From The President, 0419 WYBJ, Vol. 42 No. 3. 10
| Author | Weston T. Graham Barney & Graham, LLC Sheridan, Wyoming |
| Position | Vol. 42 3 Pg. 10 |
Creating
a Family-Friendly Firm
Weston
T. Graham Barney & Graham, LLC Sheridan, Wyoming
Child
care is not a women’s issue. For this month’s
column, I was asked to write about making law offices more
child-friendly for female employees. The reasons for this
request I assume were because 1) I am likely uniquely
qualified having myself created a fully-licensed and insured
in-house child care center as a benefit for the attorneys and
staff of my firm; and 2) caring for children is perceived to
be one of the major hurdles and choices for the women lawyers
of today, and is quite possibly a deciding factor in her
ultimate long-term career advancement and success. Does
anyone reading this article think I would have received the
same request for giving advice on child care options had this
edition of the Wyoming Lawyer been instead focused
on men?
By the
way, child care is not a men’s issue either. Child care
is a family issue, plain and simple. Family issues (such as
affordable housing, good schools, a safe neighborhood, etc.)
affect the family unit as a whole. And in case you
didn’t know, family units are made up of (and are being
led by) partners in firms, associates, and staff, regardless
of whether they are men or women. If a family is disrupted,
especially on a continual basis, so too are employers. It
sounds kind of terrible to phrase it this way, but probably
the most perpetually disruptive thing one can do during the
course of his or her career is to have a child. And usually,
having and raising children comes at a critical stage of a
legal career, i.e., the relative beginning at a time when the
lawyer is still learning, building a practice, and gaining
necessary experience.
So how
can employers help with a non work-related issue that clearly
affects an employee and his or her work without an employer
potentially overstepping any boundaries? An answer, in my
opinion, is to have a type of child care option(s) available
at or facilitated through your office.
Define
Your Culture
As an
employer, first try to avoid entering the competition between
the priority an employee places on his or her family versus
his or her job/the firm's interests. Don’t make the
employee choose. When push comes to shove and the inevitable
confrontation arises, the employee has to opt for
his/ her family and its needs (and the office will suffer as
a result). Try instead to...
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