Wednesday
Jan132010
Working from home today
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 2:04PM
As Lawyer1Point9 noted in his recent Divorce Day Cup post there are few bandwagons upon which a lawyer will not jump in search of website or press release copy.
The Divorce Day Cup focuses on the everpresent "divorce rates rocket after Christmas" press release and I await the winner with interest. However, the recent snopocalypse in the UK seems to have received a similar treatment.
Before the first flake settled, HR consultancies and law firms alike had waded in with primers on the legal position of snowed-in employees and disgruntled employers. The BBC even took a break from its 24-hour coverage of the "big freeze" to publish an FAQ on the legal implications of the snowfall.
In fact, a quick Google search revealed at least 10 law firm press releases or articles on the subject and countless HR updates.
However, when my RSS reader threw out a link to Jason Plant's latest blog post entitled "I'm going to be late. Yeah, because of the snow" I guessed that it might be something more interesting.
Rather than dwelling on gritting and docking employee's pay, he asks "So will this cold snap finally kick start a new wave of forward thinking employers that shift to a flexible working model, not just in terms of working hours but also in working location?"
Please read the whole post on the No Option for Lawyers blog, but I think Jason's analysis is spot on. There is a tendency to think that fee earners can work from home, but not support staff... but actually digital dictation and remote working mean that pretty much any member of staff should be able to work from home.
The post and DX may need to be sent out, but how much of this material actually needs to go in hard copy? In any event, if conditions are so bad that your staff struggle to get to work, is it likely that the post and DX will be reliable anyway?
I'm sure the bad weather has tested a few firms' business continuity plans, but maybe it can also provide some wider lessons about working arrangements.
The snow throws into sharp relief the distance that many of us have to travel to work. However, even on a normal day, traffic congestion, climate change and carbon footprints would all benefit from more home working.
If the technology is there (apart from the Apple iSlate of course!) then why aren't we using it to give ourselves more flexibility and freedom?
Unfortunately, for today at least, I can't practice what I preach as I have meetings in the office. The snow is falling past the window as I type and the concept of flexible working location is looking even more tempting (anyone know a nice hotel in the Canary Islands with good wifi?!)
The Divorce Day Cup focuses on the everpresent "divorce rates rocket after Christmas" press release and I await the winner with interest. However, the recent snopocalypse in the UK seems to have received a similar treatment.
Before the first flake settled, HR consultancies and law firms alike had waded in with primers on the legal position of snowed-in employees and disgruntled employers. The BBC even took a break from its 24-hour coverage of the "big freeze" to publish an FAQ on the legal implications of the snowfall.
In fact, a quick Google search revealed at least 10 law firm press releases or articles on the subject and countless HR updates.
However, when my RSS reader threw out a link to Jason Plant's latest blog post entitled "I'm going to be late. Yeah, because of the snow" I guessed that it might be something more interesting.
Rather than dwelling on gritting and docking employee's pay, he asks "So will this cold snap finally kick start a new wave of forward thinking employers that shift to a flexible working model, not just in terms of working hours but also in working location?"
Please read the whole post on the No Option for Lawyers blog, but I think Jason's analysis is spot on. There is a tendency to think that fee earners can work from home, but not support staff... but actually digital dictation and remote working mean that pretty much any member of staff should be able to work from home.
The post and DX may need to be sent out, but how much of this material actually needs to go in hard copy? In any event, if conditions are so bad that your staff struggle to get to work, is it likely that the post and DX will be reliable anyway?
I'm sure the bad weather has tested a few firms' business continuity plans, but maybe it can also provide some wider lessons about working arrangements.
The snow throws into sharp relief the distance that many of us have to travel to work. However, even on a normal day, traffic congestion, climate change and carbon footprints would all benefit from more home working.
If the technology is there (apart from the Apple iSlate of course!) then why aren't we using it to give ourselves more flexibility and freedom?
Unfortunately, for today at least, I can't practice what I preach as I have meetings in the office. The snow is falling past the window as I type and the concept of flexible working location is looking even more tempting (anyone know a nice hotel in the Canary Islands with good wifi?!)
Reader Comments (3)
[...] the weather is a blessing and maybe, just maybe, things could be about to change… Share and [...]
[...] from home, at least (every once in a while) – covered brilliantly both by Jason Plant and Peninsulawyer – I can totally relate to the advantages of this after wasting 5 hours trying to get into [...]
I love working from home but you need to remember to shut off from time to time