One or two requests for a benefit don't typically spark action. It's cheaper, better yet, profitable. Employers are rushing to switch to a casual-dress policy because it costs them nothing but can make workers happier. And employers will provide other new benefits if they can be convinced they will pay off for the company somehow. Everybody else is doing it.
Employers are more likely to add a benefit if nearby or competing employers offer it.
Otherwise, they'll be left behind in the competition for workers, Schneider says. It's the fair thing to do. Gymboree added adoption leave because one employee pointed out that new mothers who had given birth got paid time off. A perk wish list is limited only by your imagination. But workers might consider the experience of Dana Milner, director of staff development for information services at Home Depot.