Slaughters makes ‘Bring Your Dog To Work Day’ permanent after successful summer trial
Once a month 🐶
Slaughter and May has rolled out ‘Bring your Dog to Work Day’ on a permanent basis after a successful trial last summer.
The traditional law firm shook things up in June 2022 by permitting lawyers and staff to bring their beloved pet pooches to work for the first time in an effort to boost morale and alleviate stress. It also put in place a series of guidelines in recognition that not everyone is comfortable or able to be around dogs.
A firm spokesperson has now confirmed it will be continuing to allow dogs in the office for one day a month.
“I have long been an advocate of having our dogs in the office,” Slaughters’ managing partner Deborah Finkler said at the time of the trial. “The benefits of all animals and especially dogs to mental health, morale and alleviating stress are widely recognised.”
Slaughters isn’t the first major City player to open its doors to our four-legged friends, with the likes of Gowling WLG, Norton Rose Fulbright and Eversheds Sutherland all previously running similar days as part of their wider wellbeing efforts.
News of the permanent ‘dog day’ comes just months after the Slaughters launched a new ‘Working Practices Code’ that stipulates lawyers are not required to check emails between 10pm and 8am on a working day, “unless you are working on a matter/s where you consider that to be necessary”.
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21 Comments
The Lawyer Enthusiast
Lifestyle firm
Anon
Why does this get so much attention? So many firms have done this for years.
Disgruntled junior
Dogs don’t pay bills.
JL
“unless you are working on a matter/s where you consider that necessary” lol
Afraid of dogs
Great, now I’ll work with adrenaline pumping due to my fear of dogs.
Jasmine
This sounds great for people who are allergic/have phobias. Very inclusive
Alan
What a bizarre decision. Has no one thought of liability should someone’s beloved flea hotel bite and injure a staff member? What about client reactions to having some disease ridden allergy party howling on calls? Should be banned by the SRA immediately.
Goofy
Humans have lived alongside dogs for around 30,000 years now in an excellent symbiotic relationship; funny how snowflakes let their help, protection & love become overridden by allergies & anxiety.
It’s PC gone mad! If you say anything nowadays you get thrown in jail! I’ve been cancelled by the woke masses!
I’m gonna posit a pretty crazy view here: I can understand why someone who is allergic to dogs might not want one in their place of work.
I quite like dogs myself but can understand why someone might not want to have to navigate that issue in an environment like a law firm.
Afraid of dogs
I signed up to work at a law firm, not a dog kennel.
Goofy aka Alan
When will you stop moaning about snowflakes?
Emma
I was bitten by a child as a dog.
The very thought of having one in my place of work causes me involuntary defaecation.
I hope this doesn’t catch on.
An observer
How about the small minority of lawyers who have a dog allergy or dog phobia work from home on that one day of the month…
Surely that is the more proportionate thing to do when weighed against the feel-good factor brought to a majority of lawyers by having furry friends chilling in the office one day a month.
Or otherwise set a particular section of every floor as a dog-free zone on that particular day, for those who want to avoid the dogs, whether because of allergies, phobias or the need to work to a tight deadline.
Moreover, the prospect of a dog-owning lawyer bringing in their badly behaved dog is very slim – in all likelihood, the only dogs which will be brought in are those capable of relaxing.
I, for example, would not bring my teenage dog (so, yes, I am biased, but that does not negate the points I make) into an office environment, but may well do so once she has matured and is able to entirely relax at my feet while I work.
Allergen Police
But what about the fact that dog allergens / hair can linger in the office for days?
An observer
I am given to understand that large law firms like Slaughters have their offices cleaned daily.
Thank dog I'm not at Slaughters
With the excellent WFH policies these days, dog owners are welcome to stay home with their dog(s).
🐶
WFH?
Woof From Home?
👎
Poor
🐩
Yes, you must be.
🐶
Did you mean “paw”?
I like dogs
The same people who are moaning about people bringing their dogs in are also the same boomers who for some reason enjoy bringing their snotty kids in thinking we want to see them
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