Pets in the Office

Pets In the Office
It's A Growing Trend

In the dog-eat-dog world of business, there's a growing trend at some
companies. Workers are bringing their
pets to the office.

Chip Paucek, who produces educational videos and television programs, has
been taking his golden retriever,
Hoss, to work for the last five years. Paucek and Hoss visited The Early
Show and talked with Co-Anchor
Jane Clayson.

The dog has became the office mascot, says Paucek. "He brings a lot of
emotion and people love it. He's
very relaxed."

But Paucek, as co-president of his company, has the freedom to bring Hoss to
the office if he wishes. Not
everybody can bring their pet to work.

"A lot of it depends on the dog," says Paucek, who explains that Hoss is not
a rowdy dog.

"He just hangs out," explains Paucek. "He's easy to get along with."

Hoss has free rein at the office. When Paucek is away on trips, "My wife
brings him in and drops him off at
the office," Paucek says.

While there are plenty of positives to pets in the workplace, there are also
many legal issues to consider. John
Challenger, CEO of an international placement company, agrees that the trend
of bringing pets to the work
place is really growing.

"More and more companies in this tight labor market are trying to make their
working place
employee-friendly and many are looking at bringing pets into the workplace,"
says Challenger

He points out, however, that there are serious issues that employers and
employees need to explore before
they adopt a pets-in-the-office policy.

"One of the things that the companies must do, before they jump into a
policy like that, is take a poll
of their employees and find out what they're thinking. If you have certain
employees that don't feel
comfortable with pets, you might want to rethink the policy."

There are liability questions as well. For example, the company might be
liable if a dog or cat bites or
scratches another employee.

"The company ought to talk with their attorneys before they put this kind of
policy in effect," says
Challenger. "The employee needs to understand that if their dog bites
someone or the cat scratches
someone, it can't be the company's fault."

Allergies are a major deterrent to bringing cats to the office.

"Many people are allergic to cat hair. You have to think, as an employer,
will you put them in a
certain part of your space. What about people who are afraid of animals?
Many don't feel
comfortable with them around. Just how many do you want? Do you want cats
and dogs and what
about birds? What about the noise of birds?"

Paucek admits that when there's more than one pet in the office, "It gets
chaotic."

In 1997, the American Animal Hospital Association surveyed 1,225 pet owners.
They found that:

21% of those surveyed had taken their pets to work
76% feel guilty about leaving their pets at home while they're on the
job
33% said they leave a TV or radio on for their animals

If a company decides to allow pets in the office, they should:

poll employees before they let the pets come
provide a written policy about pets and list which pets are not welcome
in the office
establish an off-limits-to-pets area
make sure employees bring documents proving pets are vaccinated
bar noisy, destructive, or messy animals from the office
tell employees to keep control of their animals at all times

If many employees want to bring their pets to the office, the company should
make a rotating schedule.

When the pets-in-the-office policy does work, it's great. Paucek says when
he and Hoss arrive at work, "I get
off the elevator. He goes one way and I go the other. He says hello to the
employees. He has his own
web page."