Few professions combine such deep knowledge and expertise with sheer work intensity as law. For many on the outside, at least, it is associated with towering workloads and ongoing demands to match the rewards and prestige.
While such challenges seem to come with the territory, there is much that a well-structured strategy relating to medical insurance and benefits can achieve for those in the thick of it.
This is not only about providing convenient healthcare facilities when needed but, further, to help law professionals be the best they can be in their work. A true collaboration between firm and insurance adviser is possible where benefits become integral to the overall personnel strategy in a competitive profession.
Global v local
The UAE has many homegrown law firms. It is also home to regional offices of many international firms, particularly in the financial free zones, DIFC and ADGM, which often have transferred talent from home markets by offering enviable case opportunities for mid-level and senior lawyers. Similarly, we see firms branching into Saudi Arabia, too.
Beyond the work itself, internal transfers often come as a total employment package. ‘What can I expect in this new country, what is the same and what is different?’ and so on. I frequently work with multi-nationals in both legal and other professional services that desire the same ‘touch and feel’ of their home’s insurance and benefits—especially when moving from countries where private healthcare dominates, such as the US.
For a start, the end-insurer is critical. Several global insurers can provide cover to UAE offices as an extension of their on-the-ground presence in numerous international markets. Local insurers without a presence outside the UAE can also provide international coverage to employees, however. Sometimes—rarely but well possible—the international coverage of a policy is not the priority.
People beyond policies
Beyond the core medical coverages for illness and injury (both mild and more serious) and higher value benefits that often align with their home market—such as dental and alternative therapies—the drive towards the same ‘touch and feel’ typically evolves into a deeper conversation that engages staff themselves.
I work with several human resources teams that have a proactive approach to learning from staff their needs and interests. Moreover, I have collaborated with them on such a pulse-check. Beyond the inclusion of healthcare items that appear on a policy, other benefits can be popular. These can range from periodic health checks from hospital representatives and team challenges that build exercise into their week, to location-specific subjects such as optimal eating habits and heat stroke prevention.
Stressful reading
Then, as it were, we go even deeper where work meets life.
The legal profession frequently comes with a price tag in health terms. A Bloomberg Law survey of US lawyers from 2021 found that as many as 52% of respondents reported feelings of burnout—with this number increasing with each quarterly survey.
Almost half cited a ‘decline in well-being’—another number that had increased throughout the year. The most common occurrences within this decline were anxiety and disrupted sleep (both above 80%) with negative impacts to their personal relationships and depression cited by almost half of the respondents.
A variety of other challenges were cited in the survey, including ongoing additions to their workload, an inability to ‘disconnect’ from the job, and even trouble focusing on work itself.
Clearly, counterbalancing measures that provide robust healthcare and a deeper address of wellness are necessary. Again, this is where a firm and an insurance adviser meet. It is true that the UAE has fewer clinics specialising in mental health per 100,000 population than western countries. But there are certainly experts available. In such cases—and I have seen some life-changing improvements for those battling with stress and depression—it is as much about the insurance adviser’s network as that of the policy contents.
The legal profession is a fascinating one, and the UAE will likely remain a compelling location for homegrown and resident talent. Progressively, as the local health service continues to develop, it will even better allow those careers to unfold in a healthy balance, supported by internal and external expertise.
By Damien Walsh, managing director of AES Health, a health insurance provider for professional services firms, including law firms.
