Lovelorn staff at a Japanese marketing company can take paid time off
 
    Lovelorn staff at a Japanese marketing company can take paid time off after a bad break-up with a partner, and more "heartache leave" on offer when they get older.

    Tokyo-based Hime & Company, which also gives staff paid time off to hit the shops during sales season, says heartache leave allows staff to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed. "Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick," CEO Miki Hiradate said.

    Staff aged 24 years or younger can take one day off per year, while those between 25 and 29 can take two days off and those older can take three days off, the company said.

    "Women in their 20s can find their next love quickly, but it's tougher for women in their 30s, and their break-ups tend to be more serious," Hiradate said.

    Hime & Company staff can also take two mornings off twice a year as "sales shopping leave", so they can race to stores to hunt for bargains.

    "Before, women could take half-days off to go to sales, but you'd have to hide your shopping bags in lockers by the train station," Hiradate said.

    "But with paid leave, we don't have to feel guilty about bringing our shopping bags to work, and we can enjoy the best part about sales shopping -- talking about our purchases afterwards."

    日本一家營(yíng)銷(xiāo)公司日前規(guī)定，員工失戀后可享受帶薪假期。而且隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)，這種“療傷假”會(huì)增多。

    這家位于東京的“姬會(huì)社”還在促銷(xiāo)旺季為員工提供了購(gòu)物假。公司稱(chēng)“療傷假”能讓員工在痛哭之后重振精神回到工作崗位。該公司的首席執(zhí)行官平官美吉說(shuō)：“并不是人人都需要休產(chǎn)假，但如果失戀了，無(wú)論誰(shuí)都需要休息，就像生病一樣。”

    該公司規(guī)定，24歲及24歲以下的員工每年有一天的失戀假；25歲至29歲的員工可享受兩天失戀假；29歲以上的員工可休假三天。

    平官美吉說(shuō)：“20多歲的女性失戀后能很快開(kāi)始另一段戀情，但對(duì)于30多歲的女性來(lái)說(shuō)就沒(méi)那么容易了，所以她們的失戀往往更嚴(yán)重。”

    姬會(huì)社的員工每年還可享受兩個(gè)上午的“購(gòu)物假”，在此期間員工可去商場(chǎng)搶購(gòu)打折商品。

    平官美吉說(shuō)：“以前，女性可以請(qǐng)半天假出去購(gòu)物，但之后又不得不將購(gòu)物袋藏在地鐵站的衣物柜中。”

    “有了帶薪假期，大家就不用為把購(gòu)物袋帶到辦公室而感到心虛了，大家還能分享購(gòu)物的最大樂(lè)趣——比如評(píng)論一下買(mǎi)到的寶貝。”

    Vocabulary:

    lovelorn:失戀的