More Good News On The Parental Leave Front

Firms are getting much better about this stuff.

Raising a family in the legal profession is a rough chore, but firms are increasingly waking up to the fact that they need to be more helpful to their attorneys having kids or they’ll lose out on the recruiting game. Plus it’s a great way to show lawyers that they matter to the firm and that some things are more important in the long term than billing a couple extra hours today.

At Walden Macht & Haran, they’ve put in place a new, generous leave program for their associates. It’s not fully unlimited like the good folks over at Susman, but it’s about as accommodating as a policy can be short of that:

Walden Macht & Haran LLP, a leading law firm for white collar defense, commercial litigation, and government investigations, recently launched a comprehensive maternity and parental leave program, designed to incentivize existing employees and attract talented recruits. The program offers up to 18 weeks of fully-paid maternity leave and up to 10 weeks of fully-paid, gender-neutral parental leave for primary caregivers of newborn children, newly-adopted children, or newly-placed foster children. Moreover, these leave periods are available to all eligible attorneys and staff.

Including staff is a huge plus. Too often, the staff gets shafted on perks. But while the leave period is good, the firm’s approach to reacclimating lawyers to the office may be even better:

In addition, upon returning to work from a parental leave period of at least five consecutive weeks, a non-partner lawyer who is also a primary caregiver may elect a 16-week flex-time schedule with a workload reduction of up to 50% during the first eight weeks immediately following his or her return to work, followed by a 25% reduction for the second eight weeks. If flex-time is elected, the primary caregiver will continue to receive 100% pay, and performance expectations will be adjusted pro rata.

I’ve never taken an extended absence from work, but I’d imagine getting back in the swing of things would be brutal. Respecting that their employees will be shell-shocked after so much time off is what takes this policy to the next level.

Firms are all, more or less, stumbling in the dark when it comes to benefits. Any time a firm comes up with a commendable policy, the entire landscape should take notice.

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Earlier: Firm Offering Unlimited Parental Leave For All Parents

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