Pets in the Workplace: The Impact of Pet-Friendly Policies on Employee Stress and the Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Support

Abstract

This study investigated whether pet-friendly workplace policies, specifically dog-friendly policies, serve as a buffer against stress, as well as impact perceived organizational support (POS). Using a mediational questionnaire design, this study examined whether the availability of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to employee occupational stress levels and employee POS, with POS mediating the relationship between a pet-friendly policy and stress. One-hundred eighty-eight full-time employees recruited via crowdsourced and snowball sampling methods completed an online survey, including several measures of workplace attitudes. Results supported all hypotheses, revealing that the presence of a pet-friendly policy was significantly related to lower stress, and POS fully mediated this relationship. Significant interactions were also found, indicating that this effect was stronger for dog owners than for employees without dogs. Ultimately, these findings provide support for the affordance of a pet-friendly policy in organizations, when appropriate.