Last year, RPC LLP, Next 100 Years and LawCare published Mind the caring gap: exploring the impact of caring responsibilities in the legal sector. The survey report emphasised the importance of supporting those with caring responsibilities in the legal sector.

73% of survey respondents said they had to reduce their working hours and therefore income (if self-employed); and 57% felt that their career progression was negatively impacted due to caring responsibilities.

77% said their mental health and 70% said their physical health were affected by their caring role. This was most true for women who, in addition to their job, were taking on the majority of associated caring responsibilities and the domestic duties that come with looking after loved ones. The relentlessness of being a carer, along with the additional pressures of work, can result in many carers feeling anxious, overwhelmed, sleep-deprived or burning out.

A lack of support was also prevalent in the findings, with 66% of respondents having either unpaid or no support at all. Where support was offered, only 30% of respondents had used this, partly because of time and accessibility, and partly because the support available was not appropriate.

Key recommendations included the following:

  • Ensuring flexibility: This should be encouraged and carers should be trusted that they want to work and will work as hard as they can. Providing flexibility to attend appointments, or flexing working hours as and when needed can be a real lifeline for those with caring responsibilities. Hybrid and remote working are also valuable options for carers.
  • Manager training: Making sure any managers [or those in senior positions or control of diaries] are equipped to support their team members with caring responsibilities including supporting managers to develop their skills and knowledge so they can have open conversations about caring and the impacts it can have on individuals.
  • Introduce carers’ leave policies: Have a clear, defined policy that carers and line managers can easily refer to can help relieve some of the burden and stress that carers may feel.
  • Recognition of additional pressure/burden on women and the expectation that they will take on caring responsibilities: The report highlighted that women are overwhelmingly taking on caring responsibilities, regardless of the situation (childcare, eldercare etc.). Be mindful of those with caring responsibilities when planning work or social events and acknowledge this factor when it comes to appraisals, career development opportunities and promotion.
  • Factor caring responsibilities into career progression conversations and talent mapping: As with the above, influencing factors should be factored into career progression conversations. It’s important to acknowledge what the barriers might be to progression, and proactively manage that. Understanding how roles can be modified and supported to ensure a more flexible and effective position is important.

WCWF findings – five years ago

The report’s findings are similar to work undertaken by the Western Circuit Women’s Forum (WCWF). In 2019, the WCWF found that most women who left the Bar cited the difficulty of balancing work and family commitments as a factor in their decision to leave. It was overwhelmingly the case in the survey responses that female practitioners had primary care of their children, and primary responsibility for arranging childcare. In the WCWF’s Best Practice Guide for Retention and Progression after Parental Leave, it recommended evidence-based, practical steps which the profession should take to support, retain and promote women at the Bar.

In 2020, the WCWF published Back to the Bar Update: The Impact of COVID-19 – Consider the Carers in response to additional pressures on carers in the wake of COVID-19. The WCWF’s main recommendation to the judiciary, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), specialist Bar associations and chambers was to ‘Consider the Carers’. Specifically, when issuing guidance on new court processes, or ways of working, whether nationally or locally, take into account the practical difficulties faced by primary carers and consider the impact of the guidance on their income.

The WCWF’s suggestions for the judiciary and HMCTS and chambers are shown in the boxes below.

On the Western Circuit, campaigns such as ‘Consider the Carers’ and the implementation of working practice/wellbeing guidance from the courts, appear to be making a difference. Some local practitioners have told the WCWF that they now feel more able to say openly in court if they have any caring commitments, for which they need to be home on time.

There appear to be the beginnings of a greater understanding from chambers and the bench as to the need to try and accommodate carers at the Bar. However, the WCWF is aware that approaches aimed at assisting carers do not occur in every area of law and practices are not consistent across the board. The WCWF, once again, invites HMCTS, chambers, clerks, judges, tribunals and courts to ‘Consider the Carers’. 

WCWF recommendations for the judiciary and HMCTS
  1. All guidance should include a requirement that judges invite advocates (and other parties to the proceedings) to notify the court in advance whether they have any childcare or other caring issues relevant to the hearing.
  2. At the start of any hearing, advocates and parties are invited to indicate if there are any childcare issues that might impact during a lengthy hearing and on future timetabling of a case.
  3. Use that information to decide whether any reasonable adjustments are required and can be put in place to ensure a fair hearing – such as: i) Aim to set clear boundaries regarding the time allocated to each case to enable carers to make arrangements suitable to those fixed times. ii) If a court hearing is moved, ensure sufficient notice is given to allow the carer to put other arrangements in place; iii) Aim to ensure that counsel’s availability for future hearings is taken into account where possible.
  4. There should be no suggestion (either expressly in any guidance, or implicitly in the way the court hears cases), that unavailability due to reasons of care-giving or shielding could be considered improper, unreasonable or negligent such as to expose a practitioner to a costs order.
WCWF recommendations for chambers
For chambers, the WCWF recommended ‘Support, Plan and Retain’. When making plans or considering changes to how chambers runs, take into account the practical difficulties faced by primary carers and people shielding the vulnerable and consider the impact of the guidance on their income:
  1. It is even more important than ever that there be an active review of distribution of work. It will be easier for those without caring responsibilities to take on last-minute work and work more, but care should be taken not to exclude from the new or last-minute work those with caring responsibilities.
  2. When considering new ways of marketing, some strategies (webinars, for instance) may be impossible for those with childcare issues because of the additional work involved, or the time they are to be recorded or broadcast.
  3. Maintain active communication, particularly with those with caring responsibilities. Their career is important to them and the support of chambers and clerks goes a long way to help them cope with daily struggles.
  4. Help barristers get the message across to the court staff and judiciary about the need for greater notice and greater flexibility.
  5. Ensure that all barristers have access to the up-to-date guidance.
© Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Lives outside trial: The Lady Chief Justice in the foreword to the Crown Court Compendium 2024 advised: ‘Judges also need to remember that advocates have lives (and obligations) outside of the trial. Judges and advocates work hard to ensure that justice is delivered fairly and efficiently, but this must not be at too great a cost; judges must keep their own welfare and the welfare of all those who work in the courts in mind when seeking to meet the challenges that exist in terms of backlogs and timeliness.’

 

References

Best Practice Guide for Retention and Progression after Parental Leave WCWF, 2019

Back to the Bar Update: The Impact of COVID-19 – Consider the Carers WCWF, 2020

Mind the Caring Gap: Exploring The Impact of Caring Responsibilities in the Legal Sector, RPC LLP, Next 100 Years and LawCare, 2024