It's common for large suppliers to place requirements on vendors as part of doing business together. Wal-Mart, for example, demands that its outside law firms be cost-effective, employ a diverse workforce and achieve expected levels of performance. Now, the company appears ready to add flextime as a fourth requirement for firms that want to represent it in legal matters, according to a National Law Journal report.
Flextime is often seen as an important workplace perk, especially for working mothers.
Joseph West, associate general counsel for Wal-Mart, said it's not enough for firms to simply offer flextime in employee manuals. "We've found that even those firms that have flextime policies, they haven't communicated to attorneys in the firm that it's OK to use them without fear or shame," Mr. West told attendees at the Association of Corporate Counsel's annual meeting in Boston.
According to a piece on The Business Insider website, flextime may explain why some law firms have seen an increase in the number of females becoming partners. The same piece questions how well Wal-Mart will respond when it finds that attorneys are not available 24/7 because of flextime policies.
Discussion Questions: Where do you come down on how much a company can dictate to vendors in terms of their own business practices? If a company demands a certain practice of one vendor, in this case flextime, should that requirement apply to all that provide it with goods and services?