Have you been approached by your staff, or have you heard through the employee 'grapevine,' or has your clientele informed you that they have been directly solicited by your employees for pet sitting opportunities? And if your Practice provides boarding services, is this adversely affecting that revenue stream? Or are you worried that your clients believe if something goes wrong while your employee is pet sitting for them, that the pet sitting activity is an extension of your Practice and it's your fault? If 'employees as pet-sitters' is cause for concern, then you should clearly define whether or not your employees can pet-sit for clients and if so, determine whether it is part of an 'Outside Employment' and/or 'Conflict of Interest' policy to allow such activities.

 

This policy permits employees to provide pet sitting services to the Practice's clients without directly soliciting them. Additionally, it clarifies the independent contractual relationship, and even though the pet sitter is an employee of the Practice, the pet sitting services are not under the auspices of your Practice. The employee who is engaged to pet-sit for one of the Practice's clients should inform the Practice of the client's name and must sign an indemnification agreement with the Practice to acknowledge that the pet sitting services are not within the scope of his/her employment with the Practice. Why? In case there are any allegations by the client of mistreatment, theft, etc., the Practice needs to distance itself from the business arrangement and ensure the employee and not the Practice is responsible to the client. Additionally, as with any outside employment, it should not impact the performance of the employee's duties for the practice.

 

If your Practice does offer boarding services, the provision of a "competing" service by your employees poses a conflict of interest, which should be addressed in your employee manual's 'Conflict of Interest' policy.

 

In general, a conflict of interest is any interest, relationship or activity that competes or is incompatible with the best interests of the practice or which potentially might adversely affect the services of the practice. If your Practice provides boarding, then your employees who pet-sit have the responsibility to notify the Practice Manager to obtain consent to enter into or be permitted to continue such activity.

 

Pet sitting by your employees should be addressed to ensure that there is no misunderstandings about the scope of services and whether it creates a conflict of interest with the services provided by the practice. A well-thought out and documented policy ensures the risks associated with such activities are identified and properly allocated between the employer and employee and provides clarity to the clients that their business relationship is with the employee, not the practice. 

 

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