go further in funding professional or personal development courses for their employees that might not strictly relate to their role.
Matthew Channell, Owner of TSW Training, explains, "Investing in training opportunities, beyond job-specific skills, shows employees that their growth matters—not just as professionals but as individuals."
Flexible Hours
You might not want to compromise on a traditional 35–40 hour week … but do employees really need to work those hours between 9 and 5? With remote work in particular, most companies allow for some flexibility, and this can be a huge benefit for parents, caregivers, or employees who are early birds or night owls.
Explore Unobvious Perks for Your Workplace—and Start Reaping the Benefits
Offering unusual, creative perks like nap rooms and pawternity leave could have a massive ROI in terms of increased retention and the ability to attract talented employees. Even if these specific perks aren’t quite right for your workforce, there might be others that hit the mark.
Start exploring what perks you could offer. Ask your employees what would make a big difference to them—you could run a survey and offer different options to see what’s most popular. Getting this right could solve a whole ton of recruitment and retention issues in one easy move.
