Macfarlanes has increased its maternity pay, upping its previous allowance of 14 weeks to a far more generous 23.5 weeks leave at full salary.
The new policy came into effect from January of this year. It's part of a bundle of measures that the firm says are designed to increase diversity by encouraging female lawyers to stay at the firm and bolster the percentage of female partners, according to a Legal Week report.
Corporate and Diversity partner Nicola Richards explains that "we decided that one of our key priorities ought to be to retain more talented female lawyers. We began by changing our maternity policy".
Macfarlanes also rolled out a flexible working scheme this year, along with firms such as A&O and Freshfields, which allows all fee-earners and support staff to apply for working arrangements that suit them. Which is lovely of course, although many claim that such arrangements pay merely lip service to diversity. And given that surveys reveal nearly half of female solicitors think flexi-time harms their careers, it's debatable how much of an impact they can really make.
As for maternity leave, other City firms already have similar policies, so to an extent Macfarlanes is playing catch up. And unkind commentators might suggest that it's well overdue, given the firm's apparent reluctance to promote anyone other than smartly educated white chaps. Still, it's movement in the right direction.
Let us know how stingy or generous arrangements are at your shop, by writing in to the usual place.
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The new policy came into effect from January of this year. It's part of a bundle of measures that the firm says are designed to increase diversity by encouraging female lawyers to stay at the firm and bolster the percentage of female partners, according to a Legal Week report.
Corporate and Diversity partner Nicola Richards explains that "we decided that one of our key priorities ought to be to retain more talented female lawyers. We began by changing our maternity policy".
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Pregnant women celebrating at Macfarlanes yesterday |
Macfarlanes also rolled out a flexible working scheme this year, along with firms such as A&O and Freshfields, which allows all fee-earners and support staff to apply for working arrangements that suit them. Which is lovely of course, although many claim that such arrangements pay merely lip service to diversity. And given that surveys reveal nearly half of female solicitors think flexi-time harms their careers, it's debatable how much of an impact they can really make.
As for maternity leave, other City firms already have similar policies, so to an extent Macfarlanes is playing catch up. And unkind commentators might suggest that it's well overdue, given the firm's apparent reluctance to promote anyone other than smartly educated white chaps. Still, it's movement in the right direction.
Let us know how stingy or generous arrangements are at your shop, by writing in to the usual place.