Revealed: Global companies with a ‘paw’some pet policy!
When Amazon’s former editor-in-chief and principal engineer took his pet along to work, little did he realise that the dog would soon become a trendsetter at the e-tailer office. The legend of the Corgi, named Rufus, grew eventually, and spread well beyond the office precincts to Amazon consumers’ hearts.
‘Barking’ lot
Ultimately, Rufus paved the way for a pet-friendly culture at Amazon. The e-commerce major recently threw open its second dog park at Seattle’s Denny Triangle area. This park is developed to, hold your breath, entertain 2,000 registered office dogs, and has a 1,000-square-foot off-leash are with play zone, doggie drinking fountain and a treat truck.
Gaming company, Zynga, was named after its founder Mark Pincus’s American Bulldog, Zinga. Like Amazon, it has a dog park on the roof and a ‘barking lot’ adjacent to its main lobby. It even offers pet insurance benefits.
‘Paw’licy statement
Tech giant Google is quite unique when it comes to pet policy. The company allows supervised dogs to visit its campus, allots frequent visitors exclusive badges and even has in-house caretakers. Dog lovers at Google can join a group, Dooglers, and visit a dog-themed cafe inspired by the company’s first dog Yoshka, a Leonburger owned by an early employee, Urs Hölzle.
There are also other companies with their own, improvised pet policies. Salesforce calls its official pet policy, Puppyforce. The code allows up to six employees reserve desks for pets in a specially designed communal room. At VMWare, employees are asked to sign an agreement on dog etiquette, and it provides their dogs with a tag and bandana.
‘Paw’ternity leave
Would you believe if we say that some companies offer ‘pawternity’ leave for pet owners? Pet nutrition service provider, Mars Petcare, was a pioneer in this aspect. It grants its employees ten hours of paid leave when they get a new pet, and let them subsequently bring their pets to the office. Apparently, Scottish brewery company, BrewDog, has just started offering a week of paid leave. Manchester-headquartered tech company, BitSol Solutions, also offers its employees a full week of paid leave.
