Yikes: Biglaw Firm's New Bonus Policy Is Bad News For New Parents
Associates had themselves a nice little perk, and it's a bummer to see it taken away.
Bucking the Biglaw trend of creating new policies that assist associates in balancing their work and life, Cooley LLP has decided to go the opposite direction and is throwing up new roadblocks for parents trying to have it all.
The firm has traditionally credited time spent on leave, most commonly taken as parental leave, for bonus calculations. That meant new parents who took time off were eligible for a full bonus, but not anymore. As a firm source revealed to Above the Law, a newly announced change to Cooley’s bonus policy means those on leave will be docked for the time spent with their new children:
Cooley began its annual state of the firm rounds where they discussed how 2018 was a banner year with record-breaking profits. However, they also sent the email below to pregnant attorneys and new parents informing them that the firm will no longer credit time out on maternity leave for bonus purposes.
To be sure, plenty of other Biglaw firms already prorate bonuses for associates that take leave during the year. But Cooley associates had themselves a nice little perk, and it’s a bummer to see it taken away. As a tipster said, when the firm is happily reporting sky-high profits it’s more than a little hard to take a cost-cutting measure that new parents bear the brunt of:
It’s sad to see a firm that has had such a profitable year, and historically prided itself on being family-friendly, take such a big step in the wrong direction.
The new policy was specifically circulated to those who recently took, or are scheduled to take, leave. It’s nice these folks won’t be blindsided, but it still feels like a swift kick to the ovaries.
Read the firm’s new policy below.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).
