P & amp;G awards 90,000 workers with 2 days off

CINCINNATI (AP) -- With sales, profits and its stock price rising, consumer products giant Procter & amp; Gamble is rewarding its 90,000 employees with two free days off or the cash equivalent.
The maker of Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Clairol hair-care products said it will provide the one-time benefit to all employees worldwide.
Company personnel officer Dick Antoine said it is the first time the company has provided the benefit, which will cost P & amp;G millions of dollars.
Each year, the company gives special awards of 50 shares of stock to 2,000 employees. It will increase that to 3,000 employees this year.
But the additional two days of vacation is different because it excludes only the three dozen or so top officers in the company.
Company chairman and chief executive A.G. Lafley announced the award in an e-mail to employees Tuesday. "We've never before offered a company performance award such as this, but you've earned it," Lafley wrote.
P & amp;G's sales, earnings and stock price have prospered during the last three years.
From a low of less than $60 a share in mid-2000, the stock closed at $106.81 Wednesday. Procter & amp; Gamble said last week its earnings for the latest quarter climbed 20 percent as sales rose 22 percent.