Do fab new benefits help or hurt workers?

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Lately I’ve been hearing about some innovative benefits offered by big companies. Microsoft started a pilot program last year for house calls—rather, desk calls—by in-house doctors to employees. So if you’re coughing up a lung at 3 p.m., rather than hobbling off to some distant clinic you just keep pecking away at your Google-slaying master plan while a doc checks you out in your office. Now, companies have long employed in-house doctors—think Dr. Spaceman (spa-CHE-min) on 30 Rock—but this is a new twist that requires workers not even to leave their own computers.

Another benefit I just learned about is at Intel, where workers’ kids can use an online service called Tutor.com to help them with their homework. From a release they sent me:

All children of Intel U.S.-based employees in grades 4-12 now have free access to Tutor.com, an innovative education service that Intel Capital invested in last year. An example of Intel’s commitment to education, Intel kids can log on to Tutor.com seven days a week, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Pacific Time, and connect with a professional tutor for help tackling homework and studying multiple subjects.

I’m all for benefits that help workers do their jobs better. But a cynical part of me wonders: just what will big employers think of next to keep us glued to our desks? If you’re sick, shouldn’t you just go home instead of going viral on your whole cubicle zip code? And if your kid needs help with homework, shouldn’t you be the one to give it rather than rely on some virtual tutor in India? What do you think: bring on the fab benefits, or enough with the disguised attempts to keep us working 24/7?