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Best Practice #6
Develop Individualized Schedules
A universally available policy cannot be one-size-fits-all, but rather must provide enough flexibility to fit specific individual situations. Flexibility applies not only to the total number of hours worked, but also to when and where work can be done.
Law firms that have implemented balanced hours programs have allowed for a variety of successful arrangements, including, but not limited to:
- Fewer hours each day, with regular beginning and end times.
- Fewer hours each week, with flexible hours in the office.
- Fewer hours each year (e.g., litigators may take time off after working long hours for weeks while on trial; corporate attorneys may take time off between deals).
The duration that an attorney may work a balanced hours arrangement should not be artificially limited by time frames such as one year or five years, but rather should allow schedules to evolve as an attorney's personal needs and professional goals change. Some attorneys may wish to work a balanced hours schedule indefinitely, while others would prefer to work fewer hours for a few months. Still others may want to work a reduced schedule for a few years, and a different flexible schedule in later years according to their family needs. Allowing employees to move between balanced hours arrangements and to and from standard hours schedules without fear of repercussion allows the firm and the employee to maximize the retention benefits that balanced hours programs offer and to provide more workable and realistic individual arrangements.
Work expectations should be kept in line with both hours worked and when they are worked. If an attorney is working fewer hours, they should be doing proportionally less work. The goal is to have a policy that encourages discussion between attorneys and supervisors about feasible workloads, expectations, and effective scheduling, and supports the mutually agreed upon arrangement.
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