Most Creative Employee Benefit Perk: Homework Line for Kids?

I confess that of all the employee perks and benefits that were out there, I thought that I had heard about nearly all of them.

But then along comes a new program that is simple enough to make me scratch my head and go: "Why hadn’t I heard about this before?!"

Career Diva this week spotlights a service offered by Intel for its employees. Actually, it’s for the employees’ kids: A homework help line.  She reports:

“All children of Intel’s U.S.-based employees in grades 4-12 now have free access to Tutor.com, an innovative education service that Intel Capital invested in last year. Intel kids can log on to Tutor.com seven days a week, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Pacific Time, and connect with a professional tutor for help tackling homework and studying multiple subjects,” according to an Intel spokeswoman.

What a novel idea.  It helps parents on two fronts: First, it alleviates some of the "guilt" that some parents feel when they are not home early enough to help with homework. And second, the lines can help on subject matters that some parents may not have enough experience in.

But learning about this service made me wonder if there are still other, creative employee benefits that exist out there that an enterprising company can use to set themselves apart.  As the economy tightens and layoffs in the headlines, employers are cutting back, but there are still ways to offer benefits to employees at relative low cost that add value for the employees.

I encourage you to post your suggestions below and I’ll followup with another post with some of the best responses.