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Seemed more like a PR exercise by the law firm after facing public pressure due to a variety of reasons. People are still getting work at odd hours and it is not like you can raise an issue as juniors are not aware about client timelines.
All hogwash to be honest and the policy has failed in its first month. Well Done 👏
Making a PDF file with commandments is very different from implementation which actually requires an educated change. While its brave that the issue has been acknowledged, I hope they review efficacy of implementation as well to see if the piece of paper made an actual difference.
Calls are not being scheduled on Sat / Sun.
Of course, it may not be a no-work weekend, but hitting pause over even 50% of active matters is an improvement and gives much needed breathing space.
Needless to say, nobody has the balls to take this up with management (and this includes me, as well).
What would be great is for a policy to require that weekends are sacrosanct even if the client has some fake emergency (and no, internal deal timelines are not an emergency). Limit emergencies to statutory deadlines, client going to jail, court deadlines/hearings, major client board meetings, etc., and then you might actually get to use the switch off period.
For those who think Khaitan is the go to firm because of this policy - think twice, they also implemented "work from home" and later it came out that many partners were forcing associates to come to office on an adhoc basis.
For those who think this is not a positive move - at least acceptance step 1 to actually fixing the problem.
P.S. Yes, this is a joke. Consider the value of your time before typing out a furious and elaborate reply. Downvotes will convey the same message pithily.
1. End of day and weekend to be respected unless something is extremely urgent. Timelines on client deliverables to be centered around the weekdays.
2. Reduced emails and calls from 8 PM on Friday to 8 AM on Monday. Each practice to schedule a complete 24 hours switch off period on Sat or Sun.
3. Two to three days of recuperation leave after end of a critical milestone on a transaction.
4. Special 15 day sick leave for COVID - over and above the 30 days of annual leaves.
While all of the above may seem reasonable for sustainability and mental health, it is disappointing how every single law firm had been avoiding these measures to line up their pockets from the extra billables at the cost of employee health and well-being. Kudos to Khaitan for showing the way!