15 Nov 2018

Rajah & Tann Wins Work-Life Excellence Award

Rajah & Tann Singapore has been recognised for a supportive culture that promotes work-life harmony for its employees. It has won the Tripartite Alliance (TA) Award 2018 for Work-Life Excellence, the fifth time in the last decade and the only law firm this year.

Among the firm’s initiatives to retain its talents are flexible work arrangements, overseas training, healthy lifestyle activities and open communication channels between management and staff.

The TA Awards were announced at a gala dinner and award presentation ceremony yesterday organised by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), comprising Singapore National Employers Federation, National Trades Union Congress and the Ministry of Manpower.

The Awards are given to exemplary organisations that have implemented fair, responsible and progressive employment practices. The Work-Life Excellence category commends companies with strategies that maximise employee and business performance while helping them manage their work-life harmony.

Rajah & Tann Singapore Deputy Managing Partner Rebecca Chew said: “We are honoured to receive this award which reaffirms our continuing effort to constantly drive change to create work-life harmony for our colleagues while ensuring greater work efficiency and business continuity.

“Our policies and practices are premised on the belief that our people are our human capital rather than our human resource. We don’t want to lose talented people to whatever personal challenges they may encounter at different stages in life, so we constantly look at customising work arrangements for these individuals to retain them.”

Rajah & Tann’s emphasis on work-life strategy began more than two decades ago. The mindset of the firm at that time allowed a senior associate to take her child to weekday therapy appointments with flexible working hours. The flexibility allowed her to work as and when she could. She is today an equity partner and head of a practice group.

Another partner was able to work from overseas when her husband had to relocate for a temporary assignment. Japan Desk Manager Megumi Arima could work part-time offsite to pursue an overseas law degree, after being sponsored by Rajah & Tann for a diploma course in paralegal studies.

She said: “Rajah & Tann’s flexible work arrangement has helped me to pursue my passion in law while working part-time. I am grateful to the partners for their unwavering support in developing my career; the fact that they have made all these investments without requiring me to sign a bond, is itself a motivating factor for me to do well.”

Among other initiatives, the firm’s subsidiary R&T Asia Resources, which provides legal resource service, assists lawyers looking for contract work, short term or project specific roles, to secure such roles with the firm’s clients.

Being part of Southeast Asia’s largest legal network, Rajah & Tann is also able to second lawyers to Rajah & Tann Asia offices spread out in 10 regional cities, giving them valuable on-the-job training and exposure to new cultures, industries and jurisdictions.

Rajah & Tann was also commended for its dedicated in-house ombudsman, a rarity among law firms. The ombudsman, who is a senior partner, encourages freedom of expression and provides a safe channel of feedback for staff.

Gym allowances, movie nights, health and wellness workshops, sporting events, overseas trips and retreats for both staff and lawyers are also organised to promote team camaraderie. This coming Sunday, 18 November 2018, will see some 85 lawyers and staff participating in The New Paper Big Walk together.

Rajah & Tann is a member of TAFEP’s Human Capital Partnership Programme, a community of employers with progressive employment practices and policies to develop their human capital.

The TA Awards has a rigorous six-month judging process which includes site visits, interviews with senior management, as well as employee opinion surveys and focus groups. Winners are assessed by the extent and effectiveness of the various policies implemented, as well as management’s commitment to improve these strategies.

Rajah & Tann Singapore is a leading full-service law firm in Singapore and one of the largest in South East Asia, with market leading practices in dispute resolution, international arbitration, shipping, insolvency, restructuring, corporate & commercial, tax & trust amongst others. Through Rajah & Tann Asia, it is a member of one of the largest legal networks in Southeast Asia with over 700 fee earners.

Watch the live stream of the award presentation here

For more information about the TA Awards, please click here.

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About Rajah & Tann Asia – www.rajahtannasia.com

Rajah & Tann Asia brings together leading law firms and lawyers in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, with each offering the highest standards of service to locally-based clients while collectively having the capability to handle the most complex regional and cross-border transactions and to provide excellent legal counsel seamlessly across the region. With over 700 fee earners, all working towards one shared goal, we are lawyers who know Asia and who give our clients home advantage.