免費零食咖啡、給員工報銷干洗費打車錢、甚至女生來大姨媽放一天假……各種公司福利五花八門，讓人心動。而英國有一家公司，不管是孩子離開家、自己搬新家、還是過生日，都給員工放假。這不，他們又增添了一項新福利，就是“寵物陪護假”。

Google gives its staff unlimited free ice cream, while drugs giant Johnson & Johnson pays for its workers’ dry cleaning.
谷歌公司的員工可以無限量地取用免費冰淇淋，醫療巨頭強生公司為員工付干洗費。

Now, a UK firm is offering employees another novel benefit: ‘peternity leave’ – a day off when they buy a new dog, cat or horse to help the animal settle into their new home.
如今，一家英國公司為員工提供了一項新福利：“寵物陪護假”，當員工購買了一只新的狗狗、貓咪或者小馬駒時可以請一天假，幫助它們適應新家。

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the firm behind the scheme is Pets At Home, which is introducing the policy for its 8,200 staff – 95 percent of whom are pet-owners – from next month.
推出這一新福利的是寵物居家公司，這也許并不令人意外。8200名員工將從下月開始享受到這項新政，其中95%的人有寵物。

Chief executive Ian Kellett said: ‘We want to help and support key events in a colleague’s life.
總裁伊恩說：“我們想在員工的生活重要事件中給予幫助和支持?！?/p>

‘We already give a “flying the nest day” when a child leaves home, a “new roost day” when you move home, and you get your birthday off as a holiday too. Peternity leave fits right into those.’
“當子女離開家時，我們給員工放‘離家假’，搬家時有‘溫鍋假’，員工生日當天也有假。寵物陪護假是新的一種。”

He insisted that the extra day’s paid leave was ‘not a gimmick’, adding: ‘We know that if you have a new dog, cat or horse it can be quite stressful.
他堅稱多給一天帶薪假期并不是噱頭，“我們知道家里新添了一只狗狗，貓咪或者小馬駒時，人們會感到緊張?！?/p>

‘We want to give them an extra day to settle in. It fits into our ethos – we recognise the importance of pets.’
“我們希望多給員工一天假，來安置寵物。這符合我們的理念---我們明白寵物的重要性。”

（中國日報網英語點津 yaning）