Dear Vicki: ‘My staff are complaining because they are not allowed bring their dogs to work’

Q I’m the office manager in a big company in the south-west, and I’m regularly asked by a few staff members if they can bring their dogs to work. Up to now I have resisted, because I dread to think how little work would be done with canines running amok about the place. However, recently we had a ‘bring your child to work day’, and afterwards I had a complaint from a senior member of staff who pointed out that her “reasonable request” to bring a small, well-behaved poodle to work has been repeatedly turned down, and yet we have “kids running around, shouting and causing disruption”, to use her words.

I’m now wondering if I should relent, and if a more lenient policy might boost attendance in the office by dog-owners, who tend to work from home a lot more than their colleagues. What do you think?.