Support and well-being

We are keenly interested in the well-being of the people who work here and support our people in a variety of ways.

Well-being

We are committed to helping all employees achieve the right balance between their professional and personal lives. We recognise that performing the services we offer our clients, to the level we do, requires a great deal of commitment from our people, and many of our people take great pride in this. We also recognise there are other priorities in life too. It is this balance we must get right.

We have long had practices in place to ensure workloads are managed properly. For each department or group, an individual is responsible for monitoring workloads to ensure they do not become excessive. Partners discuss workloads and capacity with associates and their departments regularly and follow up with individuals who may need further help and attention, in either reducing their volumes of work or obtaining different types of work more appropriate to their level of qualification or their interests.

In London, we run ‘performance under pressure’ or stress management courses and provide online guidance for staff. We have associate working groups looking at work/life balance, which we recognise as a key issue for the long term happiness of our people, and work allocation.

In London, we have an onsite occupational health adviser, who aims to help protect and promote physical and psychological well-being in the workplace. We provide free private healthcare for all our permanent employees. We have a doctor and a nurse onsite and an in-house dental service. We provide a free gym through which we offer a variety of services, including a masseur, a physiotherapist, exercise classes and fitness trainers. We offer advice and promote good nutrition through our subsidised staff restaurant.

Different arrangements are provided in our offices firm-wide, with several offering free gym membership. In Germany, occupational doctors (Betriebsärzte) visit the offices regularly and are available to everybody.

Flexible working

We have a formal policy on flexible working. Options include part-time working, fixed hours and home-working, with some people combining a number of options to find a solution that best suits their needs. We provide home workers with computing equipment to enable them to work effectively. Each request for flexible working is assessed against a number of factors, including the effect on client service.

Currently, over 9 per cent of our people in London have flexible working arrangements – 8 per cent in 2004/5. Most people who have flexible and/or part-time work arrangements are either paralegals or in business services. We expect to continue to see an increase in flexible working, particularly given the increased ability to work remotely. We anticipate that this policy may help some women return to work after having children.

Members of our employment, pensions and benefits department have been providing pro bono legal advice to Working Families, a charity that focuses on work/life balance and aims to help, and give a voice to, working parents and carers and to help employers create workplaces that encourage work/life balance for everyone. Our volunteers have given advice on the charity’s helpline and helped update fact sheets on childcare, parents’ rights, benefits and finance, and flexible working.

For many years we have matched time off for people who observe religious holidays on days when the office is open, and our London office has a contemplation room for people of all religions and faiths to use.

Mentoring

In London, our mentoring programme, in which senior colleagues mentor a number of employees, has developed over the years to reflect the different needs and approaches of our practice groups. The associate working group is now looking at ways to make it more effective. For the last two years, we have also run a peer-mentoring scheme for new partners, and a number of departments are piloting mentoring programmes whereby partners are responsible for the training, career and pastoral development of a small group of associates.

Networks and affinity groups

In London we have an active parents network with a regular programme of activities to support working parents.

Our London lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group was formalised in summer 2007 and aims to meet on a regular basis. The group meets socially and provides an informal support network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who work here. Representatives from the group are also part of the diversity working group.

Our diversity working group is exploring whether we should establish other networks to address issues facing particular groups who are under-represented either across the firm or at certain levels within it.

Social activities

We believe it is important for employees to continue with their interests and to get involved in new activities; this is also a great opportunity to meet other people from the firm. In our London office, we have 28 clubs and societies, ranging from art classes to water polo. We match holiday for those who attend team tours.