Service Animals in the Workplace: What You Need to Know

TRACK: OEM Clinical Practice

Linda Carter Batiste, JD, Job Accommodations Network, Morgantown, WV
Joyce Edmondson, RN, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC
Anne M. Foreman, PhD, NIOSH, Morgantown, WV
Margaret K. Glenn, PhD, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Barbara Jean Meade, MD, DVM, MPH, PhD, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

The use of service animals by individuals with disabilities is expanding rapidly requiring that occupational medicine physicians, health and safety personnel and human resource managers become familiar with the laws governing public access for service animals as well as the risks and benefits associated with service animals in the workplace for both employees and employers. Research and regulations
have not kept pace with the expanded use of service animals resulting in obstacles for individuals with disabilities and difficulties in maintaining compliance for employers. Topics covered will include laws relating to service animals as reasonable accommodations in the workplace and housing, and public access to transportation. Additionally, guidance will be provided for those counseling individuals
contemplating service animals as an accommodation to facilitate return to work. Participants will be made aware of resources available through the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a program of the U.S. Department of Labor. Considerations of animal-related workplace hazards and controls to mitigate these will be discussed. Case studies will be used as examples to illustrate these points.