We are a privately owned company. Our owner brings her dog to work with her every day. The dog roams the office and lays in the hallway, etc. We have a new employee who has been here about one month. She knew about the dog when we hired her.
Well, last week, she went to the doctor due to some health issues – such as running, stuffy nose, eyes watering, congestion, and so forth, The doctor ran tests and she is allergic to dogs. The owner said she does not care, the dog is staying. What do you advise as I have never been in this situation before?
To read the answer, click here: Should Employers Allow Pets at Work?
This employer should have talked about the dog during the hiring process, thereby allowing allergy sufferers to self-select out. My last employer was a dog-friendly workplace, which they were very clear about early in the interview process. (Plus, the owner’s dog came in and lay at my feet during my first interview.) I love dogs even though I don’t own one myself, so this was a selling point for me — but if I were allergic or just not a dog person, we could have parted ways at that point with no hard feelings.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the employee didn’t know she was allergic–the symptoms started after she went to work there and had to go to the doctor to find out the source of them.
I’m afraid the employee will end up finding another job, if the allergy is that bothersome, because it doesn’t sound to me like this boss will be reasonable.
I’m glad we don’t have cats and dogs at work; I’d be too busy playing with them to get anything done!
FTQ: “She knew about the dog when we hired her.”
We have a cat that commutes with the manager. He comes in in the morning and goes home in the afternoon. Of course, we rescued him from living under our trailer – somebody had dumped him – he even had a collar.
Thank you for acknowledging that not all of us want to be around dogs, especially at work. When I say things like that, I’m usually treated like I drown puppies for fun.
I know what you mean. Just because I have pets people assume I must love ALL pets. Um, no, not necessarily.
This must really suck for the proprietor, who owns and runs the business. Suddenly, someone who she has hired, who already knew that there was a dog in the office every day, can dictate that she has to stop, or she risks suffering an ADA complaint.
I believe I read once that the passage of the ADA actually resulted in increased unemployment for people with disabilities. I imagine that this is because the fear of litigation has made employers more hesitant to hire employees with known disabilities, and it is easier to find a pretextual reason to not hire someone, than it is to find a pretextual reason to fire someone. Not that this would apply here, where neither party (or at least the employer) knew of the disability.
Then I think further… how many people live to adulthood without realizing they have a dog allergy? Now I am thinking she knew she had an allergy, but really wanted the job and thought that it wouldn’t be so bad. Then she spent eight hours a day for a month in a dog-filled office and her allergies got worse. My two cents.
It’s totally true that ADA lowered employment for people with disabilities.
That said, assuming the employee didn’t know about the allergy before (and allergies can develop later in life) even without ADA, it’s totally reasonable to keep the dog away from one employee. Nice people do that.
Sure, nice people do that. But this boss won’t have much of a choice in the matter, and generally I don’t feel that the government should be mandating “niceness”. Hopefully separating the dog and employee is sufficient, and that banning the dog from the office will not be required.
The workplace may not even be subject to the ADA–it sounds like it’s a small workplace, and there has to be at least 15 employees.
Clever, I hadn’t thought of that. How does that work? No accommodations are necessary for business in the US with less than 15 employees?
If that’s the case, then it really is up the owner, and that makes a lot of sense to me.
The original email was signed by, Jane Doe, PHR, Human Resources Manager. Any company that has a dedicated HR person is likely to have more than 15 employees, but I absolutely should have mentioned that threshold.
Actually allergies can develop in adulthood. I started getting seasonal allergies in my late 20’s. I know a vet who became allergic to dogs and cats at age 30!
I guess in some ways this all is an argument NOT to have pets at work.
Aside from the owner just wanting Fido there because he wants to, I see more disadvantages than not.
The ” calming effect ” for employees I undertand can be true, but if a great candidate comes along and you want to hire him/her and they are allergic to dogs or are afraid, I would seriously question the bosses logic if they forego on the candidate. Great employee or my dog ?
OK ok… yes there are lots of good candidates out there but I would hate my potential job to be dependant on a dog.
” Hey Matilda did you get that job?”.
” Yes Alfred I did. Great salary offer but they have a dog and I am allergic so I had to say no”.
So Fido’s boss has to go searching again? Or does he eliminate candidates from the beginning and disclose OFFICE HAS A DOG in the advertisment.
I am just throwing this out there…I am not trying to be difficult here.
You are right. He could lose a very good candidate. If the dog is a priority, maybe it should be in the ad. But he’s allowed to say a dog is more important than good employees. His business.
What often causes unnecessary headaches in the workplace and are pretty easy to prevent? Spouses, relatives, pets, weapons, strong and/or offensive odors, those who lie on their resumes, alcohol, illegal drugs.
Harder to prevent are complainers, those who feel entitled, those who demand exceptions to policies or laws, those with confrontational personalities, those who take many days off, those who do not work hard, and others.
A previous employer didn’t have any policies on pets at work (and honestly have never even seen pets at work before) but last summer we got a kitten from a litter that had been abandoned. She was 2.5 weeks old. I had to bottle feed her every 3-4hrs for a few weeks before she could be left alone for a full day. I asked my boss and she was more than happy to let me bring my kitten to work. She became the office mascot – everyone wanted to come see and play with her.
As cute and great as it was to have her there, commuting with her was such a pain and the distraction during the day (as she was very curious and playful when awake, and TINY – dangers of being stepped on or falling off a desk, or wandering away. Not to mention others coming around all the time – usually when I just got her to sleep.) meant I felt I didn’t get as much done as I usually did (boss didn’t have any issues with my performance during this time – was a slow period thankfully).
So although I love animals, and have a few pets myself, I don’t think they have a place at work. And this is even without addressing allergies and others not wanting to be forced to be around animals if their preference is not. If we have to stop wearing perfume and scents due to people’s health and other issues, how is an animal any different?