Working from home! Friend or foe?

Zubana Khan, a paralegal in our serious injury team, shares her experience of our flexible working approach at Minster Law.

I started working for Minster in August 2021. We had just come out of another lockdown due to the pandemic with some companies still working from home, whilst others were trying the hybrid approach (a few days from home and a few in the office).

Prior to Minster, I had been working two days a week but was looking to go back to paralegal work full time at some point, but as we are a household with 2 school attending kids (who needed home-schooling in lockdown) and both partners working, I never thought I’d be able to find something that’s worked. I was a paralegal for a few years before my previous job and took a break then to work in IT whilst trying to raise my two little boys.  My friend, and an previous employee of Minster, told me about Minster’s flexible working approach, and as a law firm, I was intrigued how they managed this as I know how intense legal work can be. Nevertheless, I applied and got a role of a serious injury paralegal. When I started working here, I found I have colleagues from around the country working for Minster, who can do because of the flexible approach that Minster has.

The only downside to working from home is the social side. It’s always nice to interact with people and get to know colleagues, considering we spend so much of our time at work, it’s not quite the same seeing everyone on MS teams. The number of office-based meetings are increasing which is nice, and I still consider it a novelty to dress up and go in for the day.

On a serious note, to be able to work for a law firm such as Minster, and work around my family commitments is an opportunity that I would have missed out on if not for their flexible working approach.

Personally being around for my children has helped me not just mentally but has increased my productivity. I feel happier knowing that not only am I able to advance career wise but at the same time not miss those important years with my children.