While the availability of flexible work arrangements has increased in law firms, new research released by The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance suggests that not all lawyers and staff are using the policies.
The third annual Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Survey, recently released, examines the availability and usage of flexible work policies in large U.S. law firms.
The survey found that while 26 of 28 participating firms (93 percent) have a formal written flexible work policy, the attorney usage rates remain at or below 8.8 percent for reduced hours, flexible start and end times, telecommuting, annualized hours and job sharing.
“While we are optimistic about the growing number of major U.S. law firms that have a formal flexible work policy, the usage rates are a better indicator of a culture that truly supports flex,” said Alliance president and CEO Manar Morales. “For a flexibility policy to be successful it must be de-gendered, de-parented, de-stigmatized and integrated into the cultural norms of an organization. Otherwise many employees, diverse individuals in particular, often face bias and stigma related to working flexibly,” she added. “Our vision for the future is an industry where all professionals are comfortable working flexibly and are confident that they are not impeding their career by doing so.”
Some other highlights from the report include:
- Lawyers of color and LGBT lawyers remain underrepresented among reduced-hours lawyers.While the share of lawyers of color and LGBT lawyers who work flexibly increased slightly from last year, both groups are still underrepresented among reduced hours lawyers (13 percent of reduced hours lawyers are attorneys of color and 1.1 percent are LGBT.)
- Gender-Neutral Leave policies are becoming more common; however, most firms still have a primary and secondary caregiver designation. Eighty-seven percent of the participating firms that have a gender-neutral leave policy include a primary and secondary caregiver designation and tier the amount of leave accordingly. The Alliance recommends that organizations remove the primary and secondary caregiver designation because it represents an antiquated view of family caregiving roles.
- While there has been an increase in firms with flex attorneys in leadership positions, flex schedules are more common among non-partnership track attorneys. Forty-three percent of participating firms have reduced-hours attorneys in leadership roles including Chairs, Managing Partners, Department Chairs and Office Heads. Yet, while 31.3 percent of Of Counsel attorneys have flex schedules, only 1.2 percent of Equity Partners have such schedules on a formal basis.
- Women constitute the largest share of reduced-hours lawyers, yet continue to be underrepresented overall. Thirty-six percent of all attorneys are women, while sixty-eight percent of reduced-hours attorneys are women.
The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance’s 2016 Flexibility Benchmarking Survey Report, which is released in full as a benefit to Alliance member firms, is designed to address the market gap in holistic data about flexibility in law firms by examining usage by gender, race and sexual orientation in major U.S. law firms. Detailed information is available in the report’s Executive Summary.
