People who adopt an animal often take a few days off to allow them to get used to their new surroundings. A Canadian company has decided to offer paid vacations to its employees who have a new furry friend. Is this the start of a new trend?
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On August 26, to mark National Dog Day, communications agency Talk Shop Media announced to its employees that they can now benefit from three days of paid leave when adopting a cat or dog. Employees who so wish could extend this leave by an additional two unpaid days to the full week with their new pet.
“While we continue to celebrate our employees’ families, we want to recognize that not all families are created equal. When a team member expands their family to welcome a new fur baby, we think that’s cause for celebration and support,” the company said in a blog post on its website at the time of publication, and announced its new policy in August 2022 known.
Almost six months later, Katie Stevens, managing partner at Talk Shop Media, explained in an interview with CBC that no employees have taken advantage of this new policy at the moment. But she believes this is the kind of advantage the new generation of employees is looking for.
“The days of the table tennis table in the office and free beer in the fridge are over. Now we want to make sure the benefits align with the core values of the team we employ,” Stevens told CBC.
Stevens LeBlanc file photo
Talk Shop Media isn’t the first company to push such an initiative. For example, the BrewDog brewery introduced a paw stain-free week for its employees back in 2018.
And as early as 2018, the Canadian HR reporter spoke to a veterinarian who saw the good in this initiative.
“When people have time to be at home with their puppies – to exercise them, socialize them and expose them to the world – we will have fewer of these aggressive adult dogs biting children,” the Canadian HR explained Reporter Vet Lianna Titcombe.