Survey Emphasizes Need for Updated Parental Leave Policies
May 20, 2021
Law firms’ leave policies often exceed federal standards, but there is room for improvement regarding benefits for men and nontraditional family structures, according to a 2021 inaugural Parental Leave Survey by Major, Lindsey & Africa. The legal search firm presented its findings on May 14 at a National Association for Law Placement webinar, featuring the managing directors of its various offices.
Data collected from 150 attorneys from more than 100 law firms showed that “law firms are ahead of the curve in providing paid leave benefits to their lawyers.” The survey showed that 48 percent of respondents said their firms provide 14 to 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, while 26 percent said they get the same amount of time for paid paternity leave. About half of respondents said their firm has a gender-neutral parental leave policy, indicating that Big Law culture still relies on traditional gender roles.
The majority of respondents were straight, white, married associates in their 30s. With respect to gender, 63 percent of the respondents were female, and 37 percent were male.
Firms do not always provide support for all paths to parenthood, according to the survey. For example, 51 percent of respondents said their firms’ parental leave policy applied equally to birth, adoption, and surrogacy. When asked about specific situations, however, only 27 percent of respondents reported that their firms offer assistance for adoption, and just 12 percent said their firms provide benefits for surrogacy and egg freezing.
“I think it is particularly important because we have rising fertility challenges in our generation,” said Jacqueline Bokser LeFebvre, managing director at Major, Lindsey & Africa’s New York office. “And with the future generation of those entering the legal field, I also think it makes a firm a more inclusive environment for non-heterosexual couples who want to pursue parenthood as well.”
Once they return to work from parental leave, some lawyers feel that they are penalized. The data shows that 35 percent of respondents felt like their decision to take leave negatively impacted their path to partnership, and 21 percent said their access to quality work was affected.
“Almost 50 percent of respondents said that a leave policy and how a firm treats their attorneys’ return from leave impacts their decision on whether to stay or leave their firm,” said Summer Eberhard, managing director in San Francisco. “This number is significant, especially in a time when associate retention and attracting new talent is so top of mind.”
The webinar speakers also revealed that prorating the hourly requirements for those taking parental leave is a huge benefit because it makes the transition back into the workplace much easier and causes less stress for new parents. Prorating also makes it easier for those taking parental leave to hit their annual bonus targets.
“Clear policy and support from law firms consistently improve retention,” said Nathan Peart, managing director in the research firm’s London office. “Those who had poor experiences with firms [regarding parental leave] have mostly moved on to other firms at the earliest chances they could.”
“It is not a surprise that a significant number of firms made amendments to their family leave policies in 2020, the year in which work and life blended into things that we never would have imagined,” said Kate Reder Sheikh, managing director in San Francisco. “I do think that partners literally seeing their associates’ babies crawling behind them on Zoom had an impact.”
