Dogs working 9 to 5: the Australian office full of hounds and hugs

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The office dog is nothing new and is always a treat for the owner, dog, and employees lucky enough to have one. But in Tasmania, one insurance firm has made it a policy that employees’ dogs can join the workforce. For many years now, insurer RACT has permitted its Hobart employees to bring their dogs to the office. In the beginning, Fridays were the only days when dogs could come to work. Now, it’s every day. “Having my best friend in here with me and not having to leave her home whilst I’m at work it’s just calming and it makes everyone happy,” explains Stella’s owner Morghan Lawler. “I’m quite new to RACT as well, so it means I’m meeting people. So, they come in to see her and I get a chat to people so it’s really good,” says Cocoa’s owner Christie Stone. Like their human owners, the dogs have identification cards, and there’s also a roster so as to avoid too many dogs on each floor on any given day. “As an employer, we’re really focused on employee well-being, employee engagement and we just saw this is a great thing to try and see how it went. And it went absolutely gangbusters,” says RACT CEO Mark Mugnaioni. “Dogs just have this wonderful way of breaking down barriers. I think it’s a positive effect all around, for me and for Billie,” explains Billie’s owner Henry James. Companion Animal Network Australia is advocating for getting more pets into workplaces. “It’s proven that it decreases stress in the workplace, increases productivity. It retains staff, it brings joy to the staff. It causes a great collaborative working space for people,” says Trish Ennis of the Companion Animal Network. But not all pets can be accepted in workplaces. Rabbits, for example, could cause a lot of damage in an office like chewing through power cords. Places like kitchens or laboratories where there are chemicals are also probably best to be kept off-limits. This article was provided by The Associated Press.