Having a new bundle of joy at home necessitates taking time off to make sure everyone is settled into the new routine.
Apparently at one company in Minnesota, it doesn’t matter if it is the two-legged human variety or a four-legged animal one.
Nina Hale, a digital marketing company that is based in Minneapolis, has started a program called "fur-ternity" leave.
Connor McCarthy, a senior accounts manager at the company, adopted a Goldendoodle named Bentley. As a puppy parent, he wanted a few days off to get Bentley comfortable in his new home.
"So I just discussed if there was any way that we could have adjustments to my schedule ... to allow me to at least be with the puppy while still working," McCarthy told Minnesota Public Radio.
The lead of McCarthy’s team, Allison McMenimen, said that McCarthy’s request for his schedule adjustment was approved and that it showed company leaders that fur babies were important to their employees as children.
"We realized that we had received these requests a couple of times, and we thought, for so many of our hardworking, dedicated employees, there's an opportunity for us to reciprocate their dedication and give them additional flexibility when they're making a major life change. And in this case, instead of a human baby, it's a fur baby," McMenimen told MPR.
The company eventually introduced an official company benefits package with “fur-ternity leave” spelled out.
McCarthy said that the time off worked out for his family.
"I think it was great. Within a couple of weeks, he was potty-trained. I was able to help out with that." McCarthy told MPR. "He was a lot more at ease, and you could tell that he was getting used to being in this new environment because he had somebody there with him throughout the first week."
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