Today’s employees place a high value on their pets, and employers have taken note. Pets have inspired all kinds of benefits, from pet health insurance to doggy daycare benefits. Pets have even shown up in leave policies. At some organizations, bereaved owners can access pet loss leave.
In this article, we’ll answer a basic question: What is pet bereavement leave? We’ll also discuss why it matters and how your organization can best administer its pet bereavement leave policy.
What is Pet Bereavement Leave?
Simply put, pet bereavement leave is paid or unpaid time employees can take off following the death of a pet. This type of leave is separate from general bereavement leave, which is typically reserved for employees who have lost a human family member.
Pet loss leave can be extremely valuable to employees who have had to say goodbye to a beloved animal. According to a recent study by The Human Animal Bond Research Institute, the human-animal bond is stronger than ever before. The loss of a pet, then, can be devastating.
Not many employees have access to a pet bereavement leave policy. According to our recent survey, only 11% of employers offer paid pet loss leave.
Why Pet Bereavement Leave Matters to Employees Today
Pet bereavement leave policies are important to today’s workers for a number of reasons.
First, more employees are pet owners than ever before. According to the American Pet Products Association, 66% of U.S. households own a pet. That’s a whopping 86.9 million homes that include a dog, cat, or other animal. Though pet ownership has been on the rise for decades, the percentage of pet-owning people swelled during the pandemic: 78% of pet owners acquired animals during the pandemic.
Pet loss leave policies, then, typically apply to many people. The relief they provide is not just widespread but profound. The loss of a pet can have a significant impact on an employee’s mental health. According to one recent survey, pet grief includes emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical reactions. The loss of a pet can trigger anxiety, loneliness, difficulty concentrating, and even feelings of unworthiness.
Sixty-one percent of HR leaders in our recent survey said they wanted to use their leave policies to support employee well-being. A pet bereavement policy can help them achieve this goal, as it gives workers the time and space they need to say goodbye to their pets.
Outside of leave goals, pet loss policies can also help organizations establish a desirable employer brand. Younger workers are especially keen on working for organizations that offer good work-life integration and whole-person support. A pet loss leave policy can go a long way in showing workers that they’re valued as people, not just individual contributors.
These policies can also boost retention. Employees remember how they’re treated when they’re going through difficult times, whether that’s the loss of a pet, their own serious health condition, or a family crisis. By providing a high-quality leave experience, employers can offer genuine support that employees will value for a long time.
What Does Pet Bereavement Leave Typically Include?
Pet loss leave policies take many different shapes and sizes. Most commonly, the policies provide one to three days of time off. This leave can be paid or unpaid — it depends on the particulars of an organization’s policy.
Certain pet loss leave policies may be contain some documentation requirements, similar to policies for losing family members. Others omit this element and operate on trust.
Oftentimes, pet loss leave is a standalone benefit. But it can also be part of a broader compassionate leave policy, which provides time off for personal emergencies like a serious illness or injury, the death of a family member, or funeral service.
Some pet bereavement leave policies may provide other benefits in addition to time off. Employees could have access to extra flexibility, for example. A policy may allow them to work from home or keep flexible hours. These benefits may come as an alternative or supplement to time off.
The Business Case for Offering Pet Bereavement Leave
Pet loss leave is a good investment for many employers. It costs very little to implement, especially for organizations with an established leave system. But pet leave policies offer employers significant ROI.
Here are a few ways pet loss leave policies can benefit your organization:
By Supporting Employees
When an employee loses a pet, they can suffer a serious impact on their mental health. Providing a few days off can ease this effect. By offering pet loss leave, employers can further existing employee experience goals, offering genuine support to employees going through a tough time. This supports existing wellness and mental health initiatives, which are in place at many organizations.
By Preserving Productivity
Employees’ productivity will likely take a hit when a pet passes. By giving them the time they need to begin processing their grief, employers can avoid exacerbating presenteeism. Employees can experience the beginnings of their grief at home and come back to work feeling a little more ready to tackle their daily duties.
By Attracting Talent
As our survey found, only 11% of employers offer paid pet loss leave. That means any organization who does so — and markets it effectively — will stand out to talent. Today’s job seekers care about paid leave. In fact, 86% said they’d be more likely to apply to a job when paid leave benefits are clearly listed, according to AbsenceSoft research.
How to Implement Pet Bereavement Leave in Your Organization
With the right tools, your team can create, introduce, and implement a pet bereavement leave policy with ease.
- Design your policy based on what already exists: Start with any existing bereavement or compassionate leave policy. Using that as a baseline, create a policy specifically for pet loss.
- Consider expanding, not creating: If your organization already offers a bereavement leave policy or a compassionate leave policy, consider adding a pet-related clause, as opposed to carving out a new policy.
- Focus on communication strategies: As you roll out your pet loss leave policy, you’ll want to introduce it without trivializing human loss.
- Prioritize integration: If your organization has a leave management system in place, you’ll hopefully be able to add this to your company’s policies without much fuss.
- Be ready for tracking and reporting: With any new policy, it is important to understand who is using the new benefit, and how often it is being used. With a leave management platform, you’ll get that data right away to understand the business impact.
Your organization can easily implement a pet loss leave policy with the right tools. AbsenceSoft, for example, supports unlimited custom company policies, which can include everything from paid parental leave to pet bereavement leave.
Even with custom company policies, users access the same automated workflows and tracking capacities designed for Family and Medical Leave Act management. Your team can manage all leave requests in one place while staying compliant.
Manage Your Organization’s Pet Loss Leave Policy with AbsenceSoft
Employers can realize many advantages by offering a pet loss leave policy. This low-cost benefit yields significant rewards, from preserving productivity to building a compassionate workplace culture.
Learn how AbsenceSoft can help you modernize your leave program to include emerging benefits like pet bereavement leave. Schedule a demo today.
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Currently, only 11% of employers offer paid pet loss leave, according to recent AbsenceSoft survey data. This makes it a differentiating benefit that can help organizations stand out to talent. As 66% of U.S. households own pets, offering this benefit addresses a need for the majority of your workforce while positioning your company as forward-thinking and compassionate.
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The most efficient way to manage pet bereavement leave is through a dedicated leave management platform that supports custom company policies. Systems like AbsenceSoft allow you to add pet loss leave to your existing policy library, using the same automated workflows, tracking, and reporting tools you use for other leave types. This ensures consistent administration and provides data on policy usage and business impact.
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This depends on your organization’s existing leave structure. Some employers create a standalone pet loss leave policy, while others incorporate it into a broader compassionate or bereavement leave policy. The advantage of integration is simplicity: employees access one policy for various personal emergencies. However, a standalone policy can make the benefit more visible during recruitment and demonstrate your organization’s specific commitment to pet-owning employees.
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Documentation requirements for pet loss leave vary by organization. Some employers operate on trust without requiring proof, similar to other bereavement policies. Others may request minimal documentation such as a veterinary receipt or cremation paperwork. The key is balancing compliance needs with compassion: overly burdensome documentation requirements can undermine the supportive intent of the policy and negatively impact the employee experience during an already difficult time.