June 20th is Bring Your Dog to Work Day, an annual, national event where individuals are encouraged to bring their dogs to work to celebrate the companionship between dogs and humans.
Dogs have been our best friend since way back when; they became domesticated by choosing to live and work alongside us. They worked alongside us, hunting and tracking and keeping us safe at night by alerting us to potential dangers.
Some dogs have a variety of jobs, including guide dogs, service dogs, therapy dogs and those involved in search and rescue, detection, herding and even military and police work. For others their main role is to alert you to the perils of the postie or a squirrel in the garden!
In modern times, this relationship is often forgotten about, and our furry friends are now left at home whilst we go out to work.
Since lockdown, we’ve seen many businesses allowing dogs in the office, simply because dogs have become accustomed to human contact throughout the day and their human is worried about them fretting and becoming distressed and destructive if left alone at home.
But before you consider whether you want to allow your staff to bring their dog to work, there are several points to consider, which might make you wonder if you’re biting off more than you can chew!
Some points to consider if you do decide to allow staff to bring dogs into work:
- Carry out a risk assessment to ensure that the dog won’t cause allergies or other medical problems.
- Get confirmation from your employee that their pet is trained (dogs do tend to scent and cock their leg if they can smell that another dog has been in the area, whereas bitches don’t tend to scent.)
- Get confirmation that the dog is clean, vaccinated and free from parasites.
- Consider imposing an age limit – such as no puppies allowed.
- Consider liability – who is responsible if the dog bites a co-worker, another dog or damages company property.
- How do you stop the dog from barking and distracting staff.
- Who will supervise the dog, if the owner has to attend a meeting?
- Consider areas the dog will not be allowed – such as the kitchen.
- Consider employees who fear/don’t like dogs.
- Will dogs be allowed to roam free, or should they be crated?
- If you do want to allow dogs in the office, and you have more than one employee wanting to bring their dog to work, then consider having a doggie rota. Not all dogs are friendly with other dogs, the last thing you need is a potential dog fight at work!
There’s certainly a lot to consider, it might be worth just doing a quick survey to get your employees’ views before committing to anything.
If you would like further advice on how to carry out a risk assessment or drafting a liability statement, please contact us!