Petco today celebrates National Pets at Work Day, which was established by the pet specialty retailer in 2016 to help raise awareness for the benefits of having pets in the workplace and encourage more businesses to embrace pet-friendly environments.
In recent years, allowing pets in the workplace has gone from a “nice-to-have” perk to a recruiting tool for employers to attract and retain talent. Ongoing research shows that having a pet or interacting with one has numerous positive effects for both animals and people.
“At Petco, we’re experts in celebrating the joy that comes from time spent with the pets we love, and we know firsthand the added benefits of extending that time into our work days – that includes my own yellow lab Yummy’s positive presence in our corporate office,” said Petco CEO Ron Coughlin. “With decades of experience in managing pet-friendly work environments, we’re proud to be a leader in this space and committed to encouraging and helping more employers go pet-friendly too.”
This year, Petco is encouraging all of its corporate and store partners (employees) to join in a virtual celebration by changing their social profile photos to one with a pet at work, along with #PetsAtWork and one of the many reasons why they love sharing their work days with pets. To prepare for the virtual celebration, partners at the company’s pet-friendly Support Center offices in San Diego and San Antonio recently had the opportunity to take a headshot with their own pet, a co-worker’s pet or an adoptable pet from a local humane society. Partners at Petco’s more than 1,500 store locations – where the company cares for various types of companion animals and customers’ pets are always welcome – were encouraged to snap photos of themselves with a favorite pet in their store to share.
In addition to allowing pets in the workplace, Petco offers unique benefits aimed at promoting and facilitating pet parenthood for partners. Recognizing that pets are part of our families, Petco offers all partners the opportunity to enroll in a Pet Wellness Plan, a healthcare plan focused on preventative care for pets, as well as a pet bereavement policy that allows partners appropriate time to grieve when they lose a beloved pet.
Before employers open the doors to pet pals, Petco offers some best practices to help ensure animals and employees can co-exist safely and comfortably:
- Create a thorough policy for bringing pets to work that includes requiring up-to-date pet vaccinations, an action plan for any pet related incidents and clear requirements for pet housing, such as pet gates, small animal habitats and aquariums.
- Ensure there are readily accessible outdoor areas for pet breaks.
- Consider investing in built-in or removable pet gates at employee workspaces to make containment safe and easy.
- Designate pet-free zones for employees that may have allergies.
- Clear any pet-zone areas of potentially dangerous items such as cables, human food or furniture that could easily be knocked down.
- Consider providing pet clean-up stations for inevitable “accidents” around the office.
For additional information and resources, visit about.petco.com/pets-at-work. Throughout National Pets at Work Day, pet parents are invited to join the conversation using the hashtag #PetsAtWork and follow Petco on Instagram for an inside look at our pet-friendly office space and four-legged, finned, fuzzy and scaly office mates.
SOURCE Petco
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