Many of us will have a furry friend waiting for us at home; over half of UK adults and a whopping 66% of US households own a pet of some kind!

It’s very common for our pets to hold a special place in our heart, as they are considered just as important of a family member as anyone else. However, if an employee’s child were to fall ill or be in need, most employers would insist that they go and attend to them…but this isn’t necessarily the case when it comes to pets.

There is a bit of a grey area around the sudden need to have to care for any animal, as they don’t quite fall into the same category as needing to care for a family member…from a technical perspective. But from an emotional perspective, most employees would want to be able to care for their animals’ wellbeing, but it’s more than likely they wouldn’t be afforded the same leniency with paid time off (PTO) to do this.

Until now?

A new bill has recently been proposed in New York which updates the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act to allow workers to use sick leave to care for certain animals. If the bill were to go through, employees would be able to take time off for a “companion or service animal that needs medical diagnosis, care or treatment of a physical illness, injury or health condition”.  

The proposition of this update stems from the fact that pets are able to significantly reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as lower blood pressure. They can also provide emotional support and a sense of purpose, and so naturally if our pet were to become unwell, an owner would become distressed. This emotional strain can then easily begin to spill over into one’s working life, which will ultimately lead to an impact on focus, productivity, and general wellbeing.

However, there is some division when it comes to the popularity of introducing such a policy; People Management conducted a LinkedIn poll which found that 55% of respondents were in favor of this policy but 45% were opposed, highlighting a significant divide.

In some ways, it might be strange to consider offering PTO to care for pets in the UK when only recently was the Carer’s Leave Act introduced, allowing employees to take up to a week of unpaid leave off to care for a member of their family. If at the moment only unpaid leave is being offered to care for an elderly or unwell family member, than it may seem like a jump to be offering paid leave to attend to a pet.

Or is it simply time for employers to be offering paid leave for both? With some states like New York offering ‘Paid Family Leave’ to care for an elderly parent with a serious health condition, and considering offering PTO for the care of sickly pets, is New York leading the way in understanding what employees need and what would attract them to a workplace?

We will have to wait and see.