Hi I’m Nicki, and I have worked at Ridley & Hall Solicitors over ten years and I am an Associate in the Care Team. Ridley & Hall has always been a friendly and welcoming place to work.

In this day and age so many of us work a 9 to 5 office job in a stressful environment, doing the same tasks every day with very little change apart from those ever increasing targets.  With an increasing number of people who are now experiencing some form of stress related mental health illness, which is generally brought on through prolonged stress it is extremely important that your employers, where you spend a significant amount of your time, are looking at the health and wellbeing of their employees.

Nicki Butterworth – Associate Personal Assistant

Most people who work in the legal sector have a driven and perfectionist personality, which makes them more prone to stress.  They generally work long hours in pressurised situations and feel that if they say they can’t cope, or need a break, that this is a sign of weakness.  Ridley & Hall want to be clear that this is not the case, and that they want employees to know that it’s good to talk.

Here at Ridley & Hall we are working with our employees and looking at what can make a difference.

The Directors at Ridley & Hall Solicitors understand that the health and wellbeing of the employees is extremely important and paramount for the business to continue to be successful.

With this in mind the Directors have reviewed their Employee Handbook.  The handbook now includes a specific policy on how they can support their employees’ wellbeing, which puts a stronger emphasis on promoting a healthy work/life balance.

This includes the introduction of flexible working arrangement, not to be confused with flexi time, this is a pre-arranged agreement which enables employees to manage other work/personal commitments they may have in their life, such as being a carer for a family member or involvement in charity work alongside their current role.

Ridley & Hall recently invited Matt Appleby of The Wholesome Apple to show how yoga, even for half an hour a day, can help focus your mind, decrease your stress levels and help you to breathe properly!  Ridley & Hall are looking to make activities such as this a permanent part of the work place.

Ridley & Hall are eager to ensure their staff are happy at all times, and are happy to tailor any support to the employees’ individual needs.

Ridley & Hall are looking to make further changes to benefit their staff in the future, looking at nutrition and holistic therapies plus looking at outside impacts on employees such as financial pressures faced by their staff and how they can help. In 2018, Ridley & Hall was accredited as a living wage employer.