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Many people mix up service dog access when attempting to take their service dog to work, as they understand the basic public access guidelines that they deal with on a daily basis. However, they are two completely different monsters.

Most service dog handlers are used to the typical Title 2 and 3 when it comes to daily life with our service dogs.

In a nutshell here is what titles 2 and 3 cover:

Title II is about state and local governments (public entities), while Title III is about businesses and nonprofits that are open to the public (public accommodations).

Unfortunately, neither of these titles fully covers when a handler needs to take their service dog to work with them. This process can be long and very intrusive for the team and is covered by Title 1. Title 1 can also cover emotional support animals.

"Under Title II and III of the ADA, only dogs are considered service animals. (There is a separate provision allowing for miniature horses subject to certain limitations.) Other animals, either wild or domestic, are not service animals. However, under Title I, in the workplace, there is no such definition and technically no limit to what type of animal can be a reasonable accommodation. This means that accommodating an emotional support animal may be an appropriate reasonable accommodation." ~ADA Network
Click to expand...

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Normally, to start this procedure, the handler should request reasonable accommodations with their human resource department. Just remember they can request almost anything in order to decide if the accommodation is reasonable. Some of the common items I have seen include:
  • Note from a licensed medical practitioner who the handler is a patient of stating the dog is needed by the handler.
  • Training Logs (owner trained)
  • Letters and/or certifications from dog trainers who trained the dog.
  • Letter from a veterinarian about being nonaggressive and up to date on shots.
  • Shot records
  • Medical records (proof of disability)
  • Notes from friends and family (establish the team)
  • Show and tell, showing tasks and general behavior
As I stated before, this can be a very invasive process. Before the naysayers hit about medical records, typically, HIPPA has nothing to do with turning over medical records for something like this.

I have helped form policy for a small company I used to work for to having to navigate state government policy to attempt to bring my service dog to work. I even blogged the latter attempt to have my service dog to work. You can check it out at The Road to Get Dougal to Work and Title 1 Let's get Dougal to work... Again!.

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The problem with service dogs at work is that the employer has to be able to determine the reasonableness of having a dog in the company. The safety of the service dog team as well as all of the other employees. Sometimes, there is a lot of give and take, a lot of questions, and decisions that must be made. There was a court case in which a nurse wanted to bring her service dog to work and her employer attempted to accept this reasonable accommodation. However, problems became apparent very quickly as a coworker was majorly allergic to dog hair and had to be hospitalized due to it. Arrangements were made to mitigate, but nothing worked. In the end, she was told the dog could no longer come to work with her, and the court case went all the way up. C. L. V. DEL AMO HOSPITAL. The denial was justified.

For me, initially, I was granted my dog to come to work with me. Later, I was told the process had not been completed, and I had to talk to counsel. They did not like the fact that I had to leave the dog locked in my office when I was called out a few hours a day. But, instead of fully denying my request, I was offered an alternate accommodation. This was a modified work schedule. If overly stressed (I have combat-related PTSD) I could leave work and go home. Will it work for me? I am not sure, but it is well within their purview to do this.

In closing, while you, as a service dog handler, have everything in order to have everything in place to have your dog come to work with you, your employer can find other avenues to try out to make sure to accommodate you and your disability.