When Fido Comes to Work

Everyone thought the manager’s emotional-support husky was adorable. Then it scared a client in the hallway and peed on the internet router.

Welcome to the new animal kingdom, the one happening at the workplace. According to surveys, approximately 5% to 10% of workplaces are pet friendly, and they’re typically concentrated in tech, at startups, and in creative fields. But now emotional-support animals are on the rise, leading to a surge of requests from employees to bring their pet to work: One in four pet owners has an emotional support animal, according to a 2025 survey by Metlife; this is an estimated 50% rise from five years ago. (Nearly 59 million U.S. households own a pet.) The pressure to allow pets at work will only continue to grow. “This is a really tricky and touchy subject,” says Paul Fogel, a Korn Ferry sector leader in the Professional Search and Software practices. “Pet owners see bringing in an emotional support animal as a major workplace perk.”

The rise in emotional support animals is at odds with firms’ real estate decisions: an estimated 70% of offices have open floor plans, which make the logistics of multiple pets on a floor tricky. What if two animals don’t get along? What if one barks at every noise? What if Jane in accounting is allergic to dogs? Meanwhile, “firms are shrinking their real estate footprints,” says Dennis Deans, vice president of global human resources at Korn Ferry. This means even tighter desk quarters and less outdoor space for canines.

The laws around pets at work are not necessarily clarifying for employers. Federal law protects service animals, which are trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities; employers typically must allow them unless the animal creates significant difficulties or safety issues, such as in a kitchen or sterile environment. Emotional-support animals, on the other hand, are a gray area. ESAs provide therapeutic benefit to people with mental health ailments, and require a certification letter from a mental health professional. Employers can decide whether the animal should be considered a reasonable disability accommodation under federal law. “This can be somewhat subjective stuff,” says Ron Porter, senior partner at Korn Ferry.

Airlines spent two decades navigating ESA chaos—and eventually worked to cease special ESA privileges. Prior to 2021, airlines allowed ESAs to fly in the cabin, on laps or at passengers’ feet, with no pet fees—leading to customers flying with their dogs and cats, as well as pigs and peacocks, and an onslaught of safety incidents and passenger complaints. Airlines heavily lobbied the Department of Transportation for years to change legislation, which happened in 2021.

Back on the ground, employers lack the same clarity with emotional supports animals, and tend to work on a case-by-case scenario. “Organizations have been handling these scenarios as one-offs, as opposed to establishing policies,” says Louis Montgomery, principal at the HR Center of Expertise at Korn Ferry. Experts advise concise policies for all scenarios. Are employees’ emotional-support dogs allowed to bark? How many pets are allowed in a space? What if a coworker is allergic? Communication of the policies can include signage posted around the office, and a page in the employee handbook.

Either way, most experts say the invasion of the animals, be it dogs or parakeets, is only going to grow, and smart companies will want to get ahead of it. Some may need a formal HR mechanism for registering potential employee pets on site, which can be an administrative lift. At the end of the day, the problem is not the pets, says Deans. “Firms need to establish very clear guardrails.”

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