Experienced managers have experienced that there is very little correlation between what a benefits costs or even how often it is used and the value that employee place on it. Law firm HR Directors tell us that a lot of the programs that are sold to their firms by their Employee Assistance vendors or created to compete with other law firms, simply are not valued by employees – particularly associates. 

 

The most under-valued, under-used program in law firms is paternity leave. Although routinely used in other cultures, U.S. and Canadian firms say the subject rarely comes up. In large measure this is dictated by the firm’s culture. An HR Director we spoke with who suggested paternity leave to a new father was told, “taking paternity leave would be like painted the word WIMP on my back the rest of my career.” Indeed, in most firms associates feel that a man taking paternity leave does more damage to his their career than a woman taking maternity leave. Under-valuing paternity leave is not just a law firm issue. A March, 2006 survey of 291 U.S. men between the ages of 21 and 65 found that not a single respondent selected paternity leave as a valued benefit (the most valued benefit was health care followed at a distant second by paid vacation). 

 

The most highly-valued but still under-used program in law firms is tuition reimbursement. A recent telephone survey we conducted found that the highest rated benefit cited by staff members as the reason for staying in their current position or moving to a new job was their employer’s willingness to support their continued education. Apparently the greatest value is with secretaries, assistants and paralegals. “A secretary will turn down $500 per month more pay to take a job with a tuition program,” one HR Manager told us. “The amazing part is they’ll take one course and never go back to school, but they still place huge value on having the benefit. It’s like part of their vision of their future.” In fact, law firms with tuition refund programs say that it is one of their least expensive benefits.