Supporting employees with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals

Supporting employees with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals

Do employers need to let employees bring guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals to work?

Guide dogs and assistance animals

In the UK, disabled people are protected from discrimination by the Equality Act 2010. This requires businesses to make changes to support disabled employees and customers. Similar legislation exists in other countries.

The Equality Act requires organisations to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and customers. What is reasonable depends on the situation, but it will almost always be reasonable to allow guide dogs and assistance animals.

Generally, guide dogs and assistance dogs are allowed into most settings. There must be an overwhelmingly strong reason to deny access to someone with a guide dog. For example, people with guide dogs can be denied entry to some controlled areas of a hospital, or to a taxi if the driver has a medical exemption certificate because of a severe allergy.

To be allowed access, the animal must be quiet, well-behaved and not cause disruption. If the animal is clearly not behaving as it should, organisations can have a stronger case for refusing access. However, as all guide dogs and most assistance animals have had rigorous training, this is not likely to be an issue.

Should businesses allow emotional support animals?

Our Advice Service regularly receives questions about emotional support animals (ESAs) of all sorts – including cats, peacocks and even miniature horses. If you are unsure what to do, contact our Advice Service.

It is less clear when businesses should allow ESAs.

Generally, it will be hard to justify refusing entry to an ESA if the organisation allows assistance animals. However, the same provisions apply – the animal must be quiet, well-behaved and cause no disruption. You may be able reasonably to ask that the animal receive training on specific areas of behaviour, such as toilet training, settling and scavenging for food, before allowing it into the premises.

For example, consider the likelihood of the animal toileting in the premises. Some animals such as dogs and pigs can be toilet trained, while others – such as guinea pigs and miniature horses – cannot.

Also consider how the animal would interact with other assistance animals or guide dogs. For example, if the ESA is a dog – is it trained not to bother other dogs? It would be unacceptable for an ESA to disrupt another person’s guide dog, for example.

Deciding what’s ‘reasonable’

Allowing entry to disabled people with guide dogs, assistance animals and ESAs is a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act. Organisations must know how to work out what is ‘reasonable’ in their circumstances.

It is generally not lawful to refuse entry to guide dogs and well-trained assistance animals.

The decision-making process is less clear for emotional support animals (ESAs) as they are less common and can be any species of animal.

When deciding whether an adjustment is reasonable, organisations must consider the following factors:

• Cost
• Practicality
• Effectiveness
• Disruption
• Health and safety
• External sources of help.

Businesses must consider all these factors together when deciding what is reasonable. Our resource ‘Assistance animals – Deciding what’s reasonable‘ has more information.

How to support disabled employees with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals

Employers may be required to take steps to ensure that the guide dog, assistance animal or ESA can do its job properly at work, such as:

• Allowing the employee time off to train the animal, if they are an existing employee getting a new guide dog or assistance animal. While all guide dogs and most assistance animals will have received extensive formal training, part of that will involve the new owner taking time off work to train the dog themselves. Guide Dogs recommends at least three weeks away from work, for example.
• Allowing the employee to put bowls of water down for their animal in an appropriate place.
• Identifying an appropriate place for the animal to stay while at work. This should be close to the employee’s workstation. However, if there are safety concerns (for example, industrial machinery), work with the owner and an appropriate expert organisation to agree somewhere else for the animal to stay while at work.
• Allowing the employee to take the dog out to go to the toilet at regular intervals. The frequency of these breaks will vary depending on the animal. Employers should agree how the employee should dispose of the animal’s waste.
• Training the employee’s colleagues on how to interact with the animal. It is vital that the animal is allowed to do its job without interference or disruption. Many people will want to pet or feed the animal, and so it must be made clear what is and is not allowed. Generally, assistance animals should be ignored.
• Moving food bins and staff food from areas where it could be found by the animals. Proper training includes not scavenging, however it will be helpful to remove the temptation of nearby food so that the animal is not distracted.

Supporting employees with assistance animals – five top tips

1. Employers must make reasonable adjustments to support employees who need guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals.
2. In most workplaces it will be reasonable for employers to let an employee bring in their guide dog or assistance animal – as long as the animal is quiet, well-behaved and not disruptive, and the workplace is a safe environment for the animal.
3. Emotional support animals are likely to be reasonable if guide dogs and assistance animals are – but if it is an unusual type of animal (not a dog), consider its impact in the workplace before permitting it.
4. Work with the disabled employee’s colleagues so that they are not disrupted by the presence of an animal in the workplace. Cultural or religious objections to certain animals are not usually enough to justify refusing entry to the animal, but there might be people with allergies or other disabilities who need to be accommodated as well. There is likely to be a solution that will work for everyone.
5. Most adjustments to allow guide dogs and assistance animals into the workplace are relatively cheap and simple – for example, putting out a bowl of water and making a space by the employee’s workstation for the animal to sit.

For guidance about guide dogs, assistance animals, ESAs and your organisation, contact our Advice Service.

Assistance animals and insurance

Employers may need to check whether their current insurance is sufficient for welcoming employees with assistance animals. Animals on the premises (even well-behaved assistance animals) could create the potential for liabilities, for which the organisation may want to be covered.

Who is responsible for the insurance for assistance animals?

There is no definitive answer to this question, as it will vary depending on factors such as the nature of your organisation, location, identified hazards and risks, and current insurance cover.

Reasons for covering assistance animals

There are strong arguments as to why your organisation should consider covering the insurance for assistance animals. These include:

• The organisation has full knowledge of what is covered and that it meets its needs.
• Insurance is renewed and at the required level (this may be more difficult to check and manage if the employee is responsible)
• Cover is immediate for new employees and for existing employees who change location.
• Employees are not penalised by the costs of insurance for taking an assistance animal to work. Work-related pet insurance for may be too expensive for some disabled people to maintain.
• Reduced risk of claims for discrimination under the Equality Act or Public Sector Equality Duty. You would not expect other employees to cover the insurance for their auxiliary aids – such as mobility aids and scooters. Assistance animals are also auxiliary aids.
• Employers in the UK have an anticipatory duty to remove barriers for disabled people. Amending your insurance (if necessary) to cover assistance animals may be considered appropriate and reasonable under the law.
• Your organisation is potentially more attractive to people with assistance animals as employees, customers and clients.

What should employers’ insurance cover relating to assistance animals?

There are a few considerations to be addressed here:

• Local legislation.
• Does our current public and product liability already cover assistance animals and what you want covered? For example:
  • the animal causing harm to people or property
  • the work or premises causing harm to the animal.
• The potential number of people and their assistance animals who may need to be covered.
• Who is covered: employees, core contractors, customers, clients, visitors? If you have contractors, you may need to discuss this with their employer.
• Should the insurance cover disabled people who are long-term core contractors or shared site employees? Either on your site or your employees on a client’s site?
• Off-site work such as an employee visiting other organisations or people in their homes.
• Work-related travel when it is required for the role, including travel to social events linked to work? For example, a home worker travelling to meetings, conferences and festive social events.

Further information

Assistance Dogs UK

See Assistance Dogs UK’s range of Quick Guides and Resources for more information.

Business Disability Forum

Contact our Advice Service for guidance about specific situations.

This page is part of a series of resources on guide dogs, assistance animals and ESAs:

• What are guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals?
• Assistance animals – Deciding what’s reasonable
• Welcoming customers with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals
• Welcoming guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals to events and meetings.