The Pros and Cons of a Company Paid Pet Bereavement Policy

Today you had to put your faithful dog Murphy to sleep. He was 14 years old and suffered miserably from emphysema for the past two years. The doctor said he would only get worse and that he was suffering. There was no medication the doctor could give him. The prognostic for the dog was a recommendation to put him out of his misery. So, after you agreed, the doctor leaves you alone so you could give Murphy your final farewell.

You hugged Murphy while cold tears streamed down your face. He looked at you with absolute trust. Did he know that you were about to make one of the most painful decisions of your life? Would he forgive you? What was clear was that he didn’t feel well. Even in your arms he could barely wag his tail.

You were left alone so you could mourn his loss. You cried hopelessly at the clinic. You cried all the way home, and you cried yourself to sleep.

The next day, you called in sick. You feel lost without Murphy. He was family to you. You cried all day until you could barely breathe. After sleeping for a while, you woke up and decided to remove all of Murphy’s belongings. You can’t stand to see any reminders of him. There’s an empty place in your heart not seeing Murphy follow you from room to room, wagging his tail with pleasure.

The employee calls in to say that her dog had to be put to sleep the day before. She will not be at work today. Everyone at the company knows about Murphy. The employee talks about him all the time. She has pictures of the dog on her bulletin board.

Still, as her supervisor, you are annoyed that she is taking the day off. There is important work needed to be done. She is an integral part of the corporate team. You give your condolences, and then tell her she can either take the day off without pay or use a sick day. She decides to take the sick day.

Losing a Pet is Devastating

Those who have never had a pet can never imagine the pain caused by a pet’s death. The loss is indescribable, because there is nothing you can do. The two of you have shared many good, bad, and sad moments together for years. No one is ever prepared for a pet to die. The pain is more intense if you have to put the pet to sleep. It is an emotional event similar to the death of a close relative.

An employee should be allowed to take sick time for the death of a pet. By not allowing a sick day to include that of a pet, a business owner forces the employee to lie. By making the day applicable as a sick day, the business doesn’t have to pay for an additional day off work.

There are companies who have changed their paid bereavement policy to include pets. It is for the very reasons stated here, and for the protection of the company. A bereft employee is liable to make mistakes at the job. Companies should add the death of a pet to the bereavement policy or allow the employee the sick day. Either way, allowing the employee to take a day off to grieve is a good business policy.

It really is an untenable situation when an employer insists that a bereaved employee come back to work. This could happen when the company has a specific deadline, and the employee is an important part of meeting that deadline.

The employee might show up in a state of shock, feeling helpless and hopeless. There may be hidden tears. The employee could tend to appear very distracted.

Would a company want to have an employee in that condition come into the office? All puffy faced, and going to the bathroom several times a day to cry? You have to admit, that behavior would be bad for company morale.

In addition, the employee probably is not going to do much that day or days. It would be counterproductive on the other employees to see that misery from a colleague.

A company is running a business. Employees are already absent from work due to federal and state official holidays. Company policies also gives time off for vacation and sick days. Some companies pay for time off for the death of a close relative as designated by the company. And then there is jury duty. Also

• The company believes they already gives an employee almost a month off, if not more, for the various reasons above.
• The company would not know if the employee even had a pet. The policy would be rife with fraudulent pet bereavement requests.
• If the tenant is serious, he or she can use sick or vacation time for pet bereavement.
• Employee could take an unpaid day or days off to grieve.
• Overall, the company would have a difficult decision to make. If company were to adopt a pet bereavement policy, how many days would be deemed enough?

No one can fathom how anyone will react to the death of a pet. Certainly, going to work is not the main concern.

As the employer, one can have empathy with an employee. But if a company has 100 employees, a paid pet bereavement policy along with all the other policies, both official and corporate, would bankrupt that company.

The decision, in my opinion, would be to allow the bereaved to take an unpaid leave of absence. It allows an employee to take the time to grieve for their pet while keeping their job. And the company gets to keep a valued employee.