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The 4 Day Work Week at My Law Firm & Why it Makes Sense | YLaw

February 10, 2021     Uncategorized

Let me preface this by saying I have been called many names (sometimes rightly so), but a ‘bad businesswoman’? never. In fact, I lead the fastest-growing law firm in BC. I would never make a major business decision in haste or based on emotion only. So to begin, please give me the benefit of the doubt.

How the Idea of 4 Day Work Weeks Started

When I was in my second year of practicing as a lawyer, I obtained a 30-page expert report from my migraine specialist who recommended I should work only 4 days a week. That’s because I had several physical and mental illnesses due to being overworked and stressed. I went to my employer and asked them permission to allow me to work 4 days a week. They did, but it came with a 20% cut to my pay.

By then I had never missed a billing target and was the highest billing and collecting associate at the firm. I didn’t want to work 4 days a week but found that I simply had no choice as my body and brain were screaming at me to slow down otherwise I would have higher prices to pay.

Those 3 months of working 4 days a week were the best months of my work life. I felt like I was in control of my life, I was happier, more productive and more focused. I still met and exceeded my full-time billable target and I did it with ease.

Fast forward to 8 years later, I own my own firm and also have a 1.5-year-old daughter. I work 4 days a week to have some time with her. A couple of weeks ago while having a glass of wine and cooking food, the thought crossed my mind: why not all of us?

 

I researched the topic obsessively and spent my evenings planning how to implement 4 workdays a week without hurting our quality of service to our clients, our employee’s pay, and of course our profitability.

Let’s look first at why I think 4 day work weeks for law firms is a great idea:

Why I Decided on a 4 Day Work Week at YLaw

First and foremost, I noticed our employees feeling exhausted every Friday after working so hard all week. I wanted them to feel good about coming to work and experience what I feel when I work 4 days a week. It was nothing but the idea of making them happier, showing my appreciation for their hard work, and letting them be human and tend to their personal lives.

But let’s face it: as business owners, we think about the bottom line. We want to maximize our profits and reduce risk. So I understand why some would be hesitant to even entertain the 4 day a week idea. But after much thought, I realized 4 days a week work may actually prove to be the same or more profitable. Here is why:

Profit Loss or is it?

Based on my calculations and if I assumed that lawyers would bill proportionate to the hours they will work in a 4 day week, I estimate that at worst we would lose 10% of our net profits (I’ll explain this number in the next blog). This is something that is easily measurable when you look at the number of hours versus billable time lost.

What is not clearly measurable are the long-term gains you would have by implementing this policy. This is precisely where most thinking of implementing this model would stop and not entertain the idea. They would see an immediate loss of profit but would be unable to measure the long-term gains that would be set off against it that easily. But let’s see if we can measure the long term gains a bit more precisely:

Loyalty

Losing lawyers and staff has been the biggest money waste for me. Replacing lawyers or staff who leave for other jobs can take months. And during those months I may face a loss of revenue in the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. And then have to deal with numerous client complaints about how we need to do work for free or comp them for the lawyer leaving. I can measure the loss by looking at our earnings during those months. Most law firms do not immediately replace departing employees or lawyers. During the time of replacement, much money and time is wasted away at finding a new person who may or may not be the right fit.

Now imagine if you offer your employees 4 day work weeks, most would never want to lose that job and go work somewhere 5 days a week. Loyalty to the business in itself will reduce waste, probably more than the 10% of profits I could potentially lose. 

Faster Expansion

If I offered a 4 day a week work environment at my firm versus other firms that don’t, which firm do you think a good, talented lawyer or staff would choose? My chances of expanding and adding more lawyers and employees would mean more profits. My rate of expansion would be potentially, exponentially more than the next firm.

Most lawyers and assistants are at stages in their lives where they have finished schooling and want to have children and families. Allowing them to be human, spend time with family and also have a career is valuable and irreplaceable. This should be the focus of any business owner if we want to have a healthy, reciprocating work environment.

The best decisions are those that make emotional and logical sense. If you do not have both, you may fail.

Profits Likely Won’t Do Down

Most of our lawyers are on a fee split pay, so they eat what they kill. Given my own experience in meeting and exceeding my full-time billing target working 4 days a week, I have little doubt our lawyers will continue to meet their full-time billable targets.

This time though, there is no pressure to. If they exceed or meet their full-time target, that will help them with their confidence, added income, etc, but it doesn’t pressure them to perform and overwork themselves. This is a system of reward versus punishment in case they don’t meet a full-time target. And my friends, believe me, love and appreciation will bring a lot more productivity and profitability than limitations, discipline and pressure do.

The choice to work 4 days a week would give my employees autonomy, choice, freedom to do as they see fit. This will mean better mental health and physical health for all involved; better work and life satisfaction.

Increased efficiency 

Research has shown that most people are productive and actually work 2-3 hours out of their 8 hours workdays. If we reduce the working days but add efficiency to the days we are working, we can achieve the same results in less time.  Lawyers will just be more productive, efficient and focused because they know the day off is just around the corner and the more they bill, the more will earn money.

Even for lawyers who are not doing a fee split, billing more means higher pay, more bonuses and more appreciation.

Staff will also be more efficient in getting more tasks done knowing that they will have a day off. Win-win so far.

What is 4 Day a Week Research Saying?

No matter where you look, 4 work day a week research is only concluding bright results:

  •  Microsoft MSFT, -0.02%  tested a four-day workweek in August — and, the company said, productivity jumped 40%.
  •  Perpetual Guardian, conducted a trial study of a 4 day work week. Not only did employees maintain the same productivity level, but they also showed improvements in job satisfaction, teamwork, work/life balance and company loyalty. Employees also experienced less stress with a decrease of 45% to 38%.
  • From 2015 to 2017, Sweden conducted a trial study into a shorter workweek. Nurses at a care home worked only 6 hours five days a week. Results were largely positive with nurses logging fewer sick hours, reporting better health and mental wellbeing and greater engagement as they arranged 85% more activities for patients in their care.

Implementing the 4 Day a Week Work at YLaw

On a sunny Friday, I gathered all of our staff and lawyers and announced the news. I remember they applauded at least 3 times, most people were in shock. Some thrilled and some anxious. We all as a team suggested and discussed policies to make this work.

Some lawyers, such as junior lawyers who are single were not the biggest fan because this is their time to make their career and prove themselves. That is great, the key is giving them a choice to work 4 days a week, but not forcing them to do so. 

  • To see our practical policies re 4 day work weeks, click here
  • To see our lawyers’ take on 4 day work weeks, click here
  • To see our 3 month report on 4 day work weeks, click here

Written by Leena Yousefi, founder of YLaw – February 10, 2021. 

 

 

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