New rule: you may stay home if your pet is sick

It may very well be that in the future you can stay home from work for a day because your cat has the flu.

Yes, you think: they are joking. But we are not. In Australia, this plan is being taken seriously. Calling in sick at work because your dog doesn't want to know. In this country, you even get ‘bereavement leave’ if your beloved pet passes away. The official statement? ‘We understand that some people need time to grieve the loss of a pet. Employers should be understanding of this and should support them in it.’ Look, that means you are allowed to be sad if you lose your buddy . And we understand that. But is the limit at dogs and cats, or do rabbits, hamsters, and goldfish count too? Yes, of course. Those are also pets, and you can love them too. But if you have a pond full of fish, before you know it, you have half a year of leave, and that is difficult for the boss.

Another company has therefore established a fixed rule: you get two days of bereavement leave if your pet passes away, you get five days off to care for a sick or injured animal, and you get two days to let new pets acclimatize in your home. That is not yet the case in the Netherlands, but it is down under. In the Netherlands, most bosses don't want to know much about leave for animals. Employees in our country can take a maximum of ten days of leave if your child or partner is sick, and then you get nothing paid. Caring for a sick pet does not count. So no matter how difficult it is when your dog is deathly ill in its bed: you actually just have to go to work. Not entirely fair. So it remains difficult to determine what wisdom is in this discussion.

I can still remember as if it were yesterday when my parents called. I was at work. Our loyal black Labrador had been gray and sick for a while, and now the moment had come. Could I come right away? She could no longer. She was walking with her sweet little head against walls and collapsing on her legs. The poor dear animal that had been my friend for almost fourteen years, with whom I used to hop around the garden as a child and could share all my teenage heartbreak.

As soon as I left the house, I felt guilty: I felt like I was leaving her behind a bit. But I was grown up, and it was late and I was going to study. Yet she forgave me. She would still come and lie against me with her snout when I was feeling sorry for myself and the guys were stupid. When I had the flu, she lay next to me all day on the couch. And now she was sick, and we had to say goodbye. Fortunately, my work didn't make it difficult, and I could go straight to my parents. That was nice because the farewell was already difficult enough. You can always think or say: ‘It's just an animal, just buy a new one,’ but it doesn't work that way. I still miss that snout.