Manchester law firm Antony Hodari & Co has launched an employee assistance programme (EAP) to help its 100-plus staff manage personal issues arising outside of the office.

The firm has partnered with Validium, an EAP provider and specialist human resources (HR) support consultancy, to provide staff with a programme that offers direct access to independent and confidential counselling, as well as advice on practical matters, via telephone helplines and face-to-face meetings with trained counsellors.


The firm’s HR manager, Lisa Friedman said: ‘Lawyers have often been recognised as suffering from a culture of long hours and heavy workloads and, traditionally, law firms have been slow to tackle HR issues.


‘We’ve always had measures in place to monitor workloads, but recently we had noticed that people were more likely to suffer from stress as a result of personal issues occurring outside of the office, which we had identified were having an adverse effect on work performance.


‘Providing an independent helpline enables staff to seek advice on a host of issues, not just emotional issues. To have someone they can confidentially talk to makes a big difference and we’ve had great feedback from staff already.’


Ms Friedman said there was evidence of quite high usage of the EAP. The practical advice on offer covers legal, medical and financial issues, and she said she actually encourages staff to use the legal helpline as a way to check that the firm is acting properly as an employer.


Staff are generally asked to use the helpline in their spare time – it is open 24 hours a day, including weekends – partly because the firm has open-plan offices. However, there are facilities for urgent use during the day.


Lawyers must take a proactive approach to HR, said Ms Friedman, citing surveys showing that many are also reluctant to take any time off and that alcohol-related deaths in the legal profession are twice the national average. Equally, young lawyers are entering the profession with different attitudes to attaining a work-life balance, she said.

Mike Shaw, managing director of Validium, added: ‘Equilibrium is often the most difficult state to achieve in any walk of life but by putting the right procedures in place, such as an EAP, organisations are making a significant contribution to attaining this.’