Could putting up with a colleague's pet make you more productive?

Will Paris follow in the furry footsteps of Nice, Grenoble or neighbouring Suresnes, and allow city employees to bring their pets to work? Will civic offices in the French capital soon be home to workers' cats, dogs, ferets, pigs or even camels?

Is it time to go home yet? Paris city hall wants to allow employees to work with their pets. © AFP/Ronny Hartmann

"Sorry, but your boa just gobbled my hamster!"

"I don't like the way your ferret is looking at my rabbit!"

"Has anyone seen a camel?" 

Such conversational snippets could soon be commonplace in Paris civic offices.

The authorities at the French capital's town hall are to "continue discussions with the trade unions" on the question of allowing "employees who are not in contact with the public to come to work accompanied by their pets." 

That was decided by the city council on Tuesday, approving an idea put forward by Florence Berthout, right-wing mayor of the capital's fifth district.

According to the text drafted in agreement with the left-wing majority, allowing an employee's pet into the workplace will have to be done with "the approval of the head of the establishment and of the other employees composing the work group".

"There are people who love animals but others who are afraid of them," said Antoine Guillou, who works in human resources at Paris Town Hall.

Benefits on health, facilitating exchanges

"Many scientific studies have shown the beneficial effects of the presence of an animal on health," argued Florence Berthout, citing a 2017 study according to which this presence leads to a "23 percent decline in the risk of cardiovascular disease."

A pet in the workplace can "facilitate exchanges between colleagues", she added. Berthout explained she tried the experiment "in an unsupervised way" in her city hall, and gives a "very encouraging" assessment.

A pet, but which pet?

But the idea is not unanimously favoured on the city council.

The elected representative of the Republicans group, Anne Biraben denounced a "false good idea, and a potential gas factory that the Parisian administration does not necessarily need.

"This wish is vague on the list of animals included," added Biraben who claims that a 2006 decree lists not only cats and dogs as domestic animals, but also horses, ferrets, pigs, camels, mice, peacocks, pheasants, carp and silkworms.

Since September 2020, the city of Suresnes, near Paris, has allowed its employees to bring their pets to work. Grenoble and Nice have taken a similar decision, but only for dogs.