The Culture Conundrum

Welcome to our latest newsletter where we are very pleased to share the details of our webinar, The Culture Conundrum: Navigating the financial implications of non-financial misconduct in professional?services, below.

Getting to grips with Shared Parental Leave

The issue of parental leave has been the subject of increased public interest recently, following the publication of this article in the Financial Times on paternity leave in finance and after a publicity stunt staged at the Labour Party conference, when campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed strapped baby dolls to five of the 100 iconic Anthony Gormley statues on Crosby Beach to highlight the fact that only five per cent of new fathers take shared parental leave. The group is calling for the government to increase paid paternity leave from a maximum of two weeks to a minimum of six weeks.

Under the current statutory provisions, parents (whether by birth, adoption or surrogacy) can share up to 50 weeks of leave between them, in the first year after their child is born or placed with their family.? In practice, however, many employers provide much longer periods of paid maternity leave than they do paternity or shared parental leave, making it financially unviable for care in the first year to be shared equally.

Many campaigners feel that this disadvantages both women, whom employers may perceive as representing a ‘maternity risk’ in their childbearing years and whose commitment after maternity leave is sometimes questioned, and men, who would often like to spend more time with their young families.? Where paid shared parental leave is institutionalised - mostly famously across Scandinavia - fathers are significantly more likely to take leave to care for a child in the early years.

A growing number of employers are asking us to help them design and implement shared parental leave policies that provide equal (or more equal) paid leave for all new parents.? For those clients, the policies represent an investment in diversity, as well as valuable employment benefit which differentiates them in a competitive recruitment and retention market.??

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss or require support with shared parental leave policies, workplace discrimination resulting from parenthood, or any related issue.

The menopause: what should employers be considering now?

With World Menopause Day last week contributing to increasing awareness of the workplace implications of the menopause, employers may have questions about their legal obligations, and how they can and should support employees experiencing symptoms.? The legal implications of employers’ treatment of employees undergoing the menopause have also been in the news recently, with Maria Rooney , who last year won an Employment Apppeals Tribunal ruling that menopause symptoms can amount to a disability, back in the Employment Tribunal.

The menopause is a normal part of life, and many women do not experience severe symptoms.? However, others experience a range of symptoms including anxiety, insomnia, tiredness and hot flushes, and the impact on their working life can be profound.? A recent House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee report ?found that women who reported at least one problematic menopausal symptom at the age of 50 were 43% more likely to have left their jobs by the age of 55 and 23% more likely to have reduced their hours.?

Those whose menopause symptoms have a substantial and long-term adverse impact on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities will qualify for protection as legally disabled under the Equality Act 2010.? This means that employers should not treat them less favourably because of their symptoms and should make reasonable adjustments to support them, for example changes to temperature and working patterns, where appropriate.

Even those experiencing milder symptoms may have legitimate grounds on which to bring a discrimination claim on the basis of age and sex if their employer treats them less favourably as a result of their menopause symptoms.

In practical terms, employers should consider these points to ensure they are treating women going through the menopause supportively and fairly and minimising their legal risk:

1. Encourage a culture in which employees are comfortable disclosing any difficulties they may be experiencing.
2. Where employees are impacted by symptoms, consider and discuss with them what steps you might reasonably take to support them.? There is no one-size fits all solution here, so it’s important to understand what the issues are and how they might be addressed.? Consider obtaining medical evidence and/or advice from an occupational therapist to guide your decision making.
3. Consider whether a menopause policy might be appropriate - there is no legal obligation to have such a policy, but it may help to encourage openness, help employees to feel supported and provide information about how they can seek help if they need it, as well as providing examples of the type of support that might be available to them.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you would like support with dealing with menopause issues at work.

Save the date:

The Culture Conundrum: Navigating regulation of non-financial misconduct in professional services

6 December 2023 at 9 am

Regulators such as the SRA and FCA are increasingly clear that they consider non-financial misconduct and some aspects of organisational culture to be regulatory matters.?

Since the launch of the ‘#metoo’ movement in 2017, both regulators have stated that sexual misconduct, at least in a workplace context, may be relevant to regulated individuals’ fitness and propriety, with the SRA seeing a significant increase in reports and investigations undertaken since then.??

And regulators are now also focussing on wider cultural issues, with the SRA having introduced an obligation on solicitors to treat colleagues fairly and with respect and a separate requirement for senior managers (law firm partners) to challenge breaches of this obligation earlier this year.

What does this mean for senior management, People leaders and in-house lawyers in regulated businesses?? What does it mean if you, or a colleague, is experiencing a toxic workplace in a regulated firm?? Or if you are challenged on your own behaviour or accused of treating junior colleagues unfairly?? And in a period of changing cultural expectations, how can employers ensure workplaces are safe and remove “rainmaker immunity” while also treating fairly those accused of misconduct?.

