Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm all for it but first we need to have longer and paid maternity/paternity and adoption leave for new parents. If there is a set number of bereavement days each person should be able to determine how to use them.
Take allotted vacation. However, if a company wants to provide it, who cares, Same with maternity/paternity, should be up to the company and not the government.
I agree that it should be up to the company and not the government.
Regardless, count me as one that thinks this a bit crazy. I think people take this love for animals thing a bit too far sometimes. There's a difference between a pet and family, and I'm sorry, but I just don't respect "diversity" in terms of that someone else feels otherwise. Regardless, if we're going to do it, I like what the one paragraph said--if someone can claim being "devastated" that their cat or dog died, well what about someone saying they're "devastated" that their goldfish died, or their ferret, or their mouse, or their horse? If you're going to allow time-off for cats or dogs since they're pets, I think it's only fair to do the same for ANY pet someone deems worthy, ANY pet. Respect that "diversity."
Now, on the other hand, someone mentioned "PTO" apparently they mean that one may have accumulated "goodwill" with the company and/or paid-time-off as a benefit, and you can then use such time-off, with ample notice and such, for whatever reason you fancy. You could take a personal day off because you want to go shopping for fingernail polish, or to catch up on some things around the house, or to go participate in a national kite-flying contest, but you just take time off for whatever you want with no explanation necessary.
If someone has such PTO accumulated or a certain amount of "goodwill" in the company earned by years of excellence and dependability etc, and chooses to use it for mourning their cat or parakeet, I say that's fine by me. I'm just saying that in terms of having special "bereavement" leave to use at the drop of hat like it's a 911 emergency sort of thing, I'm sorry, that should be for spouse/kids/elderly parents etc and not pets. There's a difference. If we can't respect this difference, then don't go playing that "there's a difference" card when someone wants time off for their parakeet and you don't consider that "the same" as asking for time off for a cat or a dog. After all, if the premise is "who are you to judge someone for considering their cat/dog their 'family' instead of a spouse/child," well then you have to also say "who are you to judge someone for considering their parakeet or ferret 'family' instead of a cat/dog?"
I agree that it should be up to the company and not the government.
Regardless, count me as one that thinks this a bit crazy. I think people take this love for animals thing a bit too far sometimes. There's a difference between a pet and family, and I'm sorry, but I just don't respect "diversity" in terms of that someone else feels otherwise.
For a great many people, a pet is family, regardless how others choose to judge or impose limitations on what should be considered grieving. The empathy that pet owners can hold for their pets can be akin to that of the love of any human family member. There is nothing wrong with this, and there is a growing body of evidence out there that animal-human relationships can be enormously beneficial to pet owners who may struggle with any number of physical or emotional issues. So who is anyone to judge - regardless of the species - whether or not it is right for a person to feel deep loss over that of a beloved pet?
That said, I tend to agree that this should be something the individual company can decide whether or not to implement. Some companies have generous benefits; others, not so much. Usually a company will offer a set number of vacation days and sick time, so if the company doesn't offer time off over bereavement of a pet - I believe right now most don't - then there are those options. If those are used up, then (here, anyway) a medical note from a doctor will allow the employee some time off, if the doctor agrees that the person is not up to working. Many companies, esp. smaller private ones, can sometimes be stretched to the limit in terms of what they can offer, so I wouldn't be keen on the government imposing such changes.
I agree that it should be up to the company and not the government.
Regardless, count me as one that thinks this a bit crazy. I think people take this love for animals thing a bit too far sometimes. There's a difference between a pet and family, and I'm sorry, but I just don't respect "diversity" in terms of that someone else feels otherwise. Regardless, if we're going to do it, I like what the one paragraph said--if someone can claim being "devastated" that their cat or dog died, well what about someone saying they're "devastated" that their goldfish died, or their ferret, or their mouse, or their horse? If you're going to allow time-off for cats or dogs since they're pets, I think it's only fair to do the same for ANY pet someone deems worthy, ANY pet. Respect that "diversity."
Now, on the other hand, someone mentioned "PTO" apparently they mean that one may have accumulated "goodwill" with the company and/or paid-time-off as a benefit, and you can then use such time-off, with ample notice and such, for whatever reason you fancy. You could take a personal day off because you want to go shopping for fingernail polish, or to catch up on some things around the house, or to go participate in a national kite-flying contest, but you just take time off for whatever you want with no explanation necessary.
If someone has such PTO accumulated or a certain amount of "goodwill" in the company earned by years of excellence and dependability etc, and chooses to use it for mourning their cat or parakeet, I say that's fine by me. I'm just saying that in terms of having special "bereavement" leave to use at the drop of hat like it's a 911 emergency sort of thing, I'm sorry, that should be for spouse/kids/elderly parents etc and not pets. There's a difference. If we can't respect this difference, then don't go playing that "there's a difference" card when someone wants time off for their parakeet and you don't consider that "the same" as asking for time off for a cat or a dog. After all, if the premise is "who are you to judge someone for considering their cat/dog their 'family' instead of a spouse/child," well then you have to also say "who are you to judge someone for considering their parakeet or ferret 'family' instead of a cat/dog?"
Please don't assume as you appear to be doing that all households consist of a nuclear family with Mom, Dad and kids, and one that has normal relations with extended family. In some households some or none of this is true. You cannot take your own values lock and assume what sorts of impacts loss of a pet might have on a given individual or set of them. You simply have NO IDEA!
Please don't assume as you appear to be doing that all households consist of a nuclear family with Mom, Dad and kids, and one that has normal relations with extended family. In some households some or none of this is true. You cannot take your own values lock and assume what sorts of impacts loss of a pet might have on a given individual or set of them. You simply have NO IDEA!
Thank you. Who is anyone to say "The loss of a pet is different than a family member"? That's also like saying "Sorry you lost your friend who you adored. But they aren't a family member so you can't have bereavement time for them". No one should judge who or how you mourn. For many families or people, your pet IS your family, and studies have shown that the bond between a pet and family member can be just as strong as mother and child.
From experience I can say the death of one of my dogs hits me just as hard as the death of my parents, niece and cousin did and in someways even harder as my dogs are in my life every single day. The others did not live in the same town the closest to me were my parents but even that was 120 miles away. So while the loss of all of them was great and such a terrible thing it did not impact my daily life as much as the loss of my dogs have. I felt the loss of a dog everyday until I developed a new routine with the other dogs. So yeah the death of a dog can be just as bad as the loss of a human.
I just use PTO when it happens and my corkers do the same, we consider it a mental health day/sick day as why come to work when your brain is some place else? I work in health care so need to be at the top of my game as to not be could put someones life at risk.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
For many families or people, your pet IS your family, and studies have shown that the bond between a pet and family member can be just as strong as mother and child.
