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In today’s economy, more businesses are adopting the growing trend of pets in the office. In fact, it’s not uncommon today to walk into work and face a friendly greeting from an enthusiastic dog.
National Love Your Pet Day falls on 20 February this year. So, what would be a greater way to celebrate this than initiating a pet-friendly office? From improved wellbeing to better work-life balance… There are tons of positives to having animals in the workplace.
However, employers must ensure proper steps are taken before they start stocking up on feed and toys. If not, you could end up creating uncomfortable environments for both your employees – and their pets. For further advice, contact one of our expert H&S advisors free of charge today.
Now, let’s take a look at how employers can create a pet-friendly office for their business.
What are the benefits of pet-friendly offices?
There are endless opportunities to gain when you open up your offices to pets. An increase in collaboration, engagement, and overall happiness are just a few things to look forward to. Let’s look at the benefits of having pet-friendly offices:
Staff wellbeing: Pets can help people feel less stressed and anxious. Employees benefit from feeling relaxed – boosting their wellbeing during work hours especially when they're sick.
Work-life balance: Being able to bring pets to work means employees don’t have to worry about making pet-care arrangements. Or worry about leaving them at home alone.
Employee retention: Employees who work in pro-pet offices are more likely to remain employed in their role. These types of work benefits dissuade them seeking jobs elsewhere – remaining loyal to the company.
Employee relations: Having pets in the office opens up conversations between colleagues and teams. Not only does this increase socialisation, but it also can lead to collaborations between departments.
What are the downsides of pet-friendly offices?
Whilst the positive points may seem tempting, employers need to think about the opposite side to the situation. Without proper considerations, you could end up causing unrecoverable damages to your business. Let’s look at the downside of pet-friendly offices:
Allergies: Some people suffer from animal allergies; from dogs, cats, and other animals. They could already suffer from allergic reactions indirectly from pet-owners; now they’ll have the deal with animals in person.
Work hours: Some pets may require additional attention during the day, especially if they need walking or are still young. Distractions like this can add up to lost work hours – impacting business continuity and production.
Accidents: Some animals may cause mischief, creating mess and disorder in the workplace. Not only can this be a nuisance, but such risks can lead to injuries and accidents at work.
: Some people might have fears of particular animals. Others might feel comfortable with the idea of them roaming freely underneath their desks. Pet-friendly offices can leave those employees feeling undervalued, ignored, and neglected.
How to create a pet-friendly office for your workplace
Now that we’ve weighed up the options, employers may have decided to go ahead with inviting our furry friends to work. Before you open the doors, it’s important to ensure the right precautions are taken beforehand. Let’s look at how employers can create a pet-friendly office for their workplace:
Collect staff opinions
The first step to take involves asking your employees whether having a pet-friendly office is a good idea or not. Employers should present an anonymous survey that'll collect data on whether it’s something they’d like to see within the business.
If the majority vote against having pets in the office, you may need to park the idea for now. However, if your staff are in favour, you need to follow the right steps before opening your office doors to all pets.
Create an office-pets policy
Employers should create an office-pets policy that outlines your rules clearly. It’s important to have a written available for all staff members at any time.
An office-pets policy isn’t just for the safety and welfare of your staff. Your duty of care extends to pets in the office, caring for them as reasonably as possible. Some policy rules you want to cover include:
Employees have a responsibility to look after their own pet at work. This includes minimising disruptions to their own work duties, as well as other colleagues.
Animals should be toilet-trained, well behaved, and be able to follow basic instructions.
Animals should be clean, have vaccinations, flea protection, etc.
Animals that show signs of aggression may be removed and banned from the office immediately.
Present an animal-friendly space
Employers need to make sure all accessible work areas are animal-friendly. Outline any areas that they may sneak into with or without knowledge. For example, they could get caught in loose cables under computer desks. Employers can even conduct a to highlight potential dangers for animals in the workplace.
It’s also important to consider space, temperature, and ergonomics. Assign a suitable outdoors space for dogs. Room temperatures shouldn’t be too hot or too cold. Make sure your furniture isn’t easily ripped by animals, or they could end up choking on debris.
Set up animal-free spaces
Even if your voting process found most staff were in favour of pets in the office, it’s important to consider those who weren’t comfortable with the idea. You’ll need to dedicate some spaces that are kept animal-free.
Some people might have allergies or even concerns on certain types of animals. For example, Muslims aren’t able to pray in clothing that is soiled by animals. So, having a dedicated space free from animals allows all staff to feel comfortable at work.
Provide pet essentials
If you’re going to be opening your office to pets, it’s best to be accommodating within reason. Employers can stock up on all animal necessities. Or you can ask employees to donate towards a shared pantry of pet essentials.
Dry and wet food, water bowls, blankets, beds, poop-bags… These are just some basic items to invest in. This type of support for pet-owners will reiterate into productivity, motivation, and retention.
Minimise business disruption
Whilst it might seem like a dream, having pets in the office can cause disruptions to business continuity. Taking them for walks, feeding them, or even stopping them from causing mischief can add up to lost work hours.
Employers need to establish what these rules are; either through your policy or in additional documents. For example, you could have a rule where dogs must be walked during breaks. Rules like these embed equality between work duties and conditions.
Get expert advice on creating pet-friendly offices with Peninsula
From free pet-care to improved employee wellbeing… There are all kinds of positive points employers gain from promoting a pet-friendly office. But you can’t just start inviting them tomorrow. Employers need to make sufficient plans beforehand - for both pet and non-pet owning employees.
Peninsula offers expert advice on creating pet-friendly offices. Our 24/7 H&S advice is available 365 days a year. Want to find out more? Book a free chat with one of our H&S consultants. For further information, call 0800 051 3685.
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Peninsula GroupHR and Health & Safety Experts
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