Top International Firm Is Now Tying Bonus Eligibility To Office Attendance

Biglaw firms would really, really like associates to come back to the office. Whether it's because of lease obligations, training woes, trying to build a culture, or all of the above, by and large, firms would love to have attorneys back in the office. The question is how to do it.

While we've seen some carrot approaches, but increasingly mandates are the default -- and that now includes four-day mandates. But what will happen to associates who don't get on board with the rules of the road? They can expect to have their bonuses docked (or perhaps even worse, now that layoffs of all kinds are upon us). We've just learned that yet another firm has joined the ranks of the firms that are explicitly tying office attendance to associate bonuses.

Osborne Clarke -- an international firm with nearly 1,000 attorneys that brought in $481,481,000 gross revenue in 2021, putting it in 121st place on the Global 200 -- recently opted to make office attendance mandatory three times each week in order to be eligible for a bonus. RollOnFriday has additional details in an exclusive report:

The firm's Chief People Officer, Graham de Guise, told RollOnFriday: "We do expect our people to be in the office 'more often than not'," which means "three days a week spent in one of our offices or with clients."

Outlining how this would affect bonuses, de Guise said: "To be considered for a bonus, our people would normally need to reach our minimum expectations across a number of areas," which includes "being in the office 'more often than not'."

He also extolled the virtues, from OC's perspective, of working in the office, as he said it "brings so many benefits in building and maintaining relationships, collaboration sparking ideas and learning from each other as well as preserving our unique culture."

Those who remain bonus-eligible at the firm may receive "performance bonuses up to 20%," as well as "a discretionary long-term incentive plan with a bonus of up to 40% paid over a period of three years." On top of that, the firm awarded eligible employees with a "4% profit share" in June.

Now that this attendance-based bonus eligibility trend has taken off, will other Biglaw firms follow? If your firm is linking bonuses to office attendance let us know. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477). Thanks.

EXCLUSIVE Osborne Clarke makes office attendance mandatory for bonus [RollOnFriday]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she's worked since 2011. She'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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