Paw-ternity Leave For Employees Now In India Also

You must have heard about Paw-ternity leave being implemented in various companies in the U.K, U.S. and Australia, but did you know that now Indian companies have also started offering paw-ternity leave to its employees?

Collar Folk

CollarFolk that curates pet friendly holidays, has decided to give 10 days’ leave to its employees when they adopt a pet.

“It’s only fair to give our employees time to welcome home their furry one and figure things like vet visits, potty training, tonics, and day care if needed. The team is most welcome to bring the little ones to work, though pet parents must clean up in case their fur babies dirty the premises,” said Rukmini Vaish, founding partner at CollarFolk.

Gozoop

Another Mumbai-based digital marketing services company Gozoop has introduced a special allowance of up to Rs 2,017 for pet parents to take their cat, dog or any other pet to the vet once a year. It can be used for pet training, fancy grooming, vaccinations or even pet sitting.

 “For many at our workplace, pets are family and our pet friendly policy is a small step to say that we care about things that are important to our coworkers,” said Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, CEO at Gozoop.

However, such initiatives have been so far taken by a few pet-friendly organizations, some mainstream companies, too, grant leaves to employees to take care of their pets.

Some other companies offering paw-ternity leave to its employees

A 27-year-old hotel executive found her pet dachshund ‘Snuffles’ Arora not keeping well, she called up her manager seeking a few days’ leave. The company, which does not expressly give leave to pet parents, was happy to give her leave when she informed them the reason.

Similarly, tea retail chain Chaayos does not offer a formal pet sick leave for employees, but its co-founder Raghav Verma said the firm is open to employees working from home or taking leave in case their pets fall ill.

“Outside India in countries like the US, UK and Australia, there is a concept of medical insurance for pets. We are trying to introduce medical insurance to India as well and are in talks with a few insurance companies.”

Online pet products shop Heads Up For Tails last month introduced up to two days’ pet sick leave for all its 60 employees in a year.  The pet sick leave is in excess of existing leaves, company CEO Rashi Narang said.

Read Also: UK Offers Paw-ternity Leave To Its Employees

“About 75% of our employees are passionate pet owners. As most of them live in nuclear setups, their pets need monitoring too, especially when ailing.”

Bhupendra Khanal, founder of Bengaluru-based pet food brand Dogsee Chew, said it would be a “noble cause” if companies recognized a need for pet care leave.

“It would also be a great enabler for employee retention if companies were sensitized about such a leave since pet parents revolve their life around them,” he said.

Reference: ET RISE

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