Companies allow pets to be at work

By MARCIA PLEDGER

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — At the Marcus Thomas marketing agency, a pat on the head goes a long way.

Not for the employees. For the dogs.

Dog bowls and leashes are practically as common as computer monitors at the agency in Warrensville Heights, one of hundreds of businesses that allow employees to bring pets to work.

At a time of tight budgets and falling employee perks, companies increasingly view pet-friendly policies as a way to maintain morale, reduce stress, improve productivity and recruit employees.

“Dogs are part of the culture here. Fun is one of our values,” said Beth Hallisy, a partner at Marcus Thomas.

“Most of them are just extremely well-behaved dogs,” Hallisy said, trying to ignore a dog barking in the background. “That one is misbehaving ... .” Every Wednesday morning, eight to 10 canine friends join the weekly staff meeting at Marcus Thomas.

The agency’s 26,000-square-foot building was designed with dogs in mind. All of the flooring is made of concrete and rubber tiles, while cubicles have carpeted squares that can easily be replaced. All six conference rooms are named after employees’ dogs.

The pet policy at Marcus Thomas goes back 18 years, but pet-friendly policies are spreading.

A survey last year by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association found that one in five companies allows pets at work. The HON Co., an office furniture manufacturer, commissioned a survey of 600 consumers and found that 30 percent were allowed to take pets to the office. Twenty-four percent took dogs, 12 percent fish and 8 percent cats.

(Yes, fish were more popular than cats.)

Pet Sitters International, which promotes an annual “Take Your Dog to Work Day,” expects about 10,000 companies to have some sort of canine-related event on June 26, a substantial increase from the 300 that participated the first time in 1999.

Small companies — often tech or creative businesses — tend to be most receptive to pets, although pet-friendly businesses in Ohio include truck-leasing companies, nursing homes, furniture stores, auto repair shops and real estate title companies, according to DogFriendly.com.

Businesses of all sizes have been forced to drop employee perks in the slumping economy. Services like fitness and day-care centers disappeared early at a lot of businesses, and smaller pleasures such as office parties and water coolers are gone, too.

A survey by the Challenger, Gray and Christmas consulting firm in Chicago found that 20 percent of businesses had reduced employee perks and 10 percent more were considering it.

The firm recommended low-cost perks such as casual attire and pet-friendly offices to keep morale up.

Brenda O’Toole, president of Signs PDQ in Wickliffe, can’t imagine going to work without her two Labradors. Her two employees also enjoy having them around, she said.

“I’d say 90 percent of the customers love the dogs,” she said. “Those that don’t are patient and kind while we put the dogs behind closed doors.”

That doesn’t mean that having dogs at work is always a treat.

In New Mexico, an employee complained last month that dogs in the office caused her “workplace stress,” a phrase that set off worries about workers’ compensation and disability claims.

A rambunctious pup also might bite a customer or vendor, which an insurance company might not cover.

Marcus Thomas requires that owners accompany their pets at all times and take responsibility for cleanups.

Only two dogs have been banned for misbehavior under a “three strikes” policy.

“We’ve had some stolen lunches and some disrupted meetings, and some dogfights and some accidents,” Hallisy said calmly. In those cases, “we just kind of suggested to the owners that their dogs might not be workplace ready.”