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The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

sparkfun.com

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Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#21

Post by LTheobald »

yetfeo wrote: post #2

How do dog friendly work places deal with employees that are allergic to dogs?

It's not just allergies. I'm partially sighted & have very little peripheral vision. Some people have brought their dogs into our office & there have been times where I have accidentally "kicked" the dog simply because I have not seen it on the floor (and was not expecting a dog there anyway).

I like dogs & don't mind having them in the office but I certainly think it needs to be made very clear where the line lies when it comes to "me or the dog" issues.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#23

Post by jbb555 »

yetfeo wrote: post #2

How do dog friendly work places deal with employees that are allergic to dogs?

I'm not allergic to dogs I just hate them. This is totally unacceptable behavour by an employer.

If this is true I'd want nothing further to do with that company.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#24

Post by userbinator »

pawelkomarnicki wrote: post #8
userbinator wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also allergic to dogs (and cats), and so policies like these would just make me go somewhere else. I don't particularly understand what advantage there is in bringing a dog to work anyway... yes, you probably love your pets but the same goes for children, that doesn't mean they should be with you when you work.

Would you like to be left alone without a toilet for like 10-11 hours a day, 5-days-a-week? Then you know why some people insist on taking their dog to the office ;)

It took me a bit too long to figure out that you weren't implying they use their dog as a toilet...!

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#25

Post by mcintyre1994 »

yetfeo wrote: post #2

How do dog friendly work places deal with employees that are allergic to dogs?

I was wondering if this would be legal (I'm in the UK). Obviously they don't have an issue but we have pretty strict equality rules and I'm not sure culture would be a valid excuse to allow such exclusion.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#26

Post by simonbarker87 »

jbb555 wrote: post #22

I presume this is a spoof. Nobody would want to work in a place with animals wandering around. It's really not an acceptable working environment.

Some very large companies let people bring dogs to work - Mars being the one that comes to mind. If you wouldn't like it then I guess it means it's not a place for you to work.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#27

Post by Evgeny »

jbb555 wrote: post #22

I presume this is a spoof. Nobody would want to work in a place with animals wandering around. It's really not an acceptable working environment.

I presume this is a spoof. Nobody would want to work in a place with animals wandering around.

Are you serious? I once worked for a company where a cat was living on the premises (belonged to the lady who was cooking lunches). That's still one of my best workplace-related memories - both the cat, and the fact that lunches were pretty much "home made" food.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#28

Post by randallsquared »

"Some serious incidents took place during this time, like bites. Most of the bites were workers from other companies onsite to do their normal rounds, like delivery drivers. Fortunately no serious injuries ever materialized [...]"

What are the insurance ramifications of all these dogs? I'm astonished that the fact that dogs have already attacked people at SparkFun didn't cause them to rescind the policy of allowing dogs. Just how serious does a bite have to be, anyway?

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#29

Post by qwerta »

[deleted] wrote: post #14
yetfeo wrote: post #2

How do dog friendly work places deal with employees that are allergic to dogs?

[deleted]

I love dogs, but I also have an allergy :-)

I believe that type of stuff is covered under Workplace Safety Regulations. If company allows dogs on premises, allergic reaction would be treated as work related injury. Probably too expensive for most companies.

Also I would be careful before putting "Must love dogs" as a job requirement. Unless you run pet saloon its in the same category as "Must love girls" requirement.

Re: The problems SparkFun has letting people bring dogs into work

#30

Post by Robin_Message »

yetfeo wrote: post #2

How do dog friendly work places deal with employees that are allergic to dogs?

IANAL, and I'm not sure about US law, but this could be a problem for any laws against disability discrimination, if a dog allergy is counted as a disability (it could be, the UK legal definition is pretty broad).

On the one hand, I don't think the law should be heavy-handed about this. Nothing wrong with variety, and smaller companies should be able to try things.

On the other, its not people's choice to be allergic to something, and maybe that shouldn't prevent them from taking employment where they are otherwise a good fit. And what about if an employee develops a dog allergy? Do they have to quit, or does the company ban all dogs?

A tribunal to sort out these issues seems like a really good idea, and hopefully will find a way through these issues that preserves the culture. Kudos to Sparkfun for trying!

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