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Article misses an important point. Free food is a benefit, and ERISA requires all employees get the same benefits. If you have a company with lots of low paid w

Article misses an important point. Free food is a benefit, and ERISA requires all employees get the same benefits. If you have a company with lots of low paid workers, it doesn’t work financially. Silicon Valley firms mostly contract out low wage jobs (janitorial, security) partially for this reason.

Longhanks 7y ago
This is very interesting to hear. In Germany, we don't have a law as such, and the employees of the company I work for that work less than 40 hours per week have to pay for food at the cafeteria, while those who do get it for free. If I understand ERISA correctly, that would be illegal in the US.
- walshemj 7y ago
  I could see it being illegal under EU law too - as indirect discrimination
- seppel 7y ago
  In Germany, free lunch is a taxable income. It might explain the difference between full and part time employees. How does it look like in your payslip?
  - Xylakant 7y ago
    It’s not as simple as that. The employer can support lunch up to a set limit by day (I think currently 6.40 EUR, but I might be wrong on the exact number per day) and depending on the exact way things are laid out, the reminder is taxed flat at 25% and not subject to social security. It’s actually one of the best perks that an employer can give (the others are paying for a transport ticket, or a bike). It provides real value, everyone has to eat and not paying for lunch translates into real money unlike a flipper table.
dominotw 7y ago
my company had offices in bay area and chicago. No free food in chicago, free food in sfo.
- akhilcacharya 7y ago
  Same for Bloomberg. Free food in my office (it was great too, A+), none in New York or SFO.
  - vonmoltke 7y ago
    Princeton, I assume?
    - akhilcacharya 7y ago
      Correct.
- hammock 7y ago
  That could also be due to local competition for talent. There aren't as many places in Chicago with free food as in SF.
  - hermitdev 7y ago
    Depends on the industry, I suppose. My experience from interviewing and first hand employment experience is that most finance shops in Chicago offer at least a free lunch. Some also offer hot breakfast and dinner as well. (Sometimes dinner is left overs from lunch, depends on the shop). I've only worked in one trading shop that didn't offer lunch, but they were small and out of the financial district. I briefly contracted at a shop that even extended the free lunch me, even while on the clock. Outside of finance, I dont have any direct knowledge. This is over 15 years of working as an FTE in either trading or financial services as a developer.
    - emidln 7y ago
      Same experience in Chicago trading . Cold breakfast (cereal, bagels, yogurt, fresh fruit, etc) and paid lunch. Sometimes dinner, depends on the shop.
walshemj 7y ago
That's a very minor one its mostly for cost savings and also now a days makes the gender disparity figures look better by getting all lose low paid female cleaners off the books
bsimpson 7y ago
Google janitors and security definitely eat in our cafeterias. It's an even bigger deal for them than it is for us.
- baby 7y ago
  to his defense he said "lots of"
JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
Is this true for remote employees as well? E.g., suppose my colleagues at HQ and I are in the same meeting, I dial in to the meeting, and onsite employees receive lunch provided by our employer. Is my employer explicitly obligated for me to get my own lunch, at their expense?
- fjsolwmv 7y ago
  No, they don't have to make sure every employee enjoys the benefit, they just have to not exclude anyone from it. Unfortunate coincidences like being 1000 miles away from the benefit are unfortunate.
  - octocode 7y ago
    Similarly I'm guessing that if those employees were to visit the office, they'd be given free food too.
  - JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
    I've found my employer will cover these lunches, though it may not be strictly necessary for them to do so. And to my sibling commenter: when I am at HQ, I am able to partake in the free food perk.
fjsolwmv 7y ago
That's absurd. The cost of letting support staff feed at the trough is a drop in the bucket compared to the other financial and management issues of contractors/vendors. Most places without free food still contract out generic support services, as is standard in the modern specialized economy.
vageli 7y ago
> Article misses an important point. Free food is a benefit, and ERISA requires all employees get the same benefits. If you have a company with lots of low paid workers, it doesn’t work financially. Silicon Valley firms mostly contract out low wage jobs (janitorial, security) partially for this reason. ERISA seems narrowly focused on retirement plans and insurance, can you point me to more information on the lunch aspect, or some language that would suggest a broader applicability.

