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2. Not backing up junior in front of client;
3. rejecting draft without reading;
4. Reprimanding or shouting at junior over the work even without giving any instructions prior to giving work. Instructions would include expectations regarding work, or how to do and what to do; Just pure assumptions
5. Doing office politics,
6. unreasonable demand for doing office till late night 3-4 am or 1 am from office and then preparing them for heart attack or other lifestyle dises;
7. compulsory work from office when that can be work from home also;
8. Expecting to work fro junior like they are robot;
9. Incessant reprimand, shouting, abusive, taunt, partial behaviour for not reasonble reason, Hyperventilating for no reason ( even though partiality and taunt cannot be justified for any reason);
10. Creating atmosphere of abuse including but not limited to bullying of junior, abusing junior, politics, no leaves or withelding leaves so junior leave before bonus payout time, even not giving credit of work, not giving promotion ( classic tactic). some senior or firm people dont even give work to junior associate then questions why they dont fill their time sheet or not giving ample work so as to fire them.
11.Not understanding junior also have life, they are new to city and fighting their own war in term of getting to new realities of life
Besides junior also have responsibility to work diligently and have balance most compliance wont solve. Point both junior and senior have to understand their responsibility to make legal industry a better work place.
Not being able to push back on the client and having long nights every day and working weekends every week. Being rude and unprofessional in the workplace.
Not okay behaviour:
-Verbal abuse, shouting, screaming your head off, degrading, or humiliating based on immutable characteristics.
-Demanding that every single deliverable be "due yesterday" at the time youre assigning it.
-creating a false sense of urgency especially when the timelines for deliverables are flexible.
-Sexual harassment of women. Repeatedly and unwantedly propositioning coworkers , forcing yourself on them, demanding sexual favours in exchange for concessions at work. When you do date someone at the workplace- automatically treating them more favourably than other coworkers at the workplace. If you must date- keep that outside of work. They should have to earn every single thing other associates do.
-A culture that encourages young new joinees to date and get into relationships with older colleagues.
- assuming that because someone is female or is a certain caste or whatever means that they will be worse at their work. The opposite is often true in the law field.
-Micromanaging to the extent that you demand coworkers sit in front of you while they do their work. -Trust the people you hire or dont hire them at all. They can work in their own space in office as long as they send in their work on time.
-Not paying on time. Not paying the amount promised. Not giving credit for the work done- if you have to present research done at a conference say- put a slide in that adequately acknowledges contributions of everyone involved. Cutting a half a day or a full days pay for being with 15 minutes late- traffic exists. And if you cut the pay, the employee would be fully justified to leave the office and not return for the day. Probation periods that are extremely long and pay less than if you were a full employee.
-not providing sick leave or leave when family is sick, or at least work from home when family is hospitalised.
-Not allowing your colleagues to do their work well by limiting their access to resources or burying them in meaningless paperwork that doesnt actually solve problems.
-assuming that the people you hire owe you their lives or loyalty. Loyalty is built over time brick by brick. Assume that anyone who joins your organisation will leave if its not a good fit. Do not assume anyone should be grateful or feel lucky that you have hired them.
-refusing to provide references/ letters of recommendation especially when the employee has worked hard- simply because you are resentful that they want to move on.
-opaque processes for evaluation and appraisal.
What is okay but I have seen described by others as "toxic"
- Sternly expressing disappointment or disapproval of a colleagues work ethic. harsh evaluations. Sternly worded emails that talk about how employees are failing. Dont shout you can often make more of an impact speaking in a low voice but speaking sternly than you can shouting abuses.
- Tight deadlines now and then that can require a person to work more than the 8 hours they are obligated. Your employees should still be able to be out when theres sunlight a significant portion of time.
- Asking out a colleague on a date once, politely, and not broaching the subject again if denied. Not pressuring that colleague by having others in the office talk to her. Not punishing a colleague for denying your advances. Dating colleagues if consensual and it doesnt adversely affect the workplace performance and appraisals of the lower ranked colleague or others in the workplace.
- disagreeing with other colleagues about political or social issues. just try to not discuss it at all at the workplace, but if you must- you should be mature enough to disagree with each other without ruining the professional relationship.
- refusing to pay for extended leaves away from work. If someone is gone for a whole month or more than a month, and they havent asked for approval of such leave and they havent worked with you long enough to establish credibility- go ahead and refuse to pay them for the time they have been away.
- demanding that deliverables be turned in on time and demanding as many revisions as it takes to get it right.
- not buying every excuse for shirking off work possible. If someone is constantly in crisis, constantly talking about burnout, constantly talking about mental health and anxiety and depression, if theyre doing this more than they are working. It is reasonable to ask the person if they would like to take a few months off, pull themselves together, and then return to work. And you can make clear that their behaviour is not contributing to a productive workplace.
- not preferring for promotion employees who have done less work because they wanted greater "work life balance." actions and choices have consequences.
- demanding clear and sufficient communication on any planned leave and sufficient notice for when a person wants to exit. maintaining friendly relations after and not burning bridges by denying f&f etc.
- clearly explaining your reasons for evaluations and promotions.
At the end of the day- your goal should be to hire the best people possible and to make it possible for them to stay. Most people hate quitting jobs and joining elsewhere. They want to be at one job with one company as long as possible. They only leave when they feel theyre being subjected to unfairness or unprofessionalism. And people who are good at their job know their worth. They will not be grateful or loyal to you unless you give them a reason to.
Your goal should not be to extract as much work as you can from very junior employees, make the workplace unpleasant, and drive them out only to replace with a new crop every year. If your attrition rates are high- you need to think about what youre doing wrong. Your HR should be geared not to simply hire as many people every year as possible, but to hold on to good people as long as possible. It will cost more money to hire 100 people every year and find out the 20 that can do reasonably good work only to lose them every two three years, than to hire 50 people a year, find 10 that are good- keep them for 5-10 years. When a good employee wants to leave- ask what it is you can do to make them stay, let them depart on good terms and keep a good professional relationship going.
On this page however I keep reading that certain teams / lawyers are toxic - but what action or behaviour amounts to being toxic? It would be good if young lawyers / students provide their understanding of toxic behaviour so that it can be understood (by me and other seniorish associates) how reasonable / excessive the complaints are.
I am also curious to understand from interns - what practice do you notice in a month long internship that helps you form such solid views about a firm, practice, lawyer?