In the case of everything you’ll find here, it’s not about people bringing their pets into your retail store, local office, etc. 

Instead, it’s about finding ways to offer the most popular pet-related benefits to EMPLOYEES. 

Today’s workforce is highly competitive, so offering pet-related benefits may help your company attract and retain talented professionals who also love their pets. If you can’t allow pets in your office or workplace due to safety or health concerns, that’s OK. You can offer many other much-appreciated benefits. 

It can mean everything to be “pet friendly.” Your employees will appreciate your company more than you can measure in concrete numbers.

When I discovered that there’s really no single hub or resource that provides information along with personal guidance as needed. I decided to establish this resource for you with my Pet-Friendly Office CONCIERGE SYSTEM.

You can certainly spend time searching for articles and guides here and there across the web, but that information may not be the best for your specific office or company situation. And it’s not coordinated in one place with everything you need, with a personal advisor if you have questions.

Here, you’re getting it all in one place: stories, tools, templates, and even personal guidance from me, someone who’s been in the pet/veterinary industry for 25+ years now. 

If you’re an HR manager or business owner looking to retain great employees and attract new talent … I can help you transform your workplace culture with pet-related benefits many on your team will truly appreciate.

Establish a pet-friendly office: Follow my path to welcome pets the right way, in no time.

• Do it yourself the easy way with a Pet-Friendly Office DIY SYSTEM that includes all the checklists and templates you’ll need, including a policy template.
• Or have me do the heavy lifting for you, leaving you free to manage other urgent tasks. EXPLORE my Pet-Friendly Office DIY SYSTEM.

When you can’t allow pets in the office: Offer other popular benefits employees want.

• Visit this page to see the most popular options. 
• Have me guide you through choosing and implementing the right benefits for your team. This is part of my Pet-Friendly Office DIY SYSTEM.

Or offer pets in the workplace PLUS other desirable pet-related benefits!

To see why I’m a great resource for you, learn more about my background

There's a lot you can do for your pet loving employees and support a caring work culture. Here are the most popular benefits proven to increase employee happiness and loyalty:

• Allowing pets in the office (if that’s possible)
• Pet insurance
• Pet wellness plans
• New pet leave
• Pet bereavement leave
• Therapy pet visits on-site
• Mobile veterinary care on-site
• Mobile pet grooming visits on-site

These are the typical steps to establishing a pet-friendly workplace, based on everything I’ve seen as I’ve studied all kinds of companies allowing pets in the office: 

• First make sure your building can accommodate pets in the office. Service animals are allowed by law (see the ADA requirements). And depending on your company’s line of work as well as your building’s lease (if your office space is rented), you can be fine and cleared to have pets in the office. Check with your rental agency to be sure. 
• Next, you'll want to talk to your company attorney and make sure there aren't any liability issues. This article on legal considerations will give you a great starting point for discussion.
• Also make sure your company’s property/liability insurance covers having pets in the office.
• Once you know those three foundational aspects are solid, survey your employees and see how much interest there is, and what they want. For instance, if 70% of your employees would love to have pets in the office, that’s great. You may also find that a percentage does NOT want pets in the office for various reasons. Once you know, you can accommodate those who have allergies or worries about being around animals.
• Once you survey the employees, meet with your management team to define the policy and guidelines for pets in the office. This may involve designating specific pet-friendly and pet-free office spaces for the comfort of all employees. 
• Plan to post signs that clearly mark these different areas. 
• Consider providing pet-related amenities for a tidy, consistent workplace. Office-appropriate pet products including crates, pet beds, water bowls, leash hooks, waste bags, cleaning supplies, quiet toys, and more. You may even order custom-printed pet and employee items with your company brand logo. And you could arrange for an outdoor play space and relief station to be designed and created by a professional resource. On the other end of the spectrum, you can decide to have pet owners bring in all their own necessities for their pets, with you providing the bare essentials (water bowls and waste bags). 

To make easy work of all this, explore my Pet-Friendly Office DIY SYSTEM. 

Or, you can have me do most of the heavy lifting for you with my Pet-Friendly Office CONCIERGE SYSTEM, my personal service. Together we can walk through your mission and specific company needs… and then come up with a smart, easy plan.

The simplest way is to use the Pet-Friendly Office Policy Template in my Pet-Friendly Office DIY SYSTEM. Or you can hire me to take care of this for you, so it truly works for YOUR needs! Let’s talk about your specific needs.

To protect your company and your employees related to any workplace scenario involving animals, you'll definitely want to check with your own lawyer, insurance company, and building owner. They can advise you on the specifics of any risks and requirements. If you need guidance on what to consider or how to proceed, this blog post is a great place to start. You can also contact mefor personal assistance.

You have many different pet insurance options, from many different carriers specializing in pet insurance. I've listed the top pet-insurance companies on this page.I'm not an affiliate for any of them at the moment. I may be at some point, but you can review the list and compare out yourself. Or I can help youwith research and comparisons through my Pet-Friendly Office CONCIERGE SYSTEM.

Whenever a new pet comes into a home, it takes time for everyone to adjust. Recognizing this transition is very important for the whole family as they welcome their new furry friend. And the pet needs to get used to their new place. Offering one or more days of paw-ternity leave can make a huge difference to your employee.  It’s the kind of benefit that shows empathy for your employees and will go a long way toward building loyalty.

The loss of a pet is devastating and emotionally draining. When I lost my own dog Louie the Wonderpup after 14-1/2 years together, it was a terrible shock. I was devastated and heartbroken for quite some time. When one of your employees loses a beloved pet, they could really use some time to grieve. Try offering a day or a few days of paid bereavement leave. It’s a wonderful way to show that you care about your employees with true compassion.

If you can't have pets in the offices, you can arrange to have therapy pets brought into an area that's not in the office; perhaps set up a tent outside or a mobile unit. Most local areas offer trained therapy pets for schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and other areas. Why? Because dogs and cats can work wonders for people. They’re known to help reduce stress, bring joy and calm to the community, and offer other emotional wellbeing. For example, I spoke with the head of HR at IDEXX told me therapythat they started with one of their locations and now they do it in nine locations.

It’s a great benefit to employees to have mobile veterinary practices and mobile groomers come to the office. Perhaps you can work with local resources to schedule care once a month. For instance, look into monthly grooming appointments, wellness visits, vaccines and other prevention. I'm sure a veterinary practice in your area and/or groomer would love to have the chance to meet and take care of your employees’ pets. And bonus: the employee won’t have to leave work to take care of these things.