Health and wellbeing in the legal sector

Wellbeing issues are rising up the agenda for law firms as they cope with the pandemic and changing attitudes to health in the workforce

Working in the legal sector can be hugely rewarding with strong career opportunities, good remuneration and a prestige which comes from making a difference in society. However, there are also aspects of the profession which can lead to stress and burnout, not least long hours, demanding workloads and a complicated life-work balance. Many of those challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

A report in the Financial Times in October 2021 suggested junior lawyers at some US firms in London were clocking off at 11.30pm on average each day because of a surge in demand from private equity clients, quoting figures from a survey of 2,500 lawyers by Legal Cheek¹.

Workloads can also increase when colleagues are ill or isolating, or when employees work from home with no pre-set finish time.

There is already a mind shift on this issue, however, with many lawyers expressing a desire to reduce hours.

According to research by Thomson Reuters, 63% of lawyers are requesting flexible working arrangements in the wake of Covid-19, compared with 22% before the pandemic hit². Furthermore, 40% would like to impose boundaries on client contact – for instance almost a fifth wishing to avoid client contact at weekends and a quarter objecting to being contacted before 7am and after 11pm on weekdays.

However, it would be wrong to assume that working from home, although welcome for some employees, alleviates stress and absolves employers from any responsibility for employee mental health. In fact, statistics from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) showed increased levels of stress - and especially loneliness - for those working from home³.

How an employee wellbeing programme can help

A comprehensive employee benefits and wellbeing strategy is designed to aid, spot and combat these kind of issues, providing employees with help and providing benefits, advice and information to keep employees healthy in both body and mind.

Many law firms turn to insurance brokers for professional indemnity cover, but Howden’s offer is much wider. Our employee benefits consultants work closely with a wide range of clients to improve wellbeing in the workplace through the implementation of health and wellbeing programmes.

Some of the top concerns and targets we have seen from clients in this sector include:

• Improving and supporting mental health at work. 84% of employees believe employers have a responsibility to address wellbeing and mental health within the legal profession.
• Ensuring that benefits strategies meet the needs of a post-pandemic workforce.
• Creating a great culture and one that actively supports workplace wellbeing.
• Retaining and recruiting top talent.
• Maximising firms’ investment into employee benefits.
• Improving diversity within the sector.
• Better communication of benefits to boost employee engagement and understanding of what’s offered.
• Helping people better prepare for their financial future.

How employee wellbeing programmes are evolving

The best employee benefits strategies reflect, support, and can even inspire a healthy business culture.

As today’s diverse workforce has different motivations and lifestyles, there’s no one-size-fits-all option. A good benefits strategy should provide flexibility and personalisation. It begins by balancing the needs of the business, its people and budget – whilst taking into account the legislative and regulatory complexities employees face.

It’s fair to say that in the modern day, employee wellbeing programmes are not only about physical health – and no longer limited to private health insurance. They have evolved to cover every aspect of an employee’s life.

That might include workplace wellbeing, healthcare and protection benefits, but also initiatives that tackle mental health, pensions and financial wellbeing. Flexible benefits and tech solutions are increasingly popular too.

Howden’s consultants can work together with law firms to:

• Review your existing employee benefits. Are they still fit for purpose? Do they provide the support your people need in the ‘new normal’?
• Assess if you’re getting the maximum value from your benefits. Are you making the most of what you offer?
• Find the right health and wellbeing solutions to keep your people fit and healthy and give them peace of mind that health advice and treatment is quickly on hand when they need  it most.
• Understand how your benefits stack up against your competition and how they can help to ensure you are an employer of choice.
• Understand your firm’s and people’s specific wellbeing needs and recommend an actionable plan to address them.

Keeping an eye on the future

Looking into the future, law firms should be aware of how the employee benefits arena could change, because it is not only the pandemic impacting the need for employee wellbeing programmes – but also the average age of those who work in the profession.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that more than 24% of people living in the UK will be aged 65 or older by 2042, up from 18% in 2016; and this is a trend which will impact the legal sector more than many others⁴.

Currently most lawyers are between 25 and 44 (58%) and for partners it is 45-54 (35%), with those aged 55-64 making up 14% of all lawyers in law firms. However, these parameters are already shifting and the ONS predicts firms will increasingly have an older workforce in future.

An older workforce has different health and wellbeing needs, many of which are not covered by a traditional ‘one size fits all’ employee benefits programme.

In addition, employee benefits are becoming critical for talent attraction. Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and Generation Z (born from 1997 onwards) are increasingly focussed on health and wellbeing and often place more value on wellbeing benefits than on salary increases or pension.
 

What are the risks of employee burnout?

The legal sector is also known for higher rates of burnout. Billable hours, and ultimately utilisation rates, are measured by recording time in six-minute intervals; often, annual billable hour targets can range from 1,700 to 2,500, or up to 7.5 hours a day.

A survey in 2019, before the pandemic, revealed lawyers are the second most stressed profession, after human resources, with 63% reporting stress on a daily basis.

The World Health Organisation describes burnout as a ‘syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed’, placing the blame firmly on employers.

It can have a major and potentially tragic impact on employee health, leading to a range of serious health issues.

There are also potential impacts for the employer. Lawyers who are stressed or under pressure are more likely to make mistakes, more likely to need time off and may be able to claim against their employer for the lack of support or care received.

_{1 https://www.ft.com/content/a2a8467e-6b7c-4376-a496-7019fd8e2e83}

_{2 https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/nine-out-of-10-lawyers-shun-full-time-office-return/5109600.article}

_{3 https://www.natcen.ac.uk/our-research/research/working-from-home-and-mental-health-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/}

_{4 https://www.howdengroup.com/uk-en/legal-sector-health}