Fish & Richardson's Parent Leave Program Receives 2018 Top 10 Innovations in Diversity Award

Fish’s Parental Leave Phased Hours Program, which was developed to help legal staff manage the demands of work and home, has been named one of the 2018 Top 10 Innovations in Diversity by Profiles in Diversity Journal (PDJ). The award recognizes companies that have developed innovative solutions in the area of workforce diversity, inclusion and human equity.

Fish's Parental Leave Phased Hours Program (PL-PHP) was added to its parental leave benefits in 2017 to support primary caregivers as they transition between work and leave. PL-PHP provides the equivalent of an additional two weeks of compensated time in conjunction with parental leave (structured as a reduced billable goal). Primary caregivers may elect to take a 25% hours reduction for up to four weeks prior to and following parental leave.

"We spent a great amount of time designing a program that would help our working parents more seamlessly transition back to work while managing the demands of home. Our phased hours program gives our legal staff more freedom and flexibility, which are core components of our firm's overall culture," said Peter Devlin, President of Fish & Richardson. "Since the phased hours program launched, everyone who has been eligible to participate in the program has opted in, so it has been a resounding success."

The goal of sharing these innovation initiatives is to help organizations progress and bring change in the area of diversity, inclusion and human equity.

Profiles in Diversity Journal is a quarterly B2B magazine focusing on diversity, inclusion and human equity in business, government, nonprofit, higher education, and military settings. The focus is senior leadership, best practices, workforce diversity and inclusion strategies, and recognition of employee contributions.