Morgia estimates he spent between $600 and $700 a month on gasoline.

That changed this month, thanks to an innovative new benefit introduced by the company.

STS Telecom started shouldering some of the gas-price burden for its employees. Morgia says his gas bill could be cut by half.

''It is going to help tremendously,'' said Morgia, a corporate trainer with the company.

STS Telecom found a way, ineffect, to roll back prices for its staff of about 70 to 2006, when gas averaged $2 a gallon.

While employees still have to fill their tanks with gas topping $4 a gallon, they'll see a big difference in their paychecks. The company will reimburse them $2 per gallon for the miles driven on their daily commute.

''Our employees have come through for us, and in these challenging financial times, we needed to come through for them,'' CEO Mark Amarant said.

Established in 1994 as a Florida-based long-distance provider, STS Telecom is a nationwide VoIP, or Voice-over-Internet Protocol, provider that has grown to a $22 million-a-year enterprise.

Amarant said the company knows its employees played a key role in its growth, and it didn't want to see them having to make a choice between paying for gas to get to work and feeding their families.

''We didn't want it to get to the point where people had to make that decision,'' said Amarant, whose work commute is only a mile each way.

To make it equitable, the company figured out each employee's round-trip work mileage.

Using a standard of 20 miles to the gallon, for 21 work days each month, the company then computed each employee's cost to come to the office.

''No matter if they live five or 50 miles away, they're getting exactly what it costs to get to work,'' Amarant said.

Executive assistant Caryn Roldan said the rebate will come in handy because she drives 20 miles each way between Cooper City and Tamarac.

She thinks her employer is showing a heart during tough economic times. ''Where other companies are doing layoffs, our company is helping us out,'' she said.

Amarant estimates the perk will cost STS Telecom $50,000 annually, and the company plans to reevaluate it at the end of the year.

The firm kicked off the program by giving employees $25 gas gift cards and is also including 25 percent extra to cover any taxes the gas rebate might incur.

''This was something we just had to do,'' Amarant said.

For information about STS Telecom, visit www.ststelecom.com.