Working Remotely in the Legal Industry
Working Remotely in the Legal Industry
In this article, discover how even the most conservative legal firms are offering flexible working arrangements for most, if not all, staff (depending on the needs of their role). This attitude shift has positive outcomes for work / life balance, productivity and mental health.
Some time ago, flexible working arrangements and the ability to work remotely was enjoyed only by long-term, established employees of large law firms. A new recruit would never consider asking for such working arrangements as part of accepting an offer!
The team at Legal People can help candidates negotiate flexible conditions with our clients, many of whom are employers of choice.
We interview and place many talented lawyers in roles that involve flexible working arrangements. There has been a significant increase in the number of flexible working arrangements available, compared to pre-Covid times.
Law firms of all types now consider flexibility in the right circumstances. This is largely due to:
- Cloud-based technology allowing both data security and easy communication
- Being a very effective talent attraction policy
- The positive impacts on mental health and wellbeing
- The improvements seen in employee engagement.
What are candidates asking for?
A mix of requests for remote or hybrid working are being embraced by all, for a variety of reasons:
- Caring for children or elderly relatives
- Further study
- Volunteering
- Board opportunities
- To avoid peak travel times.
What does a typical flexible arrangement look like?
- The type of arrangement our client base is typically agreeing to is working part-time (usually 3 or 4 day per week), working from home 1-2 days per week and/or staggered start/finish times.
- Any remote working or flexible arrangement needs to be well managed by employers. The team member working from home needs to feel included in the team and communication is very important. Firms regularly use technology like Zoom and Slack to stay in contact in real time.
- An employee working from home needs to understand it is a work day and they must be contactable. These are arrangements very much based on trust. An employer is trusting their team member to put hours in to get the job done. Any remote working or flexible arrangement needs to be viable for both the firm and their client base.
The Best of Both Worlds?
- The shift towards flexible and remote working has been embraced at Legal People. Our team has flexible arrangements and the opportunity to work from home, which has resulted in a positive return on productivity and staff engagement.
- Remote working allows a staff member the best of both worlds and ensures they still have the opportunity to build vital working relationships in person and see clients face-to-face.
It is heartening to see the Legal industry adopting flexible work practices. Any working arrangement that has a positive impact on the mental health of employees and delivers productivity gains has to be a good thing!
Are you looking for a new and challenging role in the legal industry in Victoria? Legal People is your gateway to legal career opportunities. We are specialists in the Legal Industry. We recruit Lawyers, Support staff and HR professionals in Melbourne, Australia. If you enjoyed reading this article, you can follow our Company Page on LinkedIn for regular updates. To browse our currently available roles click here.
This article first appeared in the Young Lawyers Journal for the Law Institute of Victoria and can be viewed in full with a membership here.
