A few months ago, a friend (let's call them Joe) started working at a medium-sized multinational. The probationary period is six months and will end soon. At the end, there is a performance review. Joe is hoping to be offered a company car, a perk many others also have.
I remarked that, in my limited experience, one does not get something offered without asking for it -- or at least, one's odds of the other party even considering the option is much lower than if you had asked. In Joe's case, public transport is not really an option and their own car is ageing (but would be good to keep as secondary, though less-reliable car for their partner who commutes by bus): not every employee is in that situation, so I think it makes sense to indicate what the situation is and that you hope to get such an offer. Joe replied that it seems very rude or greedy to ask for something like that.
The basic question, the advice to Joe whether they should indicate the wish, is in the title. Additional useful details would include:
- Is it acceptable to ask for additional secondary benefits immediately after the probationary period? Would those come into effect (almost) immediately, or would they commonly be conditional based on the performance until the next performance review?
- Whom should Joe talk to? I assume it would be whoever the performance review will be with, presumably their direct supervisor.
- How does one best approach this? I do not know exactly how formal the company is. Asking for a meeting seems overkill so my first thought is to bring it up in casual conversation, but that also seems kind of awkward. Should it perhaps just be brought up during the performance review itself?
This question is similar to 'requesting a promotion after a performance review', but Joe does not feel underpaid so it is not the same situation. This question is about whether it is rude to express a wish which the other party may ignore with no direct consequence (e.g. Joe would not start to look for another job).
