Cast your mind back a few weeks, if you will, to 2 January, 2008 – the day many of you will have returned to work after the Christmas break. Remember what a shock it was to the system, hauling yourself out of bed and onto public transport that freezing morning? Just getting through that first day back seemed to require a monumental effort.
If any of this sounds familiar, you can start to imagine the rollercoaster of emotions felt by many employees returning to the workplace after a long period of absence. The most common examples tend to involve employees returning from maternity leave, secondment and long-term sick leave. In recent years there has been greater recognition by law firms of the benefits to both the individual and the organisation of providing a higher degree of support than has historically been given.
