Plenty of Kiwi workers like the idea of a dog under the next desk. A 2024 poll of more than 1,000 employees by Frog Recruitment, which runs an annual Top Office Dog competition, found 70% would rather work in a dog-friendly workplace.
Of almost 450 respondents allowed to work from home, 60% said they’re more likely to stay home because their dog is there. Frog says employers struggling to get teams back to the office are more likely to succeed with a bring-your-dog-to-work policy.
So is a pet-friendly office a better one? The research says it might be, for some people, with some big gaps.
What the studies show
The study most often cited comes from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. Researchers led by Randolph Barker compared staff who brought their dogs to work at Replacements Ltd, a company in Greensboro, North Carolina, with dog owners who left their dogs at home and staff with no pets.
Self-reported stress fell over the day for employees whose dogs were with them, and rose for the other two groups. There was no significant difference between the groups in physiological stress, measured through cortisol. The authors called it a preliminary study, and the university’s release said larger samples were needed.
Closer to home, a 2024 review from Massey University’s School of Psychology, published in the New Zealand Veterinary Journal, found 31 relevant studies. Most were surveys that didn’t use validated measures of stress.
The review concluded pets at work may reduce stress and lead to more positive attitudes to work, but that this may not apply to every employee or workplace. It found no data linking pet-friendly policies to work performance, absenteeism or staff turnover.
The other side of the wag
A 2017 review by researchers at the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and West Virginia University listed the hazards a dog brings. They include allergies, diseases passed from animals to people, dog bites, and trips and falls over dogs, leads, toys and spilt water bowls.
The review cites an estimate that 15% to 30% of people with allergies react to dogs and cats. It notes some employees are afraid of dogs, and some may find sharing a workspace with one objectionable for cultural or religious reasons. The Massey review lists cultural concerns and fear or dislike of animals among the drawbacks too.
The NIOSH authors suggest employers survey staff attitudes regularly, set behaviour requirements for dogs and consider dog-free areas.
What NZ law expects
Under section 36 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a business must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers. A dog in the office is one more risk to manage under that duty.
The Dog Control Act 1996 puts obligations on the owner. Section 5 requires owners to keep their dog under control at all times and take all reasonable steps to stop it injuring, intimidating or distressing any person, or damaging property. Under section 63, an owner is liable for damage their dog does, with no need to show it had misbehaved before.
A no-dogs office still has to think about assistance dogs. Under the Human Rights Act 1993, reliance on a disability assist dog falls within disability, one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination.
If you’re job hunting, it’s worth asking how a dog policy works in practice, and what happens if a colleague is allergic or afraid. Shannon Barlow, managing director of Frog Recruitment, puts the condition up front. “If the policy is well managed and has the buy-in of all in the team, the pay-offs are tremendous.”
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