Wendy Peet from our Women in IP committee writes:
Our online October 2024 coffee date on the subject of “Navigating holidays: managing deadlines, time-off, relaxation, childcare” prompted lots of lively discussion, which is particularly challenging for our service profession ruled by deadlines. As usual, attendees for the event were randomly assigned to a group with a host independent of their location, giving everyone the opportunity to meet new people.
The questions we used as the focus for the discussion are below:
- Do you manage to switch off during your holidays?
- Do you need to work during your holidays?
- How do you manage work deadlines during holiday periods?
- What systems does your workplace have in place that help?
- Are you aware of and does your workplace have a policy for enabling Parental Leave? (https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave)
These prompted some very interesting conversations, summarised below.
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Cover Systems
Different firms have different methods for providing cover for holidays. Overall these help people relax and switch off while on holiday, though it is generally more difficult if you are a business owner. In one example, a very structured cover system was introduced to manage two extremes of behaviour: (a) an employee taking no responsibility for work arising whilst out of office, leaving others to pick up the pieces; and (b) other employees having difficulty switching off.
The cover systems we discussed varied in degrees of formality and structure and included:
- Informal cover arranged within a work group
- More formalised systems – each attorney has 1 or 2 people assigned to provide cover for their holiday, and one administrator. Between them they ensure that at least one of those assigned people is available when that attorney is on holiday.
Communication expectations: within these cover systems there are different degrees of formality and expectation on communication prior to departure. The most formal system requires an email to the covering person listing anything that may arise and how to deal with it, including whether the person on holiday can/should be contacted.
In one example, all emails within a practice were sent to a central email address and that removed any pressure to check emails whilst out of the office.
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Cover for Christmas Holidays
One useful example that was shared was a requirement for all attorney staff to check their own emails over the Christmas holidays; with so many people on holiday at Christmas, including clients and Patent Offices, business does tend to slow down and expecting the few remaining staff who do work over Christmas to be responsible for checking all emails is poor work distribution and inefficient.
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Communication
Overall, it was agreed that one of the most important aspects of managing holidays and deadlines is communication. As a rule, better communication, with colleagues and clients alike, manages the work better and makes it easier to switch off while away. There was a lot of discussion about the culture in your workplace.
- Is there an expectation for cover within your workplace? If not, would it be useful to set one up?
- Do your work team know you are going to be out of the office?
- Do they know what aspects of your work may need addressing in your absence?
- If so, do they know what’s needed and how to deal with it?
- Do they know whether you can be/want to be contacted?
- Have you set clear boundaries and expectations? For example, there may be some matters for which you need to be contactable, but everything else can wait until you return.
- Do your clients know you are going to be out of the office?
- For pending work, do your clients know what is urgent and what can wait until your return?
- Can you negotiate deadlines with your client? – Your client’s internal deadline may not be fixed and may be easily moved.
- Do your clients know what to do/who to contact if they need urgent advice?
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Out of Office Message
Can you use an out of office message that distinguishes very urgent queries: “I will deal with your urgent email when I return to the office. For very urgent matters I can be contacted via text/Teams/mobile”?
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Setting an Example – Working on Holiday
Be mindful of the example you are setting, for example for trainees, when working out of hours or on holiday. Whilst some people find peace of mind in dealing with certain matters while away from the office, does it set a precedent for others that you are not expecting them to adhere to themselves? “Delay Send” in email may be a useful tool if you want to deal with something immediately but don’t want to set an expectation to work on holiday or late at night.
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Sabbaticals
Sabbaticals seem to be widely enabled and used.
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Parental Leave
Knowledge of Parental Leave is patchy. This entitles parents of children under the age of 18 to have up to a maximum of 18 weeks’ unpaid leave per child, with various restrictions including a maximum of 4 weeks per year per child. (See https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave)