Working from home ‘could make office bullying worse’

Working from home could “lead to bullying going unseen and unheard”, the Law Society has warned.

Legal charities and industry bodies have come together to call for a “change of culture in the profession” as they marked the start of Mental Health Awareness Week on Monday.

Last year, a series of reports revealed the levels of burnout, bullying, self-harm, harassment and sexual harassment plaguing the legal sector.

However, the Law Society, the independent professional body for solicitors, has warned that as flexible working becomes a staple of post-pandemic life, it has exposed further opportunities for bullying to take place.

Suzanna Eames, chair of the Law Society’s junior lawyers division, said: “Report after report has demonstrated that the overall culture in law is damaging to many junior lawyers, leading to mental health problems such as burnout, depression, anxiety and (in the worst cases) self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

“We have seen over the course of the pandemic that the culture of a firm has a very large impact on employees’ mental health, and that positive leadership can have a real impact and can ensure that the legal profession is both fulfilling and sustainable.

“On the contrary, employers that have left junior lawyers without support or supervision have seen staff burnout and choose to leave the firm or legal profession in order to protect their health.

“One positive of the pandemic has been the growing conversation around mental health and an increasing recognition that lawyers’ wellbeing should be treated as a priority.

“It is vital that this conversation continues to develop, and does not lose traction now that firms settle into varying models of hybrid working.”

‘Excessive working hours’

However, Ms Eames also warned that a “lack of supervision” of employees working from home “can often lead to bullying going unseen and unheard”.

“This is especially in relation to new members - many of whom are junior lawyers entering the profession who don’t yet know how to speak up,” she said.

“There’s also the other aspects of some bosses expecting employees to work longer hours and over lunch breaks if they work from home, as well as the possibility of exclusion.

“Often people forget about the subtle things, for example, people creating groups over Teams or Slack so they can communicate online, but someone gets left out, and that person doesn’t even know that these groups exist until they’re missing out on opportunities later down the line, and when they do find out, it’s obviously upsetting.

The charity, LawCare, published its Life in the Law report which examined the culture and working practices in law and the impact of these on legal professionals’ wellbeing. It found that 69 per cent of respondents had experienced mental ill health in the 12 months before the survey.

Also in 2021, the International Bar Association (IBA) published its Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession report, which surveyed 3,500 legal professionals and 180 legal organisations, confirming that legal professionals’ mental well-being is a global concern.

Stephanie Boyce, Law Society president, said: “The onus is often on the individual to ‘fix’ their mental ill health. In truth, we have a collective responsibility to make a positive work environment for everyone.

“We need to start talking about how some working practices contribute to an increased risk of poor mental health and how we can work together to change things.

“Tackling excessive working hours and workloads, as well as ensuring better supervision and support, especially for younger lawyers, is essential.”