National survey of legal profession workplace environment

National survey to assess legal profession workplace environments

The New Zealand Law Society is to conduct a national survey of New Zealand lawyers to assess workplace environments in the legal profession.

As well as seeking information on harassment and bullying, the Workplace Environment Survey will also include questions on stress and wellbeing.

The Law Society has commissioned research firm Colmar Brunton to carry out the survey, which will be sent to over 13,000 practising lawyers in New Zealand on 6 April.

“The survey will help the New Zealand Law Society measure lawyers’ perceptions and experiences of the legal workplace environment, including sexual and other harassment,” says Law Society General Manager Representative Glenda Macdonald.

“To ensure we get a representative picture, we are inviting all lawyers to take part regardless of what their experiences have been,” she says.

Survey responses will be confidential and will be collected and analysed by Colmar Brunton.

Ms Macdonald says the survey is an important component of a number of actions the Law Society is taking in face of the recent disclosures of major incidences of harassment in the legal profession.

“We are determined to tackle the workplace culture problems and help the profession make lasting changes. It is important to build as comprehensive a picture of the situation as possible and we believe this survey will become an important baseline against which we can measure future progress.”

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