Without 6-month parental leaves after the births of her two children, as well as a flexible work arrangement, attorney Lisa J. Pirozzolo says she wouldn’t have been able to achieve as much as she has in her career at WilmerHale. “From my personal experience, I wouldn’t be here as a partner with the firm, if I had not had two parental leaves” and been able to work at home 2 days a week, she says.
Gender-Neutral Benefits
WilmerHale (www.wilmerhale.com), a global law firm, has had a parental leave policy covering lawyers for years. Last year, it expanded the gender-neutral benefits for both primary and “secondary” caregivers for lawyers who work in WilmerHale’s U.S. offices.
Lawyers who are the primary caregiver for their newborn or newly adopted child may take up to 1 year of childcare leave with benefits— 18 weeks at full pay and an additional 34 weeks of unpaid leave within 12 consecutive months. Previously, the firm provided 12 weeks of paid leave instead of 18, according to Pirozzolo.
Secondary caregivers used to be entitled to 3 consecutive weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, but that was increased to 4 weeks last year, she says.
As co-chair of the firm’s Work-Life Balance Committee, Pirozzolo says she personally is proud that the policies apply to both working mothers and fathers. She notes that “we have a fair number of dads who have taken leave.” Last year, 39 male lawyers and 62 female lawyers took parental leave.
Upon their return to work, lawyers have access to a work-life advisor, many of whom have taken parental leave themselves, she says. The advisors help smooth the transition back to work by providing guidance and making sure that returning lawyers are aware of available resources and options, such as emergency child care, lactation rooms, and flexible schedules (e.g., part-time, flex-time, or telecommuting arrangements).
“What we try to do is offer an array of programs that really let people come up with a program that works for them individually,” Pirozzolo says. “It’s hard to have a ‘one-size-fits-all’ given the diversity of our practices.”
WilmerHale works hard to create a supportive environment for working parents, says Pirozzolo. In addition to providing advisors to lawyers when they return from leave, the firm posts work-life information on its intranet, sponsors brown bag lunches on related topics, and keeps partners informed about work-life initiatives, she says. “We want people to talk about these issues and be aware of these issues.”
“Part of our success in this area has been the strong support from management in the firm,” says Pirozzolo, adding that management supports the committee’s policy recommendations and the promotion of work-life balance. “We’ve always been supportive of lawyers looking to balance their family and professional responsibilities,” she adds.
Why is that such an important thing to do? “It’s the right thing to do for people who you hope are going to be working for you for a long time,” she says.
Of course, work-life balance is also a recruiting and retention issue. “We are retaining people who otherwise wouldn’t progress at the firm or stay at the firm as long as they do,” Pirozzolo says.
In addition, “Law students pay a lot of attention in terms of what law firms are offering in work-life balance.”
WilmerHale was honored as one of the 2008 Top Ten Family Friendly Firms by Yale Law Women and, for the second consecutive year, as a 2008 Working Mother & Flex Time Lawyers’ Best Law Firms for Women.
Secrets to Success
Before establishing a parental leave policy, Pirozzolo recommends seeking input from employees. “I would advise people to get input from employees on what they want and need, and work a lot on communicating the policies effectively once you put them in place.”
Here are two other tips to consider:
1. Make policies gender-neutral. This not only helps with recruiting and retention efforts but also helps ensure that work-life balance is not viewed solely as an issue affecting women, according to Pirozzolo.
2. Create an acceptance of work-life initiatives. If employees see that management embraces the policies and benefits, they will feel comfortable taking leave or tapping into other benef