Service Animals In The Workplace California

Service animals are working animals not pets.

Service animals in the workplace california. Most people are familiar with service animalstypically dogsthat assist people with disabilities at home and at work. Assistive animals differ from what employers may already come expect when accommodating an employees disability. These workplaces must provide alternative accommodations for the person with a disability to obtain use and benefit from the providers goods or services.

Service animals usually dogs of any breed or size are working animals and are not considered pets. Service Animals in the Workplace and the Law. It also allows for the employer to request proof from the employee that the service animal is appropriately trained to assist them and that it is trained to not disrupt the workplace under.

McDowell Suite 180 Petaluma CA 94954 Tel. The service animal must be harnessed leashed or tethered while in public places unless these devices interfere with the service animals work or the persons disability prevents use of these devices. Prior to the amendment employers would associate a support animal with a guide dog or other service dogs such as a trained seizure alert dog.

In the employment context the statutory schemes that require reasonable accommodation for disabilities are the California Fair Employment and Housing Act FEHA and the Americans With Disabilities Act ADA. Depending on the type of work some workplaces may be exempt from allowing service animals in the workplace. Both the ADA and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act FEHA prohibit discrimination on the.

A support animal sometimes called a comfort animal is one that provides emotional cognitive or other similar support to a person with a disability including but not limited to a traumatic brain injury or a mental disability such as major depression. If a service animal becomes too much of a disruption a workplace retains the ability to claim undue. Fellion and Patti C.

Advancements in animal training and alternative medical treatments mean that animals today can be much more than just pets. Animals which meet this definition are considered service animals whether or not they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government. The animal cannot engage in behavior that endangers the health or safety of anyone in the workplace including.