Can a Service Animal Be Brought to Work?

You have likely seen them in an airport or in a restaurant. Service dogs can be trained to perform many different roles – they can provide seeing support for those who are visually impaired, sensory support for those with autism, and can even warn those prone to seizures that an episode is imminent. A service dog provides life-saving help to thousands of people in the US, and for those in an office setting, it can be difficult to know the regulations surrounding when a service animal can be brought to work.

What Is a Service Animal?

There are nearly 17,000 service dogs that have been trained by Assistance Dogs International (ADI). It’s not certain the true number of service dogs that are actually in use in North America because many were trained by their disabled owners.

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has many stipulations written into law that define what a service animal is:

• The ADA specifically identifies that a service animal must be a dog and cannot be any other animal. It can be any breed of dog.
• The tasks performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability.
• Dogs are not required to be professionally trained; however, they do have to complete training before they can be taken to public places.
• The dog isn’t required to wear a special vest or harness identifying them as a service dog.
• The dog is usually required to be leashed, but there may be certain exceptions, like if a dog does a safety check of a room before a person with PTSD enters.

A service dog is crucial for the disabled person to function to the best of their ability, and vastly improves their capabilities at work, not to mention their general safety and well-being.

Service vs. Emotional Support Animal

There are a lot of stories out there about animals other than dogs being registered as emotional support animals, but there’s an important distinction to be made here. There are laws regarding the difference between a service animal and an emotional support one, particularly about where they’re allowed to go in public places.

Emotional support animals provide comfort, and are not trained to perform a specific task, which is why they’re not deemed a service dog. A psychiatric service animal, though, while still technically an emotional support dog, can be a service animal in the eyes of the ADA. For example, if it's trained to sense an anxiety attack in a person with PTSD.

An emotional support animal can still be deemed a reasonable accommodation, and therefore would have all the same protections in the workplace under ADA law as a service animal does.

Regardless of the type of animal a person uses for help, it’s very important to remember to not pet or otherwise interact with the animal in any way unless specifically given permission by its handler. And it’s best practice to not ask for it. Interacting with a service animal can distract them from tending to their human, so speak to the person first before acknowledging the dog’s presence.

Can I Bring My Service Dog to Work?

The short answer is yes, you can. However, there are certain things your company is going to need to know, and laws can vary by state, so it’s important to double-check what your state may or may not allow. Under federal ADA law, a service dog is treated just like any other employer accommodation for an employee: it should be made provided that it’s reasonable. Other things to know include:

• The employer is allowed to ask two things: whether the animal is required due to a disability, and what tasks it has been trained to do. The employer isn’t allowed to ask about the nature of the employee’s disability, for the dog to demonstrate the task(s), or for documentation.
• If the disability is not obvious, the employee may have to provide paperwork regarding the nature of their disability.
• The employee does have to notify, and make a request to, the company about their service dog. The employer should then use its interactive process to discuss what a reasonable accommodation would entail. The employee can make this request for an emotional support animal as well.
• Another coworker having an allergy or fear of dogs doesn’t necessarily mean that an “undue hardship” is being placed on the business, which would allow them to deny the accommodation request. The employee with disabilities and/or the coworker can be separated or, if remote work is possible, they can come to the office on different days.
• The employer can designate a relief area for the dog, and allow the employee to take breaks to care for it.

An Olathe, KS Hobby Lobby was recently sued for disability discrimination because the store’s manager refused to accommodate a service dog because of safety concerns. In May 2023, Hobby Lobby settled the suit for $50,000, making it clear that the manager violated ADA regulations. Hobby Lobby also must adopt and maintain policies to ensure future ADA compliance.

A company is allowed to make their own rules regarding psychiatric support and emotional support animals. The interactive process is designed to acknowledge that a disabled person’s situation is unique, but it can also cause unclear interpretations. In general, a service dog must be allowed in the workplace according to ADA law.