It has been revealed that McGrigors is proposing controversial changes to the firm’s maternity leave package. The UK law firm has announced that it is launching a consultation to change its maternity offering which includes proposals for paying bonuses to mothers who return to work and reducing pay for women who take a second maternity within 18 months of the last one.
This announcement comes at a time when efforts to grow the numbers of female equity partners at the UK’s largest firms are failing, according to figures from The Lawyer UK 200 Annual Report 2011.
The lack of female partners has been accredited to a variety of reasons. The key issues however remain the same with few employers adopting flexible working practices that would encourage more women to become partners.
It is widely acknowledged that the large gap between the number of women entering the profession and the number of females achieving partnerships must be closed. The female talent drain is not only costly to law firms, but is costly to women on a personal level. However the overall issue is that the top end of law is a really difficult place for women to succeed especially if they want children. With firms like McGrigors now proposing to change its maternity policies, more women could be discouraged from the top ranks.
Employers need to be more supportive of women in the legal profession and encourage staff to feel that they can ask for a flexible working arrangement without this being perceived as a lack of commitment.
Let us know what you think. Do you agree with these latest maternity proposals? What more do you think could be done to increase the numbers of female partners?
