首个“瘦身版”五一圆满结束

2008年05月05日 09:16

“带薪年假”的说法

　　首个“瘦身版”五一假期圆满结束。国家旅游局统计数据显示，从5月1日至3日，全国共接待游客近900万人次，同比下降近三成。虽然五一休假时间“缩水”了，但我们却可以根据国务院颁布的《职工带薪年休假条例》享受带薪年休假，从而避开旅游高峰，自主安排出游时间。今天我们就来说说“带薪年休假”以及“带薪休假”用英语该怎么说。

　　1 带薪年休假

　　paid annual leave和annual paid leave均可

　　例1：如英国某网站提供的说法是：From 1 October 2007 all workers have a statutory right to at least 4.8 weeks paid annual leave (that's 24 days paid holiday if you work five days a week).

　　例2：英国另一网站在介绍英国带薪年休假增加到每年24天时的说法是：The Government introduced the right to 20 days' paid annual leave in 1998. It proposes to phase in the additional leave starting with an increase from 20 to 24 days (pro rata for part time workers) from 1st October 2007.

　　例3：日本某网站则是如此介绍“带薪年休假”的："Annual paid leave" means workers can take any days off they like, except fixed holidays, while being paid wages for regular work days.

　　2 带薪休假

　　paid time off、paid leave、paid vacation和paid holiday均可，表达“休带薪假”，使用动词take即可。

　　(1) paid time off

　　paid time off是英语中用来表示“带薪休假”时很常用的表达，也许是因为这一表达具有简明扼要的优点，又非常口语化，因此被广泛接受。这里的time off 实际上被当作一个合成名词，就是“休假”的意思。

　　例1：英国某网站就有如下的文字：Employees aged 16 or 17, who are not in full-time secondary or further education and who have not achieved a certain standard in their education/training, will be entitled to reasonable paid time off during normal working hours to study or train for a qualification which will help them towards achieving that standard, and improve their future employment prospects.

　　例2：美国杜克大学人力资源部门在网站上介绍其带薪休假制度时候也使用了paid time off这一表达并且还说明其首字母缩写为PTO：Duke University Health System (DUHS) provides paid time off for eligible employees for the purpose of rest, relaxation, illness, holidays, personal, and family needs. The Paid Time Off (PTO) program puts vacation, sick leave, holiday, and funeral leave into one program.

　　例3：美国另一著名高校卡内基•梅隆大学也在其校园网站上介绍了其教职员工带薪休假的规定：The Paid Time Off Policy provides regular, full-time staff members with an entitlement of days away from work with pay. Paid Time Off (PTO) days may be used for vacation, personal time, illness or time off to care for dependents.

　　例4：日本一家营销公司规定，员工失恋后可享受带薪假期。而且随着年龄的增长，这种“疗伤假”会增多：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.

　　(2) Paid leave

　　“带薪休假”最常见的表达方式，无薪假期则是unpaid leave。Leave 事实上是英语中“休假”的最常用表达，比如说病假就是sick leave，妇女休产假叫做maternal leave，而这些年西方国家已开始流行妻子生产之后丈夫也可以休假，这种假期就叫做paternal leave。

　　例1：美联社的一篇最新新闻报道中提到：New Jersey may be poised to become the third state to require companies to offer six weeks of paid leave to workers wishing to care for a new child or sick relative.

　　Under the plan, which is backed heavily by organized labor, parents could take paid leave anytime in the first year after a child's birth or adoption.

　　Workers would be allowed to take paid leave to care for a sick relative receiving inpatient care in a medical care facility or under continuing supervision from a health care provider. A health provider could also certify a sick relative needs help at home.

　　If it passes, New Jersey would adopt similar policies to those in California and Washington state. Federal law allows some workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

　　(3) Paid vacation

　　美国某网站对于paid vacation有以下的解释：Paid vacation time is a voluntary benefit that organizations offer to employees. There are no federal regulations requiring employers to provide vacation days, but it has become common business practice to do so. Employees accrue hours of paid vacation time at a certain rate for each day worked. Different employers use different formulas to calculate vacation time. So, an employee with 15 days of paid vacation time at one company may or may not enjoy the same number of paid vacation days after changing jobs. Generally speaking, the amount of paid vacation time depends on the length of service and the level in the organization. Usually companies have some scale that decides how many paid vacation days an employee will receive. Four or five weeks of vacation is not unlikely for an employee who remains with a company for more than 15 years, although that's typically the upper limit for vacation.

　　(4) Paid holiday

　　其实这一表达与paid vacation没多少差异，只是一个为英国英语，而另一个为美国英语，因为美国英语中表示假期时更倾向于使用vacation，而英国英语则说holiday。

　　如英国某网站对英国的带薪休假规定做了介绍，其中的一段文字说：There is a minimum right to paid holiday, but your employer may offer more than this. The main things you should know about holiday rights are as follows…

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