Employers Offering Benefits, Perks to Boost RTO Efforts

When Aspida, a Durham, N.C.-based insurance agency, told its 200 employees to come back to the office three days a week after being fully remote for a couple of years, it added a new perk to sweeten the deal: Free Lunch Tuesdays.

Like many companies, Aspida moved from being full time in the office to being fully remote due to the pandemic. It now has employees come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus a third day of the week of their choosing. Though the company wanted workers back in the office, it knew that some of its employees weren’t initially excited about the adjustment. 

So, the business introduced fun activities and perks such as “Free Lunch Tuesdays” to foster connection and engagement among employees, explained Sandy Ball, SHRM-SCP, chief people officer at Aspida.

“Anyone can work remote, so if you’re asking people to come in, you’ve got to create an environment that is supportive and engaging for them to come into,” she said. “We wanted to do fun things. Free Lunch Tuesdays was something we did to get people to come back in on Tuesdays, and we never stopped doing it.” 

Aspida is just one example of a company that has turned to new or enhanced benefits and perks to sweeten the deal for employees who are coming back into offices. 

Some organizations are enhancing onsite fitness options, relaxing dress codes, buying employees weekly lunches or providing other free food, offering free parking or other commuter benefits, and adding or enhancing child care benefits, explained Allison Vaillancourt, vice president at HR and benefits consulting firm Segal. 

“Highly productive employees will be seeking evidence that working onsite is more beneficial than working at home,” she said. “Commuting to the office to be in Zoom meetings all day is not likely to be perceived as useful.”

Although some employees like to be in the office, research finds that some employees are hesitant to come back into the workplace and would prefer to stay home. And the SHRM Q1 2025 Civility Index found that return-to-office (RTO) mandates are even associated with higher rates of incivility in the workplace.  

As that push-and-pull over RTO continues, employee benefits can make a difference, experts say. 

“Thoughtful benefits can significantly improve employees’ willingness, and even enthusiasm, for returning to the office,” said Priya Krishnan, chief digital and transformation officer at Bright Horizons, a child care provider with its headquarters in Newton, Mass.

Enticing Employees 

There are a couple of reasons employee benefits and perks can help — including their ability to entice employees with financial incentives, fun, and connection. Additionally, they can help the transition back to offices by addressing employee needs and concerns.

Perks such as free food, onsite fitness options, and free parking can be a highly effective value-add — especially at a time when employees are feeling the financial pinch due to high costs of living. A 2022 survey of 1,000 workers nationwide, conducted by business catering company ezCater, found that free lunch is one of the most desired perks by employees. 

Those offerings can add up to big cost savings for employees and make them more excited to return to offices, industry experts say. 

Connection between co-workers may be the ultimate pull, though. 

Ball said that after Aspida started bringing back employees a couple of years ago, its focus was on creating an “environment where people enjoy being there, because that connection they have personally through the fun activities that we do or the little challenges that we do also bleed[s] into collaboration at work.”

“The opportunity to feel connected and part of a community is far more powerful than free pizza,” Vaillancourt said. “As much as remote work is convenient, it can be lonely and make it hard to seek advice or support. When employees like their colleagues, they are generally more willing to work side by side with them.” She added that newer workforce entrants tend to benefit more from onsite time because it “helps forge connections with others and helps them learn how to navigate organizational dynamics better than observing interactions online.” 

Although there is some hesitancy, a number of employees do want to come to offices — especially if they get the right support. According to 2023 data from Bright Horizons, 61% of working parents enjoy dressing for the office, and 79% value the social aspects. 

Child Care 

Offering certain benefits is about meeting needs and helping to alleviate barriers some employees may face in returning to the office.

One of the biggest benefits employers are touting is child care, as scores of working parents are trying to figure out care they might not have had to worry about before. 

The push for RTO policies presents challenges for working parents, explained Sadie Funk, national director of Best Place for Working Parents, a Fort Worth, Texas-based organization that recognizes employers that support working parents. 

“Many parents rely on the flexibility of remote work to balance child care and family responsibilities, and a shift back to in-office work can introduce new hurdles, such as navigating school schedules, managing increased financial burdens for additional care options — like early care or after-school options — and coordinating child care,” she said. “These challenges can lead to higher stress and burnout among employees.” 

With rising costs, limited access, and concerns over quality, parents are struggling to find dependable solutions, Krishnan added.

Those are big challenges — but they also offer businesses a unique opportunity to support their workforce, Funk said. 

“This is where employers have a unique opportunity to step in, fill the gap, and make a meaningful impact,” Funk said. Offering child care benefits, whether through onsite care or backup care options, can dramatically improve employee well-being and company culture while allowing employees to prioritize their career growth.  

Krishnan said many of Bright Horizons’ employer clients have recognized the value of offering comprehensive benefits that support an employee’s family, especially as workers return to the office. Walmart, for instance, opened an onsite child care center this year as part of its new home office campus expansion. 

Mattel’s onsite child care center, which it has had since 1994 on its corporate campus in El Segundo, Calif., has also eased the transition of returning to office for employees of the toy manufacturer, Krishnan said.

Aside from child care offerings, even small adjustments — such as allowing for flexibility in hours and allowing parents to pick up their children from school or work from home when a child is sick — can make a huge difference without requiring significant investment from employers, Funk said. 

Asking Employees for Feedback

Which benefits could help — or entice — workers the most? Employers would be wise to ask employees, experts say. For example, Krishnan explained that Walmart’s onsite child care center was a move directly influenced by feedback from employees, who overwhelmingly identified onsite child care as their top request.  

“Listening to employees through surveys and open communication is a critical strategy for organizations, as it helps employers identify the specific benefits that will make the biggest impact,” she said.

Funk agreed. “Businesses who want return to office to go as smoothly as possible are smart to survey their employees to understand what benefits could help mitigate the impact of return to office on their work, their families, and their finances,” she said.