NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – A free pound of Sumatra coffee a week, unlimited air travel anywhere in the United States and two cases of beer a month.

Sound good? Welcome to the world of employee discounts.

From multi-national conglomerates to mom-and-pop outfits, each has its own way of rewarding employees. But one company capitalized on that concept last month as General Motors turned its coveted discount on new cars, usually reserved for employees, into a windfall for the struggling automaker.

Rolled out in June, the "Employee Discount for Everyone" incentive program offered the general public to pay what GM employees pay. In one month, the automaker posted its biggest sales month in 19 years.

Due to the overwhelming response by the American public, Ford and Chrysler said they would roll out comparable programs.

While car buyers seem to be having all the fun right now, imagine a world in which you always got the employee discount. From computers, to travel, to your morning cup of coffee, life would be good.

Take the airline industry. As part of its long-standing tradition, employees and their immediate family members are able to fly for free. While that does require that they fly "stand-by", air carriers such as Southwest and Delta also note that an industry-wide agreement allows them to fly on a competitor's airline for 75 percent to 90 percent off the walk-up fare.

Or consider Dell's employee discount program. According to a company spokesperson, at the start of every quarter, the Texas-based computer maker issues all of its employees a coupon good for approximately 10 percent to 15 percent off Dell-branded products.

"I think we look at benefits as the overall total value of working at the company," said Amy King, a spokesperson for Dell. "This is certainly a piece of it."

Perks such as these, says Rose Stanley, a benefits manager at WorldatWork, a professional association for human resource professionals, is simply done to bring in and hold onto talented employees.

"It's all about attraction and retention," she said. "If they can do that for their employees at little to no cost, they hope employees will remember that when they are thinking about going to another company."

Even working at a major university has its benefits as children of employees qualify for free tuition at most major private universities, according to Bob Norris, the president of the Tuition Exchange Program, a reciprocal scholarship program among 570 universities.

So while we might not expect other companies to offer their unique discounts like GM did in order to attract customers, here's what you are missing out on if you are not working for one of these companies.

Starbucks - Each employee who works 20 or more hours a week gets one free pound of coffee per week.

Anheuser-Busch - Adult employees receive two free cases of beer each month.

General Electric - Employees receive an average of a 20 percent discount on its appliances such as air conditioners, washers, dryers or refrigerators.

Google - Employees are given a free lunch every day.

Blockbuster - Free video and games rentals.

Wal-Mart - Associates receive 10 percent off selected merchandise; SAM's Club associates receive a free membership card.