You need a vacation. You’ve earned it. But can you manage to get away?
According to Expedia.com’s 2015 International Vacation Deprivation Survey, American adults workers do not take almost a third of their allotted vacation days each year. Yet the same percentage reported feeling more positive about their jobs and more productive upon returning from vacation.
Although vacations can save legal employers money by reducing absences from stress-related medical issues, burn-out, lower morale, and decreased creativity and productivity, most of those organizations don’t really encourage time off. Despite official vacation policies and benefits, client needs and profit considerations are paramount. Annual billable hours targets must be met irrespective of vacation plans. Therefore, taking any time off means increasing billables at other times.
You’ve earned it
Your vacation days are part of your compensation package. Not taking advantage of them essentially gives your firm an equivalent number of days of free labor. Recognizing the value of vacation time, in 2008, London-based Allen & Overy instituted a policy of giving lawyers and staff the option of either selling back or buying additional vacation days.
A number of law firms have a different view. For example, one Wall Street firm’s new policy as of January 2011 states that associates and counsel are “entitled to take a reasonable amount of paid time off … subject to client demands and your other professional obligations and responsibilities.” Although the firm insists no intent to reduce vacation time to less than the previously offered 20 days annually, they no longer accrue. Some industry observers see this as a ploy to save payouts on unused vacation days. Several firms abandoned a set number of vacation days altogether, allowing lawyers to take whatever time they feel they can fit into their busy schedules–which usually is not much.
Whether you want a vacation for your physical or mental health, to spend quality time with loved ones, or to avoid leaving money on the table, you must thoughtfully and carefully plan your escape strategy
Timing
Finding the right time to go is the most difficult part of taking a vacation. Lawyers can’t predict much of their workload, but you must work around trials and closings. Optimal vacation time can differ by practice area. For litigators, August usually is slower because judges often vacation then. Similarly, tax attorneys know when their business ebbs and flows around various regulatory deadlines.
In our volatile legal marketplace, with companies and law firms dissolving, merging, or adding or dropping practice groups, it’s not a good idea to leave the office for an extended period if your organization or department is going through major changes. You want to safeguard your position in the new version of the entity going forward. Likewise, don’t knowingly absent yourself when top management or important clients visit.
It’s irresponsible to take off when too many others or key attorneys on client matters are out for any reason. Just because partners are on vacation doesn’t mean they won’t notice you’re out. Client demands don’t stop when partners leave town. You need to be there if an urgent matter arises, or if a vacationing partner calls in for assistance. This includes holidays – which need lawyer coverage – especially when you’re junior. The more seniority you accrue, the better shot you’ll have at time off during holiday periods.
Even if you’ve plotted the least disruptive time to leave, and given everyone plenty of notice, something can pop up at the last minute to foil your plans. If a client is in crisis, you must be there. About one in five employed adults reported to the Expedia.com survey that they’ve cancelled or postponed vacation plans because of work. A word to the wise: Buy trip cancellation insurance.
Duration
How long can you be gone at one time? While it depends on where and how you want to travel, two or more consecutive weeks out of the office might leave you too far behind. The stress of extricating yourself and catching back up might not be worth it. The Expedia.com survey showed that, in many employed U.S. adults anticipated taking one full week of vacation and using the remaining time here and there, while only 10% planned to take a full two-week vacation.
Law firm life is not a five-days-a-week job. Beware of trying to skirt the vacation issue by taking too many long weekends rather than scheduling longer chunks of time off. You might be able to extend a business trip a few days here and there, but pick your battles wisely. Repeated absences on Mondays and/or Fridays can earn you a reputation for being unreliable, especially if you leave colleagues scrambling to meet Friday deadlines or handling your work over weekends. Furthermore, constant absences may backfire when you need to be out of the office for an important event.
Many attorneys – especially those gunning for partnership – worry about appearing less dedicated than their counterparts. Thus, they fear that taking a vacation may hinder their future success at the firm. Your best bet for deciding how to schedule your vacation time is to look at your firm’s culture. Do partners routinely skip vacations? How did the newly minted partners manage their vacation time as they were moving up through the ranks? This is a matter you might want to discuss with your mentor.
Advance planning
As soon as you’ve decided when you want to take your vacation, talk to your partner or supervisor about your plans. Rather than ask permission, state the dates you plan to be out and ask whether there are any issues or conflicts. Look at your client responsibilities and confirm there is ample coverage for the workload.
Ensure your client files or projects folders are organized and easily accessible. Brief your superior and/or colleagues who will be covering for you. Write status memos, if necessary, highlighting any deadlines. Include contact information for clients, witnesses, and co- and opposing counsel. If others will need to access password-protected electronic files, check that all appropriate parties know the password. An option is to change all passwords to a single vacation password, and change them back upon your return.
Inform your clients, colleagues, and co- and opposing counsel of the dates you will be gone, whether and how you can be reached, and who will handle matters in your absence. Leave messages on your phone and e-mail letting people know you’re out of the office, when you’ll return, and who to contact should they need immediate assistance. Mention whether you’ll check messages during your absence and when to expect your response. In any event, leave an emergency contact number with all appropriate people.
Although you plan to return to the office refreshed and ready to jump back into the fray, don’t schedule meetings or travel for the day you get back. Before you leave, plan what you need to do upon your return to get back on track quickly.
During your vacation
In this technologically connected world, it’s difficult to escape completely. According to the Expedia.com vacation survey, 67% of employed adults check work email or voicemail while vacationing. The percentage of lawyers doing so probably is much higher. Unless you’re going off the grid (and you might want to go somewhere unreachable on purpose), the reality is that you may be checking voicemail and emails reasonably regularly. Although most lawyers are Type A personalities, keep your hands off work as much as possible. But make sure all client matters are being handled, and respond to urgent situations as soon as you can. Otherwise, trust your colleagues to handle things in your absence.
After you return
Keep the relaxed post-vacation vibe going as long as possible by giving yourself re-entry time to catch up and get acclimated. Acknowledge that the firm survived in your absence, and strive to remember that fact the next time you contemplate taking a break.
