So, halleluiah, UK employers are finally seeing sense and allowing their hard-working staff time off, if necessary, to care for their pets. Yes, peternity leave, according to today's Sunday Times is becoming more acceptable.
Now, don't get all huffy on me and say this is workers' rights going too far; au contraire. Did you know that pet owners are healthier? And what do healthier workers make? Better employees - more hardworking, more efficient, more...cost-effective for your organisation. Just do the math, as our US pals like to say.
And here are some companies that think it does make sense - Halifax and Bank of Scotland (not exactly failing businesses, are they?) while Google allows their staff to bring the dog to work "realising that workers are reluctant to leave them at home or give them to dog walkers, who can charge up to £25 for a two-hour walk". Even Royal Mail is considering giving compassionate leave if a pet dies but I do think Royal Mail has more pressing matters to deal with right now, to be honest, and they've already sacked a worker who was grief-stricken when his dog died.
And, like parents, pet owners do have to take time off to care for their charges but they may not admit it to their bosses. After all, it's easier to say you are ill than you have to stay at home to care for your child. Anyway, "research by Petplan, the insurance company, found that 35% of its customers admitted to having taken time off work to look after pets or settle new animals. Half said they took a week off a year to look after their pets, potentially costing British businesses £19m annually".
Blimey! That's a sobering thought but just think, if employers really were enlightened, staff cover could be arranged and the work would get done!
But, of course, work experts are warning that asking for peternity leave may cost you your job
According to Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at the Lancaster University management school, “When jobs are insecure, telling a boss that you want time off work to look after a pet would not go down well.”
I am lucky; the Mistress works from home and if she has to go to a meeting without me, she can organise the pet sitter but she has deliberately taken a pay cut so that she can be at home. Once, a few years ago, she asked an old flame if he could take me to the office but he refused point blank. He said it was "against office policy". That, she said, spoke volumes about his employer and then he was made redundant, which she said proved her point.
Woof Woof