Longhanks 7y ago

This is very interesting to hear. In Germany, we don't have a law as such, and the employees of the company I work for that work less than 40 hours per week have to pay for food at the cafeteria, while those who do get it for free. If I understand ERISA correctly, that would be illegal in the US.

walshemj 7y ago
I could see it being illegal under EU law too - as indirect discrimination
seppel 7y ago
In Germany, free lunch is a taxable income. It might explain the difference between full and part time employees. How does it look like in your payslip?
- Xylakant 7y ago
  It’s not as simple as that. The employer can support lunch up to a set limit by day (I think currently 6.40 EUR, but I might be wrong on the exact number per day) and depending on the exact way things are laid out, the reminder is taxed flat at 25% and not subject to social security. It’s actually one of the best perks that an employer can give (the others are paying for a transport ticket, or a bike). It provides real value, everyone has to eat and not paying for lunch translates into real money unlike a flipper table.

dominotw 7y ago

my company had offices in bay area and chicago. No free food in chicago, free food in sfo.

akhilcacharya 7y ago
Same for Bloomberg. Free food in my office (it was great too, A+), none in New York or SFO.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  Princeton, I assume?
  - akhilcacharya 7y ago
    Correct.
hammock 7y ago
That could also be due to local competition for talent. There aren't as many places in Chicago with free food as in SF.
- hermitdev 7y ago
  Depends on the industry, I suppose. My experience from interviewing and first hand employment experience is that most finance shops in Chicago offer at least a free lunch. Some also offer hot breakfast and dinner as well. (Sometimes dinner is left overs from lunch, depends on the shop). I've only worked in one trading shop that didn't offer lunch, but they were small and out of the financial district. I briefly contracted at a shop that even extended the free lunch me, even while on the clock. Outside of finance, I dont have any direct knowledge. This is over 15 years of working as an FTE in either trading or financial services as a developer.
  - emidln 7y ago
    Same experience in Chicago trading . Cold breakfast (cereal, bagels, yogurt, fresh fruit, etc) and paid lunch. Sometimes dinner, depends on the shop.

walshemj 7y ago

That's a very minor one its mostly for cost savings and also now a days makes the gender disparity figures look better by getting all lose low paid female cleaners off the books

bsimpson 7y ago

Google janitors and security definitely eat in our cafeterias. It's an even bigger deal for them than it is for us.

baby 7y ago
to his defense he said "lots of"

JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago

Is this true for remote employees as well? E.g., suppose my colleagues at HQ and I are in the same meeting, I dial in to the meeting, and onsite employees receive lunch provided by our employer. Is my employer explicitly obligated for me to get my own lunch, at their expense?

fjsolwmv 7y ago
No, they don't have to make sure every employee enjoys the benefit, they just have to not exclude anyone from it. Unfortunate coincidences like being 1000 miles away from the benefit are unfortunate.
- octocode 7y ago
  Similarly I'm guessing that if those employees were to visit the office, they'd be given free food too.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
  I've found my employer will cover these lunches, though it may not be strictly necessary for them to do so. And to my sibling commenter: when I am at HQ, I am able to partake in the free food perk.

fjsolwmv 7y ago

That's absurd. The cost of letting support staff feed at the trough is a drop in the bucket compared to the other financial and management issues of contractors/vendors. Most places without free food still contract out generic support services, as is standard in the modern specialized economy.

vageli 7y ago

> Article misses an important point. Free food is a benefit, and ERISA requires all employees get the same benefits. If you have a company with lots of low paid workers, it doesn’t work financially. Silicon Valley firms mostly contract out low wage jobs (janitorial, security) partially for this reason. ERISA seems narrowly focused on retirement plans and insurance, can you point me to more information on the lunch aspect, or some language that would suggest a broader applicability.