Dear colleague,

In 2021, the Law Society of Ireland embarked on a major project to survey the profession on their experiences of workplace bullying, harassment and/or sexual harassment, and to deliver any supports necessary to foster a culture of respect at work.

The Dignity Matters report, conducted by Crowe, highlighted issues for the profession to address collectively, and actions that the Society should take to support this process.

One of these actions was the creation of a Dignity at Work Toolkit that would help legal workplace leaders and their teams to identify approaches to prevent, intervene in, and respond to bullying and harassment in the workplace. I am sharing this important new resource with you today.

• Download the Dignity at Work Toolkit

The Toolkit provides dignity at work information and resources contributed by professional bodies, such as the International Bar Association (IBA), the Health and Safety Authority, academics at DCU’s Antibullying Centre, and employment law specialists. You can read more about this resource in the November Gazette.

Other wellbeing resources

This Toolkit has been delivered by the Law Society Psychological Services team, which now works to deliver qualified wellbeing support across the legal lifecycle. A number of new and existing resources are particularly worth highlighting during this busy – and, for many, challenging – time of year. They include:

• LegalMind, psychological and therapeutic support for solicitors and their dependants,
• the Professional Wellbeing Hub, with valuable information to improve your own wellbeing or support a colleague, and
• an exclusive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offer for Members, provided by independent and confidential EAP provider Laya Healthcare.

I encourage you to explore the Dignity at Work Toolkit, and the other resources available for members, on the Law Society website.

I hope that you find this helpful, and wish you well with using the resources.