BrewDog is a Scottish beermaker that has described itself as a “post-punk, apocalyptic, motherfucker of a craft brewery.” It’s the one that crammed a $20,000 bottle of beer into a dead squirrel’s mouth, and it’s the one that (somewhat problematically) compared transgender individuals to hops flowers. But underneath all of that hipster swagger and a thick layer of Beer for Punks stickers, co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie are a couple of dog-loving softies. That’s the only explanation for the brewery’s recent announcement that employees who adopt a new pup are now eligible for a week of paid time off. And yes, they’re referring to this benefit as “Paw-Ternity Leave.”
“This week, we introduced something our staff have been asking about for a while,” BrewDog said in a video posted to Twitter. “We just introduced Puppy Parental Leave for all our crew.”
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According to BrewDog, there are 50 office dogs who unofficially clock in for work at its Ellon, Scotland headquarters—and four-legged workers will be permitted at its soon-to-open Columbus, Ohio location too. The Puppy Parental Leave is a benefit that all 1,000-plus BrewDog employees at all 44 of its pubs can take advantage of.
“One of our aims as a business is to be the best company to work for. Ever. Puppy Parental Leave is just one small step towards making that a reality, as we launched it as a direct response to staff members who were taking holiday days to settle in new dogs, or worrying about their new best friend at home when they were at work,” Watt told MUNCHIES. “The two things we care most about in the world are beer and people. We also really, really like dogs.”
Watt said that since the program was announced, BrewDog has seen an increase in job applications through the company’s website. (And—just in case you were curious – BrewDog treats human parents right too; it offers “an enhanced maternity and paternity leave and pay policy,” as well as shared parental leave for new moms and dads.
DogTap Columbus, the brewer’s first U.S. location, is scheduled to open on Monday, February 20. According to the Columbus Dispatch, this is the first physical piece of BrewDog’s $30 million U.S. investment, as it tries to leave its, er, pawprints on the ‘Merican market. Its 100,000-square-foot brewery—which is visible from inside the taproom—is still under construction.
Either way, it sounds like there are going to be some happy dogs (and Dogs), on both sides of the Atlantic.
