New Benefits for Pet Owners Are Adoption and Bereavement Leave

Therapy puppies awaited petting in the lobby. A gospel choir sang from a second-story railing. Rocket Larry, a 50-pound African sulcata tortoise who is best friends with Puka, a mixed-breed dog with a cleft palate and a social media following, walked the red carpet, one more significantly slowly than the other.

Thus began Best Pet Workplaces, a 12-hour conference in Los Angeles on Thursday that gathered the nation’s top thought leaders in the emerging field of employee pet benefits. Executives from Google, Imax, Nationwide, REI, Starbucks, Sweetgreen, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, United Airlines, Walmart, Whole Foods and Zoom sat on panels ...