Should you have pet-friendly policies?
A survey by Sainsbury’s Bank indicates that nearly one in six employees are adjusting their work schedules to care for their dogs, such as by modifying their working hours or working from home more regularly. Are there any statutory rights in this area? If not, what are the options?
Employees have no statutory rights to time off to care for pets or arrange veterinary treatment, even if they see those pets as “dependants”. Likewise, there is no statutory right to bereavement or compassionate leave where a pet dies, regardless of how upset an employee might be. You can therefore insist that any time off be taken as paid annual leave - although do be aware that an employee may simply go off sick with depression for a period of time in circumstances of pet bereavement.
However, the Sainsbury’s Bank survey shows that many employees are seeking to balance the demands of dog ownership with their work commitments and so this may be a priority for them when looking for new employment. Therefore, if you are to attract and retain new joiners who are dog owners, you might need to consider:
- highlighting any flexible working arrangements that may be available for a role, such as hybrid working or flexitime
- putting in place pet-friendly policies, such as paid or unpaid leave for employees who get a new puppy or rescue dog, pet bereavement leave, allowing staff to bring their well-behaved dogs to the office on certain days, arranging discounted pet insurance, organising dog-friendly social events, etc.
Related Topics
-
Selling spare items to your company
You’re short of cash but if you use the traditional methods to take more money out of your company you’ll pay higher rate taxes. Is there another way to extract profits without paying income tax or NI?
-
No such thing as a (tax) free lunch?
You run a small consultancy company and treat your staff to lunch in the office once a week. Your bookkeeper says it’s a taxable benefit in kind because staff lunches are only exempt if they are provided in a workplace canteen. Is this correct?
-
Judge criticises use of fabricated AI-generated cases in HMRC appeal
A tax tribunal judge has criticised the use of apparently fabricated case references generated by artificial intelligence in an appeal against HMRC. The incident highlights growing concerns over the use of AI tools in legal and tax proceedings. What happened?