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Enhancing Inclusive Policies
Over the years, the needs of working families have evolved, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure we continue to adapt with inclusive and flexible policies, the firm established a Working Families Committee. Last year, the committee’s efforts included:
- Hosting town halls and conducting surveys to gather feedback from attorneys and business professionals.
- Expanding our parental leave policy to provide all personnel at least 12 weeks of 100% paid leave to care for newborn, newly adopted, or foster children.
- Refreshing and formalizing a hybrid work policy to provide flexibility for all personnel.
- Formalizing a policy providing short-term flexibility to all personnel for caregiving needs when they arise.
- Identifying emergency child care solutions and elder care resources for all personnel.
- Partnering with Milk Stork to support breastfeeding parents and providing mini fridges for lactating mothers to store breast milk at their workstations while nursing.
The committee has continued its work in 2023 and will launch two new programs this fall:
- A new parent mentor program. We have identified a group of parent mentors who will receive training and be assigned to new parents who are interested in participating in the program.
- An emergency child care/elder care/pet care assistance program.
“These initiatives have always existed, and I’ve always felt the firm is really supportive, but we wanted to make sure that at all levels of the firm, people had access to parental leave, and felt empowered to use it.” - SARAH HUTCHINS, Partner & Working Families Committee Member
“It isn’t lost on me how fortunate I am to have a 16-week paternity leave. It allowed me to be there for my partner and our new son during those critical early weeks, and to bond with him in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Being able to take that time off work and still have the support of my colleagues and the firm was truly invaluable. It made me feel like I could be a consistent part of my family’s life during a time of great change and adjustment.” - ZACK ANSTETT, Associate
Want to learn more about the initiatives Parker Poe has undertaken in the past year to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within our firm and in our communities? View the full 2022 DEI report here.