Pawternity Leave is a Thing.
At ETHIX360, we’ve always been a “dogs are welcome” office. There’s been Rily, JoJo, Danny, Finn, Patrick, and several others through the years. Each one brought something different – some were calming, some let you know when UPS was here. But we’ve enjoyed them all; there are dog beds, treats, and water bowls strategically place throughout the office. One of them, Danny, likes to come into meetings in the conference room, get up in a chair, sit up and put his paws on the table, and thinks he’s the decision-maker… sometimes we humor him and go along.
Did you know that employees in companies that allow pets at work are significantly more likely to recommend the company as a great place to work, even given other benefits being the same?
THE BENEFITS OF OWNING A PET
1 in 5 U.S. households adopted a dog during COVID, and these owners built incredibly strong bonds with them – much more so than people who had pets before COVID. This makes sense. With the isolation that came with the pandemic, you didn’t have to train the dogs to behave while you were at work. Now many are experiencing extreme separation anxiety when their 24x7 companion stays home as they go back to the office.
I read with interest a blog post from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans concerning employers considering “pet-friendly” benefits. Pawternity leave is for real, and not just a punchline. The number of companies offering this is still small, but it’s growing.
Combine that with rewriting the PTO policies that most companies are now doing, and it makes some impact. We’re seeing clients move to unlimited PTO, shifting to all floating holidays, and allowing sabbaticals. And yes, providing pawternity leave for those days that you need those cold nose kisses only your fur buddy can give.
Extreme? Maybe. Silly? Possibly. But consider this: what’s the harm if you move to unlimited PTO and allow pawternity leave as well?
THE DOGS OF ETHIX360
P.S. National “Bring Your Dog to Work Day” is June 25, right around the corner!
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MEET THE AUTHOR
J Rollins is the co-founder and CEO of ETHIX360. J is a well known leader and innovator who has served on senior leadership teams ranging in responsibility from Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, SVP of Product Strategy and Chief Operating Officer.
ABOUT ETHIX360
At ETHIX360, our goal is simple: to provide an affordable, flexible, and comprehensive answer to employee communication, policy management, corporate training and case management on issues related to corporate ethics, code of conduct, fraud, bribery, and workplace violence.
