Thank you! That makes a lot of sense 🙂

Hope your boys are doing well!

All of the topics you mentioned fall under our Health and Safety Committee (which follows all the regulations as set out by Worksafe BC).

Thanks.

Sandra

We just installed an AED on each floor of our office in addition to the regular first aid cabinets, and I am curious to hear about what other firms have in place.

For those who are willing to share, I’d be interested to hear what your setup looks like (…Read more

Lori

We pay for Associates’ memberships (CBA/TLABC/VBA/etc.), and limited staff memberships (BCPA and BCLMA primarily).

Relatively new to legal so not entirely sure what is the “norm”.. For associates and support staff, is it industry norm to pay for their professional memberships?? What memberships are firms paying for typically??

-Do your paralegals have annual billable hour targets? If so, what are they?
-Are targets tied to compensation, bonuses, or performance reviews?
-Do you factor non-billable work (training, mentoring, admin, etc.) into those expectations?
-Are there any other metrics or factors you…Read more

We do allow additional unpaid time off, on a case-by-case basis, with no formal policy at present. The prevailing thought is that we’d rather deal with the inconvenience of a planned unpaid time off over the greater inconvenience of a short notice “sick” day.

Typically 5 days or less / year of unpaid days taken will not operationally impact the firm too much.

if the firm is very family orientated and the employee has to take some unpaid days for childcare… then it would behoove to allow this.

But if it is because the employee wants…Read more

How…Read more

I’d love to chat further, I have an HR background but am newer to the legal field so I’m learning on the fly!

Thanks for the offer, hope to connect soon.

Jessika

Currently, only the acerated program is available for students to take so it is fairly similar to PLTC. When the 9 month program is offered… i am unsure if that will also shorten the overall articling term to 9 months vs. 12 months.

At my old firm, we continue paying their salary however I…Read more

I’ve managed LAA/Paralegal transitions multiple times over the years and am happy to chat with you.

There’s lots of options available such as hybrid arrangements, bonus transitions, BCLMA reporting data that you can use.

Making sure that you have strong policies in place and documented transition memos would be the most important…Read more

Looking for some advice/info on designated paralegals in your firms. We’re a small firm on Vancouver Island and looking at transitioning some of our experienced legal assistants into designated paralegals. My questions are:

1. What processes/qualifications have you created in your firm for designated paralegals?
2. How did you approach…Read more

As we are getting closer to PREP replacing PLTC, I am curious what others are planning to do and offer their articling students? Mainly, will you give the students the option to choose the accelerated or full-time program? If they attend the accelerated program, will you pay them during the PREP and finally, due to the increase in…Read more

We are looking for recommendations for a software that integrates HRIS and payroll. We are currently using BambooHR and Ceridian, which are both great on their own, but it would be nice to have fewer data touch points. I would welcome any insights (including any software to avoid).

Thanks!

Employees may use personal days, vacation or unpaid time off for more extended family members, or for additional time off. Unpaid leave under ESA is also…Read more

I’m interested in learning how other firms approach bereavement leave.

Who is eligible for paid bereavement leave at your firm? Specifically, which family relationships are included (e.g., spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt/uncle, niece/nephew, in-laws, etc.)? Do you also provide leave for the loss of…Read more

One suggestion that’s a bit different than what you’re asking: if employees are using their entire EAP…Read more

I am interested to know how many firms are providing a separate Mental Health Care Spending Account in addition to Extended Benefits and EAP services? if you are providing this, are you using a separate company or is this provided by your benefits provider?

Our extended benefits have some Psychologist coverage and we provide a HCSA for…Read more

At previous firms I have registered for sick leave top-up for EI. Note that, unlike mat. leave top-up, you have to register for this program, and it has to…Read more