diff --git a/lib/oban/job.ex b/lib/oban/job.ex
index 970842ce..cebd03e5 100644
--- a/lib/oban/job.ex
+++ b/lib/oban/job.ex
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ defmodule Oban.Job do
 
   Insert a job, ensuring that it is unique within the past minute:
 
-      MyApp.Worker.new(%{id: 1}, unique: [period: 60])
+      MyApp.Worker.new(%{id: 1}, unique: [period: {1, :minute}])
 
   Insert a unique job where the period is compared to the `scheduled_at` timestamp rather than
   `inserted_at`:
@@ -366,12 +366,35 @@ defmodule Oban.Job do
     end
   end
 
+  @doc false
+  @spec cast_period(pos_integer() | {atom(), pos_integer()}) :: pos_integer()
+  def cast_period({value, unit}) do
+    unit = to_string(unit)
+
+    cond do
+      unit in ~w(second seconds) -> value
+      unit in ~w(minute minutes) -> value * 60
+      unit in ~w(hour hours) -> value * 60 * 60
+      unit in ~w(day days) -> value * 24 * 60 * 60
+      true -> unit
+    end
+  end
+
+  def cast_period(period), do: period
+
+  @valid_period_units ~w(second seconds minute minutes hour hours day days)a
+
   @doc false
   @spec valid_unique_opt?({:fields | :period | :states, [atom()] | integer()}) :: boolean()
   def valid_unique_opt?({:fields, [_ | _] = fields}), do: fields -- [:meta | @unique_fields] == []
   def valid_unique_opt?({:keys, []}), do: true
   def valid_unique_opt?({:keys, [_ | _] = keys}), do: Enum.all?(keys, &is_atom/1)
   def valid_unique_opt?({:period, :infinity}), do: true
+
+  def valid_unique_opt?({:period, {period, unit}}) do
+    is_integer(period) and period > 0 and unit in @valid_period_units
+  end
+
   def valid_unique_opt?({:period, period}), do: is_integer(period) and period > 0
   def valid_unique_opt?({:states, [_ | _] = states}), do: states -- states() == []
   def valid_unique_opt?({:timestamp, stamp}), do: stamp in ~w(inserted_at scheduled_at)a
@@ -447,7 +470,7 @@ defmodule Oban.Job do
           |> Map.new()
           |> Map.put_new(:fields, @unique_fields)
           |> Map.put_new(:keys, [])
-          |> Map.put_new(:period, @unique_period)
+          |> Map.update(:period, @unique_period, &cast_period/1)
           |> Map.put_new(:states, @unique_states)
           |> Map.put_new(:timestamp, @unique_timestamp)
 
diff --git a/test/oban/job_test.exs b/test/oban/job_test.exs
index 4ca6ca9c..81fb3798 100644
--- a/test/oban/job_test.exs
+++ b/test/oban/job_test.exs
@@ -89,6 +89,12 @@ defmodule Oban.JobTest do
              }
     end
 
+    test ":unique will translate period" do
+      changeset = Job.new(%{}, worker: Fake, unique: [period: {1, :hour}])
+
+      assert %{period: 3600} = changeset.changes[:unique]
+    end
+
     test ":unique does not accept other types of values or options" do
       assert Job.new(%{}, worker: Fake, unique: true).errors[:unique]
       assert Job.new(%{}, worker: Fake, unique: []).errors[:unique]
diff --git a/test/oban/worker_test.exs b/test/oban/worker_test.exs
index f672a1f5..4a8c1443 100644
--- a/test/oban/worker_test.exs
+++ b/test/oban/worker_test.exs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ defmodule Oban.WorkerTest do
       max_attempts: @max_attempts,
       priority: 1,
       tags: ["scheduled", "special"],
-      unique: [fields: [:queue, :worker], period: 60, states: [:scheduled]]
+      unique: [fields: [:queue, :worker], period: {1, :minute}, states: [:scheduled]]
 
     @impl Worker
     def perform(%{attempt: attempt}) when attempt > 1, do: attempt