What’s not working in addressing wellness issues in law?

In some pockets of the legal profession, the notion of wellbeing has arguably been embraced as a marketing tool for talent. With worldwide rates of psychological distress having been exacerbated in the wake of COVID-19, legal employers need to consider stripping things back to basics to ensure meaningful, substantive approaches to supporting staff. In this episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with FCW managing principal Andrew Douglas and Wellceum founder and chief executive Desi Vlahos about the “significant damage being done to young people”, the emerging realisation that responsibility for wellness doesn’t fall just on an individual, the exacerbation of mental health issues in recent years, and the proactive and reactive steps that employers must take if they are to properly engage with this issue. The trio also reflect on regulatory action in prosecuting employers over psychosocial hazards, the need for employers to see themselves as having positive duties to manage staff wellness, where Australian workplaces currently sit relative to global counterparts, overcoming longstanding and ingrained practices in Australian legal workplaces, why firms may not be making as much progress on wellness as they are on matters such as artificial intelligence, and what constitutes good governance. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au for more insights!