Simmons & Simmons has dropped plans to introduce a radical flexible working policy proposed by former senior partner Janet Gaymer after poor take-up from associates.
The top 10 City firm has instead rolled out a toned-down version of the much-lauded scheme that will be available to all staff - rather than just senior associates.
Gaymer’s original proposals - first mooted in 2005 with a view to being fully operational in 2007 - would have given senior associates with four or five years’ post-qualification experience the chance to suggest their own flexible working arrangements - such as working just a few days a week or on a project-by-project basis.
Had it gone ahead it would have been the first of its kind in the UK legal market, but the scheme lost momentum after Gaymer left in summer 2006.
The firm also said it turned out to be unattractive at the level it was being offered, with lawyers keener to take time out earlier or later in their careers.
Instead, under the new scheme, which went live in Simmons’ London office at the end of March, all staff are able to propose more conventional flexible working arrangements, such as working from home some days or altering starting and finishing times to fit in with school hours. Simmons is considering rolling the scheme out to other offices in due course.
Managing partner Mark Dawkins told Legal Week: “Looking after our people is important for our business and this is another step in the right direction. The original scheme was well received but no-one wanted to do it, so we went back to basics and opened it up to a much wider range of people.”
At the beginning of the year Simmons also launched a holiday trading scheme, which allows staff and lawyers to buy and sell up to a maximum of five days’ holiday, giving people the opportunity to take up to 30 days of annual leave. Simmons recently estimated the scheme had been taken up by around 20% of the firm.
