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1. Pet-friendly workplaces – a growing trend
Many North American households have at least one pet that is often considered to be a genuine member of the family. In recent years, workplaces have instituted policies that are sensitive to pet ownership – earning the title of “pet-friendly workplaces” (PFWs) – because of pressures for greater flexibility and enhanced responsiveness to wellness and work-life balance. Bringing pets to work is but one aspect of pet-friendliness; there is a wide range of pet-friendly approaches that apply to any workplace that aims to enhance attraction and recruitment, improve employee retention, develop employee productivity, enhance employee health, and increase bottom-line results. Technology firms were among the first to allow pets at work, and the trend is now reaching wider, including healthcare organizations such as nursing homes and hospitals (Barker, 2005; Barker et al., 2012). Some evidence indicates that small companies are more likely to be pet-friendly (Norling and Keeling, 2010; Wells and Perrine, 2001a), yet, larger well-known companies such as Ben & Jerry’s, Google, and Zynga, among others, highlight various aspects of pet-friendliness on their websites.
While the trend of workplace pet-friendliness remains recent, humans have used animals in work settings for practical and economic purposes for thousands of years (Wells and Perrine, 2001a). Farmers have used mules to plow fields; hunters have used dogs to detect, track, and retrieve game; merchants have used horses to transport people and goods. In modern times, working animals can still be found in the military, law enforcement, search-and-rescue, security, pest detection, and in TV and film, among others. Moreover, some modern workplaces such as universities and hospitals have therapy dogs on site. Significant to contemporary animal ownership, however, is the rise of “companion animals” or “pets.” Indeed, North America is home to millions of cats, dogs, birds, fish, and reptiles, among other species, that people consider bona fide members of the family.
Despite the anecdotal benefits of being a PFW, few empirical studies have examined this trend (for few exceptions, see Barker, 2005; Barker et al., 2012; Wells and Perrine, 2001a, b). Consequently, scholars have called for more research on PFWs (e.g. Barker, 2005), a potentially significant area of concern considering the growing recognition that healthy workplaces are linked to organizational...