Basecamp’s list of employee benefits is impressive, but I’m afraid too many millenial employees think this better be the norm:

In a crisis, or a once-every-couple-years special push, we may require very short-term extended hours, but otherwise we strongly encourage a maximum of 40-hours a week, and 8-hours of sleep a night.

I’m looking at my generation when I say this: It’s flawed to look at Basecamp’s benefits and expect other businesses to adopt these compensation policies. Every industry and every business is its own individual and lives within its own context. Just because Basecamp can give a one month sabbatical every three years doesn’t mean every employer should have to for you to be happy. This level of compensation and benefit packages is extremely expensive and requires intensive planning, budgeting, and sales-making. I believe a business has to be lucky to offer its employees this level of compensation.

Basecamp employees are the outlier, and are fortunate to be so. Making them the standard in our minds is unfair to our employers.

That said, to Basecamp employees: You probably understand how great of an employer you have. Hold onto that job and never let go.