Company Offers Furternity Leave for New Pet Owners

You will not find the word "furternity" in the dictionary. Your spell checker will highlight it as an unknown word. That's because it is a coined word. It is a made-up word meaning to take time off from work when a person becomes a new pet owner. It resembles the time a woman takes maternity leave after she has a baby.

Just as a mother spends time bonding with her baby, the pet owner will do the same with his new pet. The only difference in the two scenarios is that the pet owner will work from home while on the week's leave. New mothers usually take six weeks of maternity leave and they do not work while they are on their leave.

The term "furternity leave" indicates that the rule applies only to pets with furs such as dogs and cats. It is only for pets that live outside of cages that need to be trained. Applications for leave to take care of any other pet will be rejected.

Nina Hale, a marketing firm in Minneapolis, is offering what it calls "furternity leave" to employees who are new pet owners. The purpose of the leave is to help employees bond with their new dog or cat.

Employees are given time off to work from home for one week to get to know their pet and train it.

Conner McCarthy, a senior account manager at Nina Hale, was one of the first employees to take advantage of the perk after he got a five-month-old Goldendoodle.

McCarthy finalized the adoption process for the puppy named Bentley last May. The 26-year-old employee was thankful for the opportunity to still complete his workload and train his dog. He knew how stressful it would be for him and Bentley if the dog had to spend the first few days alone at home.

Therefore, McCarthy sent a request to his boss asking for time off. Allison McMenimen, vice president at Nina Hale, immediately approved the request. She told the New York Times that the idea was such a good one that it is now included with other employee benefits.

That week the man and his dog shared some quality time together in the apartment in Richfield, Minneapolis. Other employees will follow in McCarthy's footsteps when they get a new pet since the ruling went well for McCarthy and Bentley.

In recent years, other companies have done something for pet owners but not as great as what is being done at Nina Hale marketing firm.

• Take Your Dog to Work Day is an Italian company that gave a woman days off with pay during the time her dog was sick last year.
• Employees at mParticle, a data firm in New York, gives two weeks off for “paw-ternity leave" to those who adopt a rescue dog. It is also for those who get a new exotic pet, including an iguana.

Companies that do great things for their employees help keep them happy and it does something wonderful for their morale.