Working Nine to Five - Why more offices are going to the dogs

Year after year, across our great country, Americans participate in Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. But did you know that there is also a day designated to taking your dog to work? Take Your Dog to Work Day was founded in 1999 by Pet Sitters International, a North Carolina-based educational association of 8,000 independent, professional pet sitters. The association created the observance to celebrate the companionship of dogs and to encourage adoptions from humane societies, shelters and rescue groups. But for many businesses – as many as 1 in 5 according to a survey conducted by the Pet Manufacturer’s Association – Take Your Dog to Work Day is every day.

According to dogfriendly.com, the majority of companies that allow dogs in the office are small start-up companies who realize the need for a flexible work environment. Others are large, high tech firms (Google and Amazon are best known for their dogs in the workplace policies) that allow dogs in order to capture the interest of a prospective employee or to retain their current employees. Additionally, the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association surveyed 50 small and large companies across the U.S. who permit pets in the workplace. The survey shows that those with pets have lower absenteeism rates and employees who are more willing to work overtime.

Jennifer Fearing, chief economist for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and co author of the forthcoming book Dogs at Work: A Practical Guide for Creating Dog- Friendly Workplaces says, “Dogs in the workplace build social capital and morale and their calming effect goes a long way to soften a stressful work environment. Additionally, the policy allows employees to bring a dog into their lives and know they can meet his or her needs,” says Fearing.

A huge advocate of dogs in the workplace, Fearing worked tireless hours to devise a model for large-scale companies to make dogs in the workplace a reality. Fearing recommends,

“If you want to make your workplace dog-friendly, decide what your goal is as a company. At HSUS we didn’t want lonely dogs at home while we work long hours to protect animals across the country.”

The Humane Society shows that bringing your dog to work can work for large organizations (300 plus employees) in a cubicle environment. Interestingly, many HSUS employees were concerned about how dogs might fare in the “cube farm” of their Gaithersburg headquarters. However, one year after implementing the policy, HSUS surveyed their employees and found that employee satisfaction with the program was overwhelmingly positive. “Employees found that dogs much improved the work environment without diminishing our professionalism or productivity a bit,” says Fearing.

Alternately, other companies are finding success with pets in the workplace without a formal written policy. California-based, cutting-edge, cruelty-free cosmetics company Urban Decay has been in business more than 10 years with a casual pet policy in place.

Urban Decay’s human resources manager Tamara Sadlier says her need to get involved in any dog-related conflicts is “minimal”. During her five year tenure with Urban Decay, Tamara says she has only had to ask a couple of employees to reconsider bringing their dogs to work – attributing to one case to some concerns about biting and another to a dog who was too disruptive. In both cases, “the employees completely agreed and decided to leave their dogs at home.” So far, she has found the employees to be so responsible with their animals and considerate of their coworkers, that no formal policies or rules have been deemed necessary.

Whether there is a formal or informal dog policy – the end results appear to be the same. As Urban Decay’s Logistics Director Kirk Martin says, “It is awesome having the dogs at work with us. When I was deciding to work at Urban Decay, I saw the open-mindedness about the dogs as a sign of an open minded company.” Kirk says that when the stress level rises at the office, the dogs have a way of calming things down.

Simple tips for creating a formal policy to bring dogs to work:

• Install Hepa filters in HVAC and vacuums to filter dander and other allergens.
• Designate “dog-free” zones in common areas, kitchens bathrooms and lobbies.
• Insist dogs be on leash at all times.
• Have employees hang a sign on their office or cubicle indicating the temperament of their dog (red light means they are shy and owner needs to control interactions and green means the dog is friendly so come on in for a pet).