A number of large law firms, particularly in the West and Midwest, are attempting to find ways of retaining valuable employees who commute long distances. In Southern California, where there is little effective public transportation, it is not unusual for lawyers and staff members to spend four hours a day commuting to and from work. Some firms report increased turnover, especially among IT employees, as staff members accept positions closer to home. The following incentives are being used by law firms to reduce gas price related turnover:
Offering retention bonuses on a case-by-case basis to retain employees with long commutes.
Running a carpool matching service on the firm's intranet site.
Providing preferential and/or paid parking to employees who use vans or car pools.
Bringing in an AAA representative and local mechanics to present tips and inspect employee cars for improving fuel efficiency.
Giving employees movie passes or restaurant certificates to help offset budgets eaten away by travel expenses.
Rewarding employees with gas cards.
Providing free commuter buses designated parking locations in the suburbs.
Subsidized train or bus passes.
Offering subsidies, such as forgivable, low-interest loans, for employees buying and renting housing closer to work.
Telecommuting as a Recruitment Tool
Acceptance of telecommuting among law firms is increasing as a standard work arrangement on a temporary or occasional basis.But we have recently placed several senior “C Level” positions with large international law firms where the individuals are effectively hired with the expectation that they will work out of a non-headquarter office or routinely spend a portion of their time working from home.For example, an East coast firm wanted to hire a CIO who didn’t want to move from her Midwestern location until her children finished high school in a couple of years.Given that the job required 25 percent travel anyway, the firm agreed to permit the CIO to work from home for about half of the time.This can be an especially attractive option for firms in relatively undesirable locations.Several firms have administrative staff members working out of their Washington offices, where the availability of qualified candidates was greater, rather than moving them or having them commute to their headquarters.
We are advised that the key to making these types of arrangements work is a very clear set of expectations and standards for both the firm and the individual.We are also told that a good web-based video conferencing system helps.
Summer Casual Dress No-no’s
We keep hearing from office administrators and HR staff members that fielding complaints about casual dress policies continues to be a problem this summer.Indeed, we saw a couple of surveys on the worst fashion offenses in the workplace.So we did our own survey of large law firms and hereby present our top 10 list of Summer Law Firm Fashion Faux Pas:
10.Baseball caps
9.Extremely loose baggy clothing
8.Tee shirts
7.Accessories (extreme jewelry, socks with sandals, etc.)
6.Shorts
5.Extreme mini-skirts
4.Tank tops
3.Jeans
2.Flipflops
1.Visible undergarments
Time Off for Parents of School Age Children
In speaking with law firm HR Directors we were surprised to learn how many firms either provide employees with time off for their children’s school activities or are considering offering such a benefit.Educators point out that parental involvement is one of the most important means of improving education and, in some cities, employers have been lobbied to provide more flexible opportunities for parents to attend school activities during the school day.In fact, in 15 States there is some form of requirement for time off for school activities.The most liberal law is California where employers with more than 25 employees at a location are prohibited from discriminating against or discharging employees who take time off for school activities and must provide up to 40 hours a year of time off to participate in their children’s school activities.Other states with laws about time off for school activities that would reasonably affect law firms are: the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Vermont.A summary of those states’ laws on time off for school activities can be downloaded from our website (www.LRGLLC.com).
Cell Phone Policy
One more employment liability issue to worry about: at least one state court has ruled that employers are liable for accidents caused by employees conducting firm business on a cell phone while driving (Hunter v. Modern Continental Construction Company, Inc. (“Modern”), 287 Ga.App. 689, 652 S.E.2d 583 (2007).Presumably, this would also put at risk Blackberry usage while driving.While we are not aware of any law firms that have put in place policies about cell phone usage while driving, we know of several firms that are considering such a policy.
Legal Resource Group LLC specializes in serving the executive and administrative recruiting needs of law firms. We maintain the largest data base of law firm executive and Administrative staff in the world. This allows us to immediately identify the very best candidates. We find the best people, complete searches faster and have extremely reasonable fees. For further information, visit our website at www.LRGLLC.com , contact us by e-mail at inquiries@LRGLLC.com or by phone at 1-800-688-4147.
