Cultural change
This is not to suggest that a policy is the be-all-and-end-all and all a firm needs to do is introduce and implement a policy on mental health and wellbeing and these issues will be resolved, as this is a complex matter, and a policy is only one step in the right direction. What is perhaps more crucial is identifying the key issues that negatively impact employees’ mental health and wellbeing and the overall morale in the workplace and taking action to redress the balance. This is not something that can be changed overnight and may require a significant change in culture over time.
The importance of creating a supportive culture and caring environment should not be overlooked. This is becoming a key consideration in firms being able to attract and retain staff with it becoming more apparent that younger generations, in particular, are placing an organisation that cares about employees’ wellbeing as a top priority.
Lawyers under pressure
There have been several cases reported in the legal press of late which are somewhat enlightening as to what the key issues which negatively impact employees’ mental health may be. There are common themes of partners being under extreme pressure in the workplace due to high billing targets and receiving little or no support from their employer. Unsurprisingly, the firms in question have been criticised for failing to take adequate steps to safeguard their employees’ wellbeing. From my personal experience (more on this below), the pressure to meet high billing targets is an issue that is often widespread amongst fee earners in firms and is not only limited to partners.
Take for example the case of Michael Taplin, a former partner and head of the office at a firm in Derby who was rather insensitively told to ‘be more positive’ in the office while his mental health was deteriorating, he was suffering from burnout after working up to 15 hours a day in an effort to keep on top of his ‘exceptional’ workload and expectations of maintaining a long-standing accolade of being the highest billing equity partner in the firm.
After being suspended by the firm over a joke he had told at a staff presentation (which he had not been discouraged from sharing, despite a fellow senior figure in the firm being aware of his intention beforehand), an employment tribunal found the suspension was unreasonable and the firm’s failure to take certain steps such as assign a designated mentor on his return to work (he had recently taken seven weeks off) and adjust his annual billing target which exceeded £250,000.
The recently reported SDT judgment in the case of the SRA and Tracey Ann Sheehan (dated 9th July 2021) is also telling as although the decision was to strike Sheehan off the roll for dishonestly supplying misleading information about her financial performance to prospective employers and breaching SRA Principles, the SDT noted the ‘evident pressures placed upon partners to meet billing targets, and also made an observation regarding the importance for firms to ensure the wellbeing of their partners in light of these relentless pressures.’
These cases provide food for thought in terms of what firms need to apply their minds to if they want to get to the crux of what may be causing poor mental health in the workplace, what can be done about it and how they can avoid findings of discrimination and criticism for failing to look after their staff.
It is perhaps a paradox of our times that we are surrounded by so many wellbeing opportunities and are more clued up on mental health conditions than ever before yet our mental health as a nation is perhaps worse than ever and we are often overwhelmed and frazzled (to coin the very apt name of one of Ruby Wax’s books on mental health – more on her to follow!) by our hectic pace of life and the pressure to feel constantly connected.
My personal experience
On a personal level, having recently returned from maternity leave, I have been pleasantly surprised by the huge focus which Access placed on wellbeing and promoting positive mental health during the height of the pandemic and continues to emphasise as we move forwards into FY22. We now have Wellbeing Champions spread throughout the business to support the company’s calendar of wellbeing events and signpost colleagues to wellbeing resources - I am thrilled to soon be joining the new cohort!
We recently had our FY22 kick-off event which included a very insightful talk on mental health by the one and only Ruby Wax, talking exclusively to Access employees and daily morning yoga and fitness classes. We were recently given the opportunity to obtain a free annual membership to an online fitness platform and our private health insurance through Vitality offers a wide range of health, fitness and wellbeing initiatives such as half-price running trainers once a year and free cinema tickets and hot drinks at Café Nero when a target number of steps are recorded each day on a fitness tracker. This is to name but a few of the wellbeing goings on at Access; we really are spoilt for choice and I for one am very appreciative to work for an employer that places the wellbeing of its employees at the top of its agenda.
It has not always been this way during my career to date which included working as a solicitor in private practice. I have seen the other side of the coin first-hand when the work-life balance is completely out of sync and many are trying to stay afloat in very challenging working conditions when attaining your annual billing target is not good enough as the bar has been (unbeknownst to you) set even higher, where presenteeism is rife and it is not uncommon for fee earners to ‘pull an all-nighter' in an attempt to get chargeable hours in the bag ahead of taking annual leave or to catch up if seen to be behind their target.
Light at the end of the tunnel?
More recently, looking further afield, it has been heartening to see evidence of a shift from reactive management of mental health issues in the workplace to a more proactive approach of prevention through promoting wellbeing and improving employee engagement. The Thriving at Work independent review of mental health and employers, commissioned by the government and published in October 2017, set down a number of mental health core standards which were incorporated into the Mindful Business Charter, developed the following year as a collaboration between Barclays and two leading law firms. There are currently over 80 signatories to the Charter which has the very commendable aim of removing unnecessary sources of stress and promoting better mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
The pandemic has inevitably had an impact, forcing us into new working arrangements and to re-think the traditional office-based set-up and working model. Many of us have had the time to take a step back, lead a slower, less hectic pace of life and reflect on what is important to us (although some of those may not apply to those who had additional pressures due to additional home-schooling duties etc). It is ironic that a global pandemic of mass proportions has bolstered progress in the mental health and wellbeing arena, yet at the same time, it is encouraging that we can take some positives from the upheaval.
What’s next?
We are encouraged to note that a number of law firms are planning to carry these ideas forward and make changes for the greater good, for example by offering more flexible hybrid working models and being more mindful as to how we work and interact. We recently released Mental Health for Lawyers training course which has a particular focus on stress triggers for stress in the legal profession and how to manage stress at work is a further tool that we have available to provide practical support and guidance in this area.
Our hope is that our mental health and wellbeing resources will work in tandem with the wider changes that are being made and help to herald a new era where mental health and wellbeing is a prime focus within law firms, where we have a greater awareness of others’ struggles and challenges and are better equipped to support ourselves and each other.
Positive mental health and wellbeing are fundamental to a healthy, happy and successful work and home life and it is time that it is given the recognition that it so rightly deserves.
Our template Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy and the Supporting Document will be available to subscribers to our GRC for Law Firms product, within the Policies and Precedents library in the LMS from 1st September 2021. If you are interested to gain access to the library and/or our training courses, why not sign up for a free trial to see the courses for yourself?
May 2022 - we have recently recorded a podcast which covers mental health and well-being in the legal sector in more detail and includes expert speakers Sian Riley, former lawyer and wellbeing champion at Access Legal and Leah Steele, also a former lawyer, founder of Searching for Serenity and a specialist burnout and resilience mentor and coach. You can listen to the full podcast here.