On June 22, it will be the 20th year of Pet Sitters International’s “Take Your Dog to Work Day®,” which encourages employers to allow pets to accompany employees to the office. While the June 22 event is a single day event (or in some cases the culmination of a week-long promotion) originally designed to encourage pet adoptions or raise money for animal shelters, more and more employers are receiving requests from employees to allow pets in the workplace year-round. And based on recent reports, this is an important issue for millennial employees. A recent study found that 57 percent of millennial respondents would change jobs to an employer who offered a more pet friendly environment, and employers are taking notice.

Leaving aside occupations in which an animal is providing direct job-related assistance such as a police canine or a herding dog or a “visitation animal” that may accompany a health care provider to a hospital, rehabilitation center or nursing home, therapy animals, service dogs and simple pets are increasingly finding their way to work. Some companies such as Google allow almost all of their employees to take their pets to work regardless of reason, in part to accommodate their workforce’s desire and in part because of a belief that animals in the workplace lower stress and encourage employee creativity. Currently, there is little empirical evidence regarding the benefits of pets at work although many employees self-report therapeutic benefits attributed to the presence of animals when asked or surveyed.