Benefits on a Shoestring Budge

...GotVMail, a Boston-based tech company that provides phone services, offers amenities reminiscent of small startups from the dot-com era. The company spends $1,000 a month having fresh fruit and healthy snacks delivered to the office, and employees receive free financial and legal advice, a perk that has been particularly relevant in recent weeks. While the company continues to pick up 75 percent of the cost of health benefits, even as the cost has increased over the years, its most popular perk among its 48 employees is the Nintendo Wii attached to a flat-screen TV in a room off the office kitchen, says David Hauser, company co-founder and chief technology officer. “It’s a small investment, a lot of fun and really gets people moving,” he says.

The Wii has become a favorite way for workers to let off steam during stressful projects. With its motion-sensitive controllers, the Wii’s sports games-tennis and bowling, in particular-are popular among employees who have formed teams to compete against one another.

While the company has not calculated the impact such distractions have on employee morale, Hauser says one measure is the fact that some employees come to the office on the weekend to play the game…