The Emotional Support Animal Dilemma Your HR Team Is Not Ready For

When a manager's emotional support husky urinated on the internet router and frightened a client in the same week, the company realized it faced a policy problem.

This scenario, described in a recent Korn Ferry analysis, captures a trend that will force thousands of companies to make difficult decisions in 2025 and beyond. According to Metlife's 2025 survey, one in four pet owners now has an emotional support animal (ESA), representing a 50% increase from five years ago. With nearly 59 million U.S. households owning pets (per American Veterinary Medical Association data), around 15 million have ESAs. The math alone should concern any CHRO.

But the challenge goes deeper than numbers. Unlike the steady march toward remote work policies or the adoption of AI tools, the ESA workplace phenomenon caught most organizations unprepared. Companies struggle to handle something that sits at the intersection of disability law, mental health, facilities management, and workplace culture.

The False Comparison That Clouds Clear Thinking

The Korn Ferry article draws a parallel to airlines, noting they spent two decades navigating ESA chaos before the Department of Transportation changed regulations in 2021. Airlines had dealt with safety incidents and complaints that finally prompted legislative relief.

This comparison misleads more than it illuminates. Airlines operate under unique constraints: federal safety regulations, confined spaces at 30,000 feet, and short interactions. A flight with a peacock differs fundamentally from working alongside a colleague's therapy dog for months.

More importantly, the airline comparison primes business leaders to view ESAs primarily as a problem requiring restriction rather than an accommodation meriting thoughtful policy design. This matters because it shapes the solutions companies develop.

Consider Amazon's "Dogs at Work" program, which has operated successfully since its early days. The company now hosts over 10,000 registered dogs across its Seattle campus, with detailed policies covering everything from vaccination requirements to designated relief areas to behavioral standards. Amazon demonstrates that animals at work can function smoothly with proper planning, infrastructure investment, and clear guidelines.

What the Legal Landscape Actually Looks Like

The article notes that service animals receive clear federal protection under the ADA, while ESAs occupy grayer territory. But this understates the complexity facing employers.

The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities unless doing so causes undue hardship. Whether an ESA qualifies as a reasonable accommodation depends on multiple factors: the employee's documented disability, the connection between the animal and mitigating that disability, and the specific workplace environment.

A 2024 National Law Review analysis identified a rising trend in ESA-related employment litigation, with plaintiffs winning 40% of cases. The legal risk is real, but it cuts both ways. Companies face potential liability both for denying legitimate accommodation requests and for allowing ESAs that create hostile work environments.

The Physical Workspace Reality

Dennis Deans, vice president of global human resources at Korn Ferry, notes that companies are shrinking real estate footprints while 70% of offices use open floor plans. This creates genuine logistical challenges for animal accommodation.

But framing this solely as a constraint ignores how the same forces driving these workplace changes also increase ESA accommodation feasibility. According to Cushman & Wakefield's 2024 workplace survey, 68% of companies operate on hybrid schedules with employees in-office an average of 2.6 days per week.

Google's pet-friendly campuses include outdoor relief areas, pet-friendly meeting rooms, and regular cleaning protocols. These aren't token gestures but significant infrastructure commitments.

The Missing Mental Health Context

The article treats ESAs primarily through an operational lens. This perspective ignores why ESA requests have surged 50% in five years.

Mental health challenges in the workplace reached crisis levels during the pandemic and haven't receded. The APA's 2024 Work and Well-being Survey found that 77% of employees reported work-related stress, with 57% experiencing negative impacts.

ESAs function as a mental health intervention for some employees. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology in 2023 found that ESAs provided meaningful anxiety reduction for 64% of individuals with diagnosed anxiety disorders.

Why the One-Off Approach Fails

Louis Montgomery, principal at Korn Ferry's HR Center of Expertise, correctly identifies a critical problem: "Organizations have been handling these scenarios as one-offs, as opposed to establishing policies."

This ad hoc approach creates risks:

• Inconsistency breeds legal vulnerability. When Company A approves an ESA for an employee with anxiety but denies another request, they face discrimination claims.
• The absence of established policies pushes decisions to managers who lack training, creating stress and inconsistent outcomes.
• Reactive policies developed in response to situations often fail to address the full range of scenarios companies will face.

What Effective ESA Policies Actually Look Like

Based on analysis of successful companies, effective ESA workplace policies share several characteristics:

• Distinguish between service animals and ESAs with clear evaluation processes.
• Establish clear documentation requirements.
• Define behavioral and health standards.
• Address conflicting needs.
• Specify physical requirements.
• Establish consequences.
• Communicate broadly.

The Allergy Problem Nobody Wants to Discuss

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America estimates that 10-20% of the population has pet allergies, with 30% experiencing serious respiratory distress.

When one employee's ESA accommodation triggers another employee's disability, companies face competing accommodation obligations. Courts have generally ruled that employers must accommodate both employees, often through physical separation, but these solutions aren't always feasible.

The Remote Work Wild Card

Widespread remote and hybrid work changes the ESA calculus.

For employees working primarily from home, ESAs pose no workplace accommodation issues. The question only arises for in-office time.

Research by Dice's 2024 Future of Work study found that remote employees received promotions at rates 23% lower than in-office counterparts and reported feeling excluded from informal networking and mentorship.

What Business Leaders Should Do Now

Paul Fogel notes that pet owners view workplace ESAs as a major perk. But the solution isn't restricting ESAs to avoid operational headaches. Companies should:

• Develop comprehensive policies now.
• Invest in mental health infrastructure.
• Audit physical workspace for accommodation feasibility.
• Train managers on disability accommodation basics.
• Consider broader pet-friendly policies.
• Prepare for competing accommodation scenarios.
• Document everything.

The Bigger Picture

The ESA workplace phenomenon reflects tensions in how we think about work, disability, mental health, and accommodation.

We've made genuine progress in recognizing mental health as legitimate and deserving of support. But we're still figuring out how to operationalize that recognition in workplace policies. ESAs sit at this awkward intersection: they're less formal than traditional medical interventions, more personal than standard workplace benefits, and more disruptive than typical accommodations.

I expect continued growth in ESA accommodation requests over the next five years. Younger workers entering the workforce have grown up viewing mental health support as normal.

The manager's husky that urinated on the router wasn't the real problem. The problem was the company having no framework, no standards, no process, and no way to address the situation when it went wrong.

The ESA workplace challenge will separate sophisticated organizations from those that function with rigid rules. Most employees with ESAs aren't trying to game the system. They're managing genuine mental health challenges while remaining productive employees.

For further information, consider exploring more about creating effective ESA workplace policies here.