Supporting our People, inside and outside of work

For many people, part of the attraction of living and working in the Bay of Plenty is that it is a great place to start and raise a family. Our people love the lifestyle here – and it doesn’t require them to sacrifice great career opportunities.  

Holland Beckett’s lawyers enjoy challenging, interesting legal work, career progression and satisfaction – they advise large New Zealand and overseas corporates on domestic and international matters, work on major infrastructure projects and with international asset managers, and the firm is on the ‘All of Government Legal Services Panel’. At the same time, they have personal lives, families and interests outside of work which also need to be nurtured. Understanding this has led to the creation of a leading Parental Leave Policy, a culture of flexibility and support, and in return the retention of expert senior lawyers and recruitment of legal specialists to the Bay of Plenty. 

Taking time out from your career, even temporarily, can be stressful and unsettling. Some of our lawyers share how they have navigated this season of becoming parents and what their careers look like now with young children in tow. 

Sophie Law, an Associate in our Employment team, found that one of the biggest challenges in returning from parental leave was finding the right balance. “It was hard to find the right balance between having time at home with my young family and being present at work. Working in an area of law where clients are often in high stress situations, I wanted clients to feel like I was also sufficiently available for them when they needed.”  

Family lawyer, Katherine Dyer, also an Associate, found similar challenges upon returning to work as a first-time parent, adjusting to part-time work when she had previously always worked full time. “Previously if I had lots of work on, such as when preparing for a Court hearing, I could simply stay later to get it done, but now I have a hard deadline with a child to collect from day-care.”  

Holland Beckett’s versatile policy has meant that navigating this new way of working has been less stressful for both.

“Flexible working arrangements are essential to my wellbeing and ability to succeed in my job as a working Mum”, says Kat. “My return to work has felt very smooth and I credit this to the ability to work part-time hours (and to gradually increase those when I was ready to). It is helpful to work flexibly, such as completing work at home in the evening once my baby is asleep. I feel so grateful to work for supervising partners who are understanding, empathetic and flexible and who place full trust in me that I will get my work done.” 

“I don’t think it would be possible to succeed in both of my ‘jobs’ without flexible working arrangements”, said Sophie. “There are often times where I will need to start or finish early as a result of sick children, and there is never any issue of me working flexibly to do my hours outside of normal working hours.” 

Sophie added, “The additional Paid Parental Leave entitlements provided by the firm were also fantastic. It allowed me to enjoy my time at home, without the financial worries of being without an income for an extended period.” 

Holland Beckett has a parental leave policy whereby the firm ‘tops up’ the government Paid Parental Leave entitlement so that employees receive the equivalent of their full salary for up to 18 weeks. The policy was created to acknowledge and reinforce the value that the firm has for its people, being that people are our most important asset, and without them we couldn’t provide for our clients. 

Because of this policy, Kat didn’t feel pushed into returning to work before she was ready to, which she said is “sadly an experience that many other mums I know have had. It made me feel really valued as an employee, and it was also really lovely to still be invited to all the firm social events while I was on parental leave, so I still felt like I was part of the team.” 

Kat also gave a special shout out to the ‘pumping room’, “the office has a private room for this purpose with lockable door, dedicated fridge and comfortable chair!”. 

The firm’s policy also includes that partners of the primary carer are eligible to receive four weeks of paid leave. Partner Will Dymock noted that this time allowed him to “focus solely on spending time together as a family and getting to know our new addition” when his second child was born. “One month off was a game changer for us as it meant that we were well and truly settled as a family by the time I returned to work”.  

Being adaptable, innovative, and supporting people to succeed both in and outside the workplace has been crucial to the firm’s success. It has resulted in the high retention of experienced support staff and specialist lawyers who might otherwise have had to take a career break or adjust their family lives in ways that didn’t work best for them.   

On reflection when asked about her experience, Sophie noted that “I have never been made to feel like me being part time is a burden, or that the firm is in some way doing me a favour by allowing me to work part time in a role which is traditionally full time. The partners are always appreciative of my contributions, however this may look.”  

Holland Beckett has a great reputation and is viewed as an employer of choice in the legal industry. As well as retaining the experts already here, the firm also attracts specialist lawyers to the Bay of Plenty which you might otherwise only find in the main centers, and so, our clients and community benefit from an expert level of advice in almost any area of law.