Some companies are stepping up their efforts to bring in and retain great employees by offering a new kind of employee benefit. There’s already maternity and paternity leave policies in place for many companies if your child is a human – but what if you are welcoming a new fur child into your family?
Welcome to “pawternity” leave, where some companies offer anywhere from one day to two weeks of paid leave for adopting a rescue dog or bringing home a puppy.
Here are some of the companies offering this new perk:
Mars Petcare, the company behind Pedigree, Royal Canin, Nutro, and other pet foods, was one of the first companies to offer this unique job benefit. They give their employees 10 hours of paid leave to bond with their new pet – after that, they’re allowed to bring the dog to work with them!
Mparticle, a data platform, offers their employees two weeks of paid leave to employees who adopt a rescue dog. Laurel Peppino, the recruiter for the company, said this to The Times:
“We offer maternity and paternity leave and a pet is just another member of the family. We don’t discriminate just because they aren’t human.”
BitSol Solutions is a tech company based out of Manchester in the UK. They give employees a full paid week off (on a case by case basis) for bringing home a new pet. Company Owner Greg Buchanan told The Metro:
“Pets are like babies nowadays. So why shouldn’t staff have some time off when they arrive?”
BrewDog, a Scottish brewery, offers one week of paid leave to new pet owners. They’re also allowed to bring their dogs to work and there’s unlimited free beer in the office. Cofounder James Watts says:
“We always want to raise the bar when it comes to offering our staff the best possible benefits…We also just really really like dogs.”
Some companies also now offer bereavement time for the death of a fur child.
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in San Francisco offers 3 days of leave. Mars Inc offers a full day off and flexible hours. Maxwell Health and Software company VMware both offer flexible days. TruPanion pet insurance offers their employees one day off. Shoppers Drug Mart lets employees take time off for a loss in the family, and they consider that to include pets.
(H/T: Business Insider)
