Article Workplace Trends: Women Lawyers of Utah 2015 Workplace Policy Survey
| Publication year | 2015 |
| Pages | 30 |
| Citation | Vol. 28 No. 6 Pg. 30 |
November, 2015
In early 2015, Women Lawyers of Utah (WLU) conducted a survey regarding several employment policies that are of interest to women within the legal profession. The primary purpose of the survey was to assist WLU in tracking current market trends and policies that influence our constituency’s interest in entering or remaining in the legal profession. In particular, the survey asked respondents questions relating to paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child; reduced workload options; flexible schedule or alternative work arrangement options; whether those who utilized a reduced workload schedule still maintained a regular partnership track/advancement schedule; whether reduced workload employees remained eligible for bonuses; and how compensation was determined for those who selected reduced workload, flexible, or alternative work schedules.
The survey was disseminated to law firms, corporate law departments, and government legal employers in Salt Lake City, Utah. WLU received twenty-four responses to the survey: nineteen from law firms of various sizes, two from corporate law departments, and three from government legal employers.
The survey’s sample size and methods were not scientific in nature and are not intended to be perceived in that manner. Rather, our purpose was to collect data for informational purposes both for individual employees (who may be advocating for improved policies within the workplace) and for legal employers (who may have an interest in knowing whether their policies are competitive.) Some participants also submitted their responses in confidence, which prevents us from fully publishing the data here.
In addition, the WLU survey committee notes that our information is based upon responses that were provided between December 2014 and February 2015. While we mention examples from firms with some of the more generous policies as part of this article, our list is not intended to be all-inclusive. We acknowledge that other employers may have similar policies, and we also understand that many employers may have made improvements to their policies after the survey was administered. We would encourage interested readers to follow up with the individual employers listed in this article if there are specific questions regarding the employer’s policies.
The committee noted several trends among local employers, including improved benefits and leave policies for working parents and attorneys seeking flexible working conditions. The observations of the survey committee are discussed below.
SURVEY RESULTS
Maternity Leave
All legal employers who participated in the survey offered some form of maternity leave to attorneys for the birth of a child. The length of leave and whether the leave was paid varied significantly among responding employers. Some employers only provide the leave that is legally mandated by the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) and other various state laws, while others provide paid leave from accumulated personal time off (PTO) and accumulated sick leave. Others have specifically allocated several weeks of paid leave for maternity leave purposes.
Larger law firms that responded to the survey appear to have the most generous maternity leave policies. The average amount of paid maternity leave offered by large law firms in the Salt Lake City market is twelve weeks. However, a few law firms offer paid maternity leave beyond twelve weeks. For example, Dorsey & Whitney LLP offers its female partners and associates up to eighteen weeks of maternity leave, including six weeks of disability, eight weeks of paid parental leave, and up to four weeks of vacation. Holland & Hart, LLP was also above the market average, offering its female...
To continue reading
Request your trial