Flexible working: Public Concern at Work looking for lawyer to work during school times

A leading legal charity is considering an innovative flexible-working arrangement in which it would recruit a lawyer to work only during school term times.


Public Concern at Work, an independent authority on public interest whistleblowing, is looking for tentative signs of interest from lawyers who would consider such a role. Director Guy Dehn described it as ‘an invitation to treat’ at this stage.


Mr Dehn is a barrister and one of the five lawyers on the staff of eight, two of whom already work flexibly. He said he wanted to test the publicity that lawyers with childcare responsibilities are keen to work more flexibly. ‘Is it true that people want this sort of job?’ he asked. ‘The main thing [for us] is that the work is done and done to a sufficient quality.’


The legal officer role would be a mix of working on Public Concern’s free helpline for potential whistleblowers and advice on the law, and the consultancy, training and support the charity offers to companies establishing whistle-blowing procedures.


The consultancy is charged out at City lawyer rates, enabling the charity to be self-funding and Mr Dehn said this meant it could also pay a competitive salary, although not at City lawyer levels.


Mr Dehn explained that although the helpline work is pretty constant, for unknown reasons the consultancy work – which can be quite intense for a few weeks – peaks during March, June and October, making the term-time role feasible. Public Concern does not run cases, although it does intervene at the appellate stage, and public policy work would form some part of the role as well.


One of Public Concern’s lawyers is at the same time looking to reduce their hours of work to the school holidays, but Mr Dehn said he reckoned the term-time job could well be sustainable as a stand-alone role.


Public Concern at Work, whose good practice guidance was commended earlier this year by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, boasts a long list of luminaries among its supporters. Its patrons are Lord Borrie, previously director-general of the Office of Fair Trading, former Law Lord Lord Oliver, and Sir John Banham, a one-time director-general of the Confederation of British Industry. Its chairman is Michael Smyth, a partner and head of the public policy practice at City giant Clifford Chance.


Links: www.pcaw.co.uk/jobs