Can I Bring My Pet Monkey to Work?: A Review

The Full Title: Can I Bring My Pet Monkey to Work?: Answers to 45 of the Wildest Workplace Law Questions

As a kid I loved reading Encyclopedia Brown (basically Sherlock Holmes for kids). This book feels like a similar experience, but for HR Professionals.

Each of the 45 mysteries begins with an HR-related question, such as: 

Can I bring my pet monkey to work? 

Can employees be required to wear deodorant?

Can an employee bring a sword to work?

Each chapter continues with a response examining existing laws, common interpretations of those laws, and actual legal cases where this or similar issues were navigated.

Pros: 

• the 45 questions explored in the book all feel relevant to most workplaces

• the chapters feel sufficiently researched

• the legal interpretations definitely helped me better understand how to approach workplace legal issues in the future

• each chapter is a quick self-contained explanation (so I can easily recommend individual chapters to clients and colleagues)

Areas of Opportunity:

• It Depends is often the answer. I do appreciate the accuracy, but I also wish they would’ve chosen more questions with a clear yes/no answer

• A couple questions had yes/no answers that are already common knowledge (e.g. whether it's illegal to fire someone for being gay), so they added little value for me

I recommend this book for the following groups:

• HR Professionals who aren't knowledgeable about workplace law (even if you’ve passed the SHRM-CP/PHR exams)

• All people managers with 6+ direct/indirect reports

Important Caveat: This book is not an official legal document and therefore probably doesn’t fully represent the current laws in your jurisdiction.

To satisfy your curiosity:

• Can I bring my pet monkey to work? It depends.

• Can employees be required to wear deodorant? It depends.

• Can an employee bring a sword to work? It depends.

See, isn’t that frustrating? Okay, fine…

• Can I bring my pet monkey to work? 

  • According to the book, the United States A.D.A. has indicated that only dogs can be service animals, and employers are only definitely legally required to accommodate service animals. The law on emotional support animals is not yet entirely clear, but a good rule of thumb for employers is to ask:

• You are welcome to ask your HR department if they will allow an emotional support monkey into the workplace. HR Departments should try to accommodate your request if possible, which in this case I suspect may be in the form of offering you the option to work from home.

• If your role requires you to be in an office setting, then you might be out of luck.

• Can employees be required to wear deodorant?

  • Body odor is not considered a disability under the A.D.A., and therefore employees are generally required to comply with any employer hygiene policy. However, if an employee meets the following 3 criteria:

    • a medical condition that is recognized as a disability under the A.D.A.

    • having body odor issues as a symptom of that A.D.A.-recognized disability

    • the employee has informed their employer about this disability

    ...then the employee probably cannot be be fired for their odor.

• Can an employee bring a sword to work?

  • The Sikh faith mandates that followers carry a kirpan (a symbolic blade) as part of their religious uniform. It seems that the case law on this issue (religious freedom vs. the freedom to ensure a weapons-free workplace) has not been totally decided, and there are significant differences between states. The 3 legal cases referenced in the book all ended in settlements.

  • If possible, offering to let the requester work from home to accommodate this request may be a good option.

Final Thoughts:

• If you are an HR Professional, always try to accommodate employee requests if possible, even if you can legally deny them. And try to work with the requester to find the best solution.

• When in doubt, consult an HR lawyer. This may be expensive, but it’s usually cheaper than a lawsuit.