Quirky Job Perks: Surf Lessons, Free Ice Cream, Dog-Friendly Offices

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Victory State Bank has earned the distinction of being One of the Best Places to Work on Staten Island. What makes a work environment special?

For some, it’s the amenities, as described in the following article from TIME.com.:

When mobile expense report company ExpenseCloud relocated its Santa Monica, Calif. office to a spot one block from the beach this summer, CEO Eric Sikola decided it was time for a new employee perk – surf lessons. He hired a private surf instructor to take the five of them out surfing and picked up some inexpensive surf boards to keep in the office.

“I want a culture where people are living healthy,” says Sikola, who founded the company in 2009. Although ExpenseCloud is now a division of human resources firm TriNet, Sikola says employees still contend with the stress and long hours typical of a startup. Surfing seemed like the perfect antidote. “If you go out for an hour and surf you’re going to come back here with a clear head and ability to solve problems better,” he says.