Pets In the Office
 It's A Growing Trend

 In the dog-eat-dog world of business, there's a growing trend at some 
companies. Workers are bringing their
 pets to the office. 

 Chip Paucek, who produces educational videos and television programs, has 
been taking his golden retriever,
 Hoss, to work for the last five years. Paucek and Hoss visited The Early 
Show and talked with Co-Anchor
 Jane Clayson. 

 The dog has became the office mascot, says Paucek. "He brings a lot of 
emotion and people love it. He's
 very relaxed." 

 But Paucek, as co-president of his company, has the freedom to bring Hoss to 
the office if he wishes. Not
 everybody can bring their pet to work. 

 "A lot of it depends on the dog," says Paucek, who explains that Hoss is not 
a rowdy dog. 

 "He just hangs out," explains Paucek. "He's easy to get along with." 

 Hoss has free rein at the office. When Paucek is away on trips, "My wife 
brings him in and drops him off at
 the office," Paucek says. 

 While there are plenty of positives to pets in the workplace, there are also 
many legal issues to consider. John
 Challenger, CEO of an international placement company, agrees that the trend 
of bringing pets to the work
 place is really growing. 

 "More and more companies in this tight labor market are trying to make their 
working place
 employee-friendly and many are looking at bringing pets into the workplace," 
says Challenger 

 He points out, however, that there are serious issues that employers and 
employees need to explore before
 they adopt a pets-in-the-office policy. 

 "One of the things that the companies must do, before they jump into a 
policy like that, is take a poll
 of their employees and find out what they're thinking. If you have certain 
employees that don't feel
 comfortable with pets, you might want to rethink the policy." 

 There are liability questions as well. For example, the company might be 
liable if a dog or cat bites or
 scratches another employee. 

 "The company ought to talk with their attorneys before they put this kind of 
policy in effect," says
 Challenger. "The employee needs to understand that if their dog bites 
someone or the cat scratches
 someone, it can't be the company's fault." 

 Allergies are a major deterrent to bringing cats to the office. 

 "Many people are allergic to cat hair. You have to think, as an employer, 
will you put them in a
 certain part of your space. What about people who are afraid of animals? 
Many don't feel
 comfortable with them around. Just how many do you want? Do you want cats 
and dogs and what
 about birds? What about the noise of birds?" 

 Paucek admits that when there's more than one pet in the office, "It gets 
chaotic." 

 In 1997, the American Animal Hospital Association surveyed 1,225 pet owners. 
They found that: 

      21% of those surveyed had taken their pets to work 
      76% feel guilty about leaving their pets at home while they're on the 
job 
      33% said they leave a TV or radio on for their animals


 If a company decides to allow pets in the office, they should: 

      poll employees before they let the pets come 
      provide a written policy about pets and list which pets are not welcome 
in the office 
      establish an off-limits-to-pets area 
      make sure employees bring documents proving pets are vaccinated 
      bar noisy, destructive, or messy animals from the office 
      tell employees to keep control of their animals at all times


 If many employees want to bring their pets to the office, the company should 
make a rotating schedule. 

 When the pets-in-the-office policy does work, it's great. Paucek says when 
he and Hoss arrive at work, "I get
 off the elevator. He goes one way and I go the other. He says hello to the 
employees. He has his own
 web page."