Real Projectives® Gives Employees a Bonus Day Off While Honoring Ferrets

Like many others, 2020 into 2021 brought new challenges, and fresh thinking about how we, as Real Projectives® (RPL), could better help our employees deal with work, family, and health.

With employees working so hard throughout the pandemic, we asked them what one thing would make the most difference. They overwhelmingly expressed that there was no standard work holiday between New Year’s Day and Memorial Day, and they would rather not burn PTO at this moment of the year to take a needed break. So, the company decided to spontaneously give all employees an extra paid day off from work and selected Friday, April 2, 2021 as that day. Management then discovered that April 2 is also known as National Ferret Day.

Like many others, 2020 into 2021 brought new challenges, and fresh thinking about how we, as Real Projectives® (RPL), could better help our employees deal with work, family, and health.
With employees working so hard throughout the pandemic, we asked them what one thing would make the most difference. They overwhelmingly expressed that there was no standard work holiday between New Year’s Day and Memorial Day, and they would rather not burn PTO at this moment of the year to take a needed break. So, the company decided to spontaneously give all employees an extra paid day off from work and selected Friday, April 2, 2021 as that day. Management then discovered that April 2 is also known as National Ferret Day.

Thinking of ferrets as playful and adorable, we plunged into full celebration of Ferret Day by giving a stuffed toy ferret to each employee, asked them to take a selfie that day, and share it with everyone. We intend to make this an annual celebration and paid day off as a unique employee benefit. Going forward, every new employee will receive a stuffed toy ferret on their first day welcoming them to our business!

About Ferrets and National Ferret Day
Ferrets are the domesticated form of the European polecat, initially trained as pets by the Romans for use in hunting. Typically brown, black, and/or white, ferrets are naturally curious, and cunning animals. These carnivores are known as fierce and intelligent hunters, though they can also be very playful and friendly, enjoy human interaction, and can be loyal companions. The black-footed ferret is the only U.S. native species, which almost went extinct worldwide in the 1960s, and remains endangered.

National Ferret Day (#nationalferretday) was officially recognized in 2014, thanks to the efforts of the American Ferret Association (www.ferret.org) and Carol Roche, a New Yorker who had created the holiday several years prior in honor of her pet to raise awareness of ferret welfare.

Baby ferrets are called “kits,” male ferrets are “hobs,” and females as “jills.” A group of ferrets is known as a business, and in this business we now celebrate National Ferret Day!

And now, all in one place, you can view some of the celebrants of our first RPL National Ferret Day company holiday with their newest, and favorite, stuffed animal—and in one case, a real animal.