In a discussion hosted by our founder, Florence Brocklesby, senior consultants Steve Melrose and Sarika Rabheru will give an overview of the key regulatory and employment law considerations, the potential regulatory implications of employment law disputes where allegations of discrimination, harassment or bullying are raised, and how meaningful cultural change can be effected.? We will be joined by Katherine Allison, Head of People at Moore Barlow, who will give an in-house perspective on the practical steps firms can take to be compliant.

You can join us at this free, anonymous to attend, webinar, or receive a recording afterwards, by signing up here .

Calling in-house lawyers: Crafty Counsel Disputes Day, 29 November 2023

Our founder, Florence Brocklesby, will be answering questions on handling senior executive departures and settlement agreements in conversation with Bill Smith, senior employment counsel EMEA at Oracle, at this year’s Crafty Counsel Disputes Day at The Brewery in London on Wednesday, 28 November.

The session will examine the particular challenges of C-Suite exits, including practical tips on managing the process, balancing legal and commercial risk and what should and should not be covered by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).? And other members of the Bellevue Law employment law team will be on hand during a workshop in which attendees will explore these issues in more depth.

The single-day event promises to be both fascinating and practical, with other sessions covering lessons to learn from the Post Office scandal, a guide to managing disputes for non-litigators, avoiding ESG disputes, crisis communications, mediation and cross-border privilege.??

The Crafty Counsel Disputes Day is open exclusively to in-house legal professionals, who can register for their free ticket on Eventbrite here .

We are hiring

We are are on the lookout for an experienced lawyer to join our thriving and expanding Private Client practice. If you have great technical and interpersonal skills and are looking for more freedom, control and flexibility in your career, together with a truly supportive working culture in a firm committed to the highest ethical standards, please take a look at the full job spec here .? Or feel free to share this with the fantastic private client in your life!

Firm news

Success for Bellevue Law in the Chambers and Legal 500 directories

The Bellevue Law team has much to celebrate after achieving some stellar results in the 2024 editions of Chambers and The Legal 500.

Our founder, Florence Brocklesby, was listed as a Leading Individual in the Legal 500, where she was described as having ‘vision, courage and drive’.? Our Senior Executive and Employer practices were also both recommended along with senior consultants Susie Al-Qassab, Georgina Calvert-Lee, Rachel Clementson, Leigh Edgar, Imogen Finnegan and Victoria Misselbrook.? The directory reported that our team ‘stands out in a crowded field’.

And Florence, Susie and Leigh, as well as our Senior Executive practice, were all recommended in Chambers - which quoted one referee stating ‘The lawyers at Bellevue are all very bright and great on the law, but most importantly, they are also pragmatic and commercial’, with Florence and Leigh promoted to Band 3.

As a young firm, we are particularly grateful to have the team’s collective efforts acknowledged in this way by the legal sector’s leading independent directories.? Thank you to all of our clients and professional contacts who were kind enough to provide feedback on our firm to the directories.

Bellevue Law’s excellent culture highlighted in LMFI presentation at Legal Geek

We enjoyed featuring in a presentation at the recent Legal Geek conference by Manu Kanwar, the initiator of the Law Firm Maturity Index (LMFI), the first reliable, independent measure that law firms can use for assessing and comparing their performance in the arena of ESG.

Manu gave a presentation together with Kyle Phillips, partner at Howard Kennedy LLP, and Natalie Salunke, General Counsel at Zilch, about the benefits of the LFMI.? We were pleased to have our Band A assessment - and glowing anonymous team feedback - featured, and to support the promotion of the LFMI as an industry benchmark for measuring culture and values.

Student Mental Health Conference

Senior Consultant Georgina Calvert-Lee was a panellist at Westminster Higher Education Forum’s Next Steps for Improving Student Mental Health conference this week.

Georgina is a longstanding adviser to higher education institutions, academics and students on the institutions’ obligations, including when employees and students make complaints of sexual misconduct.

Bellevue Law at the Law Firm Marketing Summit

And finally, Florence Brocklesby was a panel member at the eighth Law Firm Marketing Summit, which took place on 10 October at the Caledonian Club in London. The event was dedicated to the topic of “Agility in a Disrupted World”, and brought together industry experts from a range of professional services firms.

Wandsworth Christmas Carol Service?

We’re very happy to be once again sponsoring the Home-Start Wandsworth Carol Service which will take place on Tuesday the 19th of December at the beautiful Grade II* listed St Anne’s Church in Wandsworth.

Join us there for mulled wine, mince pies and a very special evening of Christmas music, readings and carols. Get your ticket here.