New York ? Colgate-Palmolive Co., which announced Tuesday it is eliminating 4,400 jobs, disclosed in a regulatory filing that many of its top executives and officers are given allowance of up to $11,500 a year to spend on anything from pet sitters to running shoes to karate lessons to movie rentals.

The plan, called “Above and Beyond,” was detailed in the consumer product company’s quarterly filing in November with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The program has been in place since 1986 and covers 800 executives.

Under the plan, executives and officers can ask for reimbursement for exercise equipment, such as rowing or skiing machines, instructional videos, grooming and boarding services for pets, pet walking services and sitters, and veterinarian fees and visits.

Twenty top officers are each eligible for an $11,500 yearly allowance. Between 110 and 120 vice presidents are eligible for $10,000 allowances and 650 executives are eligible for allowances of either $2,000 or $4,000, depending on their rank. Not every eligible executive uses their allowance, the company said.

“Colgate has consistently tried to be fair and very modest in this distribution of any perquisites,” said a company spokesman who asked not to be named. “A total of 800 people in the ‘Above and Beyond’ program have access to a modest, fixed stipend that can be used for home computers, baby sitters, fitness training, tax assistance and other benefits that can make their lives somewhat easier.”

The plan replaced previous benefits that were unfairly distributed and, in some cases, excessive, the spokesman said.

“This perquisite program, by design, puts Colgate well below the median for perquisite programs among a very large comparative group,” he said.

Colgate said Tuesday it was cutting 12 percent of its work force and closing one third of its factories to improve profits.

The company had $9.9 billion in sales last year and paid its top five executives $23.3 million in cash and stock, plus another $9.1 million in stock options. The company’s highest paid executive, chairman and CEO Reuben Mark, made $10.4 million in salary, bonus and stock awards