It's time we got back to the office, law firm tells staff and partners

Author: Michael Pelly
Publication: Australian Financial Review
Publication date: 24/05/2020
Publisher: Fairfax Media 

Holding Redlich managing partner Ian Robertson doesn't accept the mantra from leading law firms that they are in no rush to get back to the office because of the success of remote working.

Mr Robertson suspects it's a smokescreen for the fact that their offices are open plan and not COVID-19 friendly.

"You'd have to say that if you couldn't come back to the office," he said.

That's what Holding Redlich did from last Monday. While most of corporate Australia is talking about a gradual return, the law firm with 500 staff and offices in NSW, Victoria and Queensland wasn't shy about bringing its staff back.

It came after two emails the previous week – first to all staff and then to /*partners. While the all-staff email made it clear there was no pressure, the note sent to the firm's 61 partners – supplied by Mr Robertson to The Australian Financial Review – outlined his clear preference for all partners to return to the office.

I’m hoping that all Partners who are able to do so will join me and the State Managing Partners in returning to the office next week dressed in professional business attire, and set an example to our staff in doing so,'' the letter read.

Mr Robertson said in the note that it would be "completely understood if this isn’t possible" but explained that there was a financial imperative.

While working remotely has generally worked well, being in the office is a great deal more efficient.

— Ian Robertson, Holding Redlich managing partner, in a letter to partners

"Frankly, we need to have as many people back in the office as soon as we sensibly can in order to maintain the financial performance necessary to look after our staff and ourselves.

"A number of Partners have mentioned to me that, while working remotely has generally worked well, being in the office is a great deal more efficient."

Minor modifications

Mr Robertson said this would not be possible had his firm not moved back to an all-office set-up last year.

"We can bring back 100 per cent of the staff back into the offices with only very minor modifications to meet the required standards of physical distancing,'' he said.

"It's basically fewer people in meeting rooms. What we have done is take chairs out of meeting rooms and reception. We've got back crosses on tables, signs up saying what the capacity of the room is, that sort of thing."

It's been interesting to observe how a group of people all armed with much the same information react to it very differently.

— Ian Robertson

It was put to Mr Robertson that some at his firm had expressed reservations about returning to the office without a clear mandate from government, which has not been forthcoming in the states in which Holding Redlich operates (NSW, Victoria and Queensland).

"It's been interesting to observe how a group of people all armed with much the same information react to it very differently,'' he said.

"Some people are very anxious about coming back to the office.

"Some, such as those in business services, have worked throughout – as have some of our partners, including me. I find it more efficient.

Different response

"For example, anything involving paper – photocopying, scanning, printing – I can do at home but in a very limited way. The office is much more efficient."

The response across the firm's offices last week was a mixed bag. In Melbourne, two-thirds of staff were still working remotely. It was about 50-50 in Sydney, while in Brisbane two-thirds were back in the office.

"I think if they felt they were coming back to be jammed in with other people, it would be a very different discussion,'' Mr Robertson said.

He said the end game was to have everyone back by late June or early July, when phase three of the resumption is scheduled to kick in.

"It [the emails] didn't mean getting everyone back within five minutes. It was encouraging them to move back."

Mr Robertson said the firm has not "pressured anybody to do anything" but conceded that "some people feel pressured".

He said the firm had performed well during the lockdown and there had been no cost-cutting measures such as reduced hours or pay or asking them to "buy" or take holiday leave. Partners have taken a 10 per cent cut in what they can draw from their capital accounts, but that is only a temporary measure to help with cash flow.

He conceded that it would be embarrassing for a firm that does a lot of workplace law not to "get it right".

"So far things have gone smoothly. I can't honestly say that out of 500 people that nobody is concerned. I'm sure some people are. But broadly, it's gone pretty well."

Share this