Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI) states the following position regarding accommodating people who use service animals in employment settings. This position stems from comments GDUI has received from employers and organizations working on behalf of people with disabilities. Employers have expressed concern that the presence of a service animal in the workplace is disruptive to other employees with allergies or phobias. Questions about how to appropriately house and control service animals are often posed. We state a position based on the experiences and needs of blind people working with guide dogs. This position, however, is applicable to anyone working with a service animal.
Although employers have been advised that they can prohibit service animals from the workplace if they can provide equivilant services, GDUI contends that this practice is extremely harmful to the working relationship of service animal and handler and jeopardizes the independence and function of the employee with a disability. In order to maintain reliable performance from a service animal, the handler and animal must be in contact throughout the workday. Service animals perform many different types of tasks for their handlers such as retrieving, guiding, alerting and assisting in movement. These tasks help mitigate a disability. People choose to work with service animals to further their independence. Even though tasks such as guiding can be done by humans, the very independent nature of accomplishing the task necessitates the presence of the service animal.
GDUI realizes that people do suffer serious allergic conditions and phobias to animals. We respect the nature of these conditions and do not wish to inconvenience anyone with a condition so severe as to qualify him as being disabled. However, GDUI contends that in certain situations, allergies or phobias may mask difficulty in accepting an employee with a disability and his service animal. GDUI has also observed long time employees who acquire service animals encountering difficulty because of the now public nature of their disabilities as seen in the presence of the service animal. GDUI contends that anyone claiming allergies or phobias so severe that he cannot work around the service animal should present medical documentation to this effect for his employee file.
GDUI contends that service animal handlers should do everything possible to maintain appropriate health and grooming of their animals. Service animals should not be allowed to wander unsupervised in employment settings unless doing so is crucial to the nature of their work. Service animals should not bother other employees and should not be played with or fed without the express permission of the handler. Only service animal handlers should give corrections to the animal. All gear and associated items for the service animal are the responsibility of its handler. Unless conditions are such that a kennel is required for safety, such as a shop floor, employers are not required to provide bedding, toys, dishes or other supplies.
There are many easy and agreeable ways to accommodate a person with a service animal in the workplace. GDUI contends that the most effective solution is not to isolate the service animal team if at all possible. Personal air purification systems, moving offices and/or requiring notification before the service animal enters specific areas are all appropriate means of providing for the needs of allergic or phobic employees. Dismissing an employee with a service animal, simply because the need for the animal in the workplace cannot be accommodated is never acceptable.
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