- Key Insight: Discover how animal accommodations are reshaping workplace disability and retention strategies.
- What's at Stake: Mishandled requests risk legal exposure, operational disruption and diminished employee engagement.
- Forward Look: Expect rising animal-accommodation requests and evolving ADA interpretations; prepare clear policy frameworks.
Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
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Workplace accommodations aren't limited to assistive tech tools, schedule flexibility and ergonomic furniture. For many employees, it includes bringing their animal to work.
Despite requiring a case-by-case evaluation, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service animals and emotional support animals are considered a reasonable accommodation. With employees searching for new avenues of support at work, leaders may want to familiarize themselves with the process and prepare themselves for the possibility.
"We've seen this topic come up for the last 10 to 15 years, but especially post pandemic," says Trevor Hardy, a labor and employment attorney specializing in leaves and accommodations at law firm Littler. "We started to see more employees engaged with their employers about animals in the workplace, whether an emotional support animal, a service animal or for an animal that may serve a different purpose."
Read more: Use your FSA on your emotional support animal or service dog
Animals have always been known to help employees with a wide range of disabilities in the workplace, Hardy says. For people with mental health conditions or neurodivergence, for example, an animal can serve as a bridge for communication and boost confidence in meetings or client interactions. For veterans and other employees with post-traumatic stress disorder, animals can assist in preventing intrusive thoughts or self-destructive behaviors and help refocus attention.
Animals also provide practical assistance for people with physical impairments, like guiding individuals who are visually impaired, alerting those with hearing impairments to someone entering a room and helping people with motor conditions like multiple sclerosis by retrieving dropped items to reduce the risk of falls. Although it is not a standard practice, it's critical for leadership to have an open mind.
"It's important for employers to treat this accommodation like they would any other and be understanding," Hardy says. "At the same time, they need to understand that they're inviting another living thing into a workplace and they may need to gather some additional information from the employee, about the animal and its training."
Read more: Beyond the basics: How to accommodate workers with service animals
Expect the unexpected
Historically, dogs have been the most common service animal, widely recognized for the support they provide to people with disabilities in work and public settings. However, they are far from employees' only option. According to Hardy, federal regulations under Title III of the ADA also recognize trained miniature horses in public accommodations, and they are occasionally seen assisting individuals in places like stores or grocery markets. Certain states are even broader than that, and include less typical animals such as reptiles and rodents. According to Hardy, in his home state of Ohio, the civil rights commission even references monkeys that can be trained to assist individuals with disabilities.
"It really does span the gamut," Hardy says. "Don't discount something just because
you haven't seen it before."
Keeping offices safe and comfortable
When evaluating a request to bring an animal into the workplace as an accommodation, it's important to gather as much information as possible about the animal's training and its ability to behave appropriately in a work environment. If the accommodation for an employee is approved, employers should immediately establish reasonable terms and conditions for the animal's presence, Hardy says, as well as give other employees the time and space to share their concerns or feelings about having an animal in the workplace. It's imperative, however, that leaders and other employees understand that it is ultimately the accommodated employee's right to have that animal with them.
"If someone has manageable allergies you can separate office spaces," Hardy says. "If someone has a fear of dogs, you can find a way to address that [through training and communication], but it can't remove the animal accommodation from the conversation."
In a case where the accommodation cannot be approved, leaders should be thorough in their exploration of why the accommodation isn't possible — whether it goes against state legislation or the current office layout prevents it — and automatically explore alternative accommodations that provide an equal amount of support.
Read more: Pet insurance popular with millennials who see animals as family
"It can't just be, 'we don't feel like it,' or, 'this hasn't happened before,'" Hardy says. "The goal of exploring alternatives should be to make sure that employees understand that you are still committed to supporting them."
Hardy suspects that leaders will soon see a rising level of requests for animal-related accommodations and he suggests seeing it as an opportunity.
"People are realizing the benefit of animals in the workplace and we're going to see more requests," Hardy says. "It can be a really great opportunity to strengthen that employer employee bond and engage employees in a new way."
