ANALYSIS: Mental Health Support Is Top Lawyer Wellness Perk

Even as attorney burnout persists, there’s good news on the attorney well-being front: The percentage of attorneys who say that their employers provide wellness benefits is increasing, according to recent data from Bloomberg Law.

Additionally, the survey responses indicate that attorneys’ awareness of wellness benefits may have a positive impact on job satisfaction.

More Mental Health Support, Less Food

Bloomberg Law’s last two Workload and Hours Surveys, covering the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023, asked attorneys what well-being benefits their organizations offered. The respondents reported receiving everything from company-sponsored spa services to childcare, but certain areas stood out: mental health coverage and pantry service.

Mental health coverage and wellness days off (outside of sick leave) had the biggest percentage increases from H2 2022 to H1 2023—with both increasing over 10%. This change may be spurred by an overall push in the legal profession to create work environments that support attorneys’ mental health, which is reflected by the 225 legal organizations that have signed onto the American Bar Association’s Well-Being Pledge, now in its fifth year.

Pantry service had the largest decrease, dropping over 30 percentage points. This decrease in reported snack offerings isn’t surprising, as many organizations provided food in-house during the pandemic to reduce outside exposure risks. In the endemic, that perk is now disappearing.

More Wellness Benefits, Increased Job Satisfaction?

The two surveys also asked respondents about their job satisfaction—and the link between job satisfaction and awareness of benefits is telling.

Higher percentages of attorneys ranked their job satisfaction anywhere between a “7" and a “10" on a 0 to 10 scale when they were aware of well-being benefits than attorneys who said that they were either not aware of the benefits or that their companies didn’t offer them. This was true for every wellness benefit option.

The largest differences in job satisfaction between benefits “haves” and “have nots” were in the mental health coverage, pantry services, and wellness days off categories.

Pantry services had the biggest disparity: 57% of attorneys who were aware that their company provided free food ranked their job satisfaction between 7 and 10. Meanwhile, only 40% of attorneys ranked their job satisfaction in this range when they didn’t have employer-provided food.

One thing that all these resources have in common is that they give attorneys the tools and time to take care of themselves. Legal employers who aren’t already providing these benefits should consider doing so, especially as more attorneys return to in-office work.

It’s also important for organizations to remember to promote the benefits they offer—a benefit that attorneys don’t know about won’t help them and could negatively influence lawyer retention.

Bloomberg Law subscribers can find related content on our  Surveys, Reports & Data Analysis page, our Legal Operations page, our In Focus: Lawyer Development page, and our In Focus: Lawyer Well-Being page.

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