Up the ante on employee benefits and perks at your company, and you can automatically improve engagement within your team. One company that gets this right is Tesla: Tesla employee benefits and perks are some of the most sought-after in its industry.‍

To attract and retain top talent, the company provides a range of perks relating to employees’ physical, mental, financial, and social well-being. Tesla employs around 110,000 people worldwide, many of whom are highly skilled specialists. Keeping them happy and motivated is high on the electric motor company’s list of priorities.‍

Below, we explore the top six perks and benefits available to Tesla’s workforce.

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Top Tesla Employee Benefits & Perks To Inspire Your Offering

1. Employee discounts on Tesla merchandise and products

Tesla offers employee discounts of up to 35% on their merchandise and a range of services, including travel, childcare, and entertainment. ‍

Tesla merchandise is in high demand, even with employees. In 2019, to soften the blow of countrywide layoffs and store closures, Tesla set up employee-only pop-up shops at its Nevada Gigafactory. They called this event "Merch Madness." Company apparel and other products were sold out in record time.  ‍

Many people ask whether Tesla employees get a discount on Tesla cars or if they are given a Tesla car when joining the company. The simple answer is ‘no.’ However, according to That Tesla Channel, employees are sometimes offered a company car to share among a group of workers or use as a personal vehicle. ‍

They also offer limited-time referral programs with purchasing incentives such as free supercharging for life.

2. Great disability insurance

Tesla offers excellent disability insurance for employees. This includes long-term disability, where the company will pay 60% of the employee’s salary should the person be unable to work due to medical incapacity. The maximum benefit is $5,000. ‍

For short-term disability, Tesla will pay 66.7% of the employee’s salary for up to 17 weeks. The maximum here is $1,000 per week. ‍

Naturally, the company has stringent safety regulations to prevent accidents from happening in the first place. Laurie Shelby, Vice President of EHS at Tesla, wrote a post titled "Becoming the Safest Car Factory in the World" for the company's blog. In it, she outlines Tesla’s efforts to make the factory safer and more comfortable for employees.

3. Top-notch training

Because Tesla sits at the crossroads of being an automotive, clean energy, and tech company, it has high standards for its workforce. It’s no surprise then that learning and development is a top Tesla employee perk. During the company's 2017 third-quarter earnings call, Elon Musk famously said, "So the little guy better have a heck of a lot more skill. That is why our standards are high ... They're high because if they're not high, we will die."‍

To keep employees at the top of their game with cutting-edge technical skills, the company opened the Tesla Learning Center in Fremont, California. Here, workers are continuously trained in the latest technologies used to build their highly specialized cars.

Related: 11 Awesome Google Benefits and Perks for Employees

4. Comprehensive healthcare and insurance

Tesla employee benefits extend to comprehensive health insurance. The company offers coverage for basic healthcare, medication, and medical supplies and services. ‍

In addition, benefits include Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance, where beneficiaries can get a lump-sum compensation of two years’ salary.

5. Financial benefits

Tesla employees can sign up for Tesla’s 401K Program after their first paycheck. On top of that, they enjoy Life Insurance and additional benefits, to a maximum of $1,000,000. ‍

Through its Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), employees can get 15% discounts on Tesla stocks twice a year during predetermined buying periods.

6. Wellness and paid-time-off benefits

One of the best Tesla benefits for employees is its parental leave. The company offers 12 weeks maternity leave and seven weeks paternity leave for new parents. It also provides fitness perks in the form of an on-site gym and fitness classes.‍

When it comes to PTO (Paid-Time-Off), Tesla is one of dozens of large tech companies offering salaried employees unlimited vacation days. However, employees cannot accrue unused vacation hours, so employers aren't obligated to pay it out. The actual time off has to be negotiated and agreed with employees’ supervisors. ‍

Unlimited vacation time is proving to be a positive for companies that like to attract younger employees who prefer more flexibility. It is also rarely abused; the 1% of companies that have tried out this policy report greater trust and responsibility in the team. Providing more freedom results in happier employees who are also more productive. As such, it’s an excellent perk for both the employees and the company.

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Final Thoughts

The Tesla employee benefits and perks that the company offers sit right up there with some of its biggest tech peers, including Facebook, Bloomberg, Airbnb, Visa, and Google. ‍

To stay competitive and retain your best talent, it’s important to learn from other top companies and offer your employees great benefits packages. This shows that, as a company, you value them and their well-being.