In a long-winded email – leaked to the Above The Law website – partner Andrew McGinty demanded that all employees be at their desks by 9.15, or face the consequences.
‘The Shanghai partners take the view that fee-earning staff are expected to manage their own time in a professional manner and that their remuneration takes account of the fact that there will be times when they need to work long hours to meet client deadlines or expectations,’ Mr McGinty wrote.
‘Therefore, there will be no automatic right for fee earners to arrive late the day after late working and any late arrival due to late working or non-business-related reasons will be with the agreement of a supervising partner (not necessarily myself).’

Visual checks

Mr McGinty then went on to boast of his own time-keeping prowess, adding: ‘I am usually in by 9am every day and will be doing my own visual checks (as will other partners) – yesterday morning the office looked almost deserted at that time (with apologies to those who were here) which is simply not acceptable.’
When contacted by The Independent newspaper in London at 8.30pm Shanghai time, Mr McGinty was still as his desk but declined to comment

Lavatory passes

Meanwhile, Above The Law editor Elie Mystal mused: ‘Do they also need to get a hall pass to go to the bathroom? We live in a world of iPads, Androids, Blackberries and ubiquitous Wi-Fi connectivity. Surely, making people be at their desks at a set time everyday is beyond dumb and totally inefficient.’
However, website commenter ‘TruthEsq’ argued: ‘This is how everyone below you lives, beholden to the time clock no matter what. Support staff has to be in the office at 9 every morning come hell or high water even if they were working until past midnight the day before … so stop bitching and count yourselves lucky to be employed as an associate at all making a high salary.’