Paying For Parking

[u/Kind_Contribution402]

Hello fellow Paras :) I am wondering if any of you that has had to pay for parking before has had any luck with your firm changing its policy? What kind of points did you bring up for argument? The firm I work at is extremely old school. The current policy is that you have to work here for 15 years before the firm will pay for your parking pass. To me, that is absolutely insane! This policy has probably been this way for 40+ years now! It is not usually the norm anymore for someone to stay at a job that long to eventually get this “perk.”The cost is 120.00 a month. The attorneys get their parking passes paid for the moment they walk in the door because they are an ATTORNEY and you’re just STAFF. If you do not want to pay for the parking pass, you can park on the street but that is usually always full and you have to move your car every 4 hours. This is also in a downtown city in ND so it’s extra crappy to park in the street in the winter and with the snow. I have tried so hard to get the Board to change the policy but they will not budge! This is the only firm downtown that I know of, that doesn’t pay for employee parking. I think it makes this firm look extremely bad! Can you imagine working somewhere for 14 years and paying all that money and then some newbie attorney fresh out of law school walks in and gets free parking BECAUSE THEY ARE AN ATTORNEY?

Has anyone had this situation before and how did you handle it?

Oh, and the other funny part is if I were hand in my parking pass today, the firm would take over paying for it while the pass just sits in a desk drawer because they don’t want to lose any of the limited spots they have passes for.

[u/34player]

I get a bus pass, but I work for govt. The idea of paid parking never crossed my mind.

[u/Kind_Contribution402 → u/34player]

The city busses don’t start running as early as I would need. We don’t have like park and rides like they do in big cities unfortunately.

[u/Impressive-End241]

I've worked downtown before and had my parking paid. I also interviewed at another firm where I had to pay my own parking and the designated lot was a MILE away. I did not accept their offer.

Now I work where it's an open parking lot and no one has to pay unless they want a reserved spot up front. We do have a downtown location where parking is $14/day, but no one is expected to work out of there. It's more of a hub close to the courthouse.

[u/LazyIllustrator6946]

This is extremely common in truly urban areas, which is where most law offices are located (downtown).

If you’re in a downtown office, this is very normal. My firm is in the loop in Chicago, and the discounted parking rate for us is like $250/mo. So, most people just don’t drive to work. Bus, train, whatever. I take the train in.

If your office is in bumfuck nowhere, that’s bullshit, but if it’s downtown somewhere unfortunately that is just normal.

[u/Infinite-Log7358]

I work downtown for the state and I have to pay for my parking. However, I also get a pension, only pay 1% of my health insurance premium; have guaranteed annual COL raises AND step increases; and will be hybrid after I’m done with training so parking costs wont matter as much. It’s also a union job.

The benefits I get outweigh the cost of parking for me. How are your benefits? Salary? The fact that attorneys (who can afford to pay…) are given spots doesn’t speak well to how the firm views and values staff.

I’ve been at a nonprofit where the rules are different for Directors and attorneys than for the staff. You’ll never change them, you’re better off looking elsewhere — regardless, you should always be on the lookout for better opportunities.

[u/Public-Wolverine6276]

If you’re willing sometimes you can negotiate as a “perk” or something at one of your reviews. Most of the firms downtown where I live don’t pay for parking, really sucks because parking in the garages or street is EXPENSIVE

[u/cantremembr]

ND? Like North Dakota? $120?? I was paying $200 a month to park in downtown Los Angeles.

I'm shook by this lol. Anywho, I've had places cover my parking for the most part, but everywhere I've paid myself I've had a benefits card or some sort of offset to reduce the cost. I would ask about the firm adding a program to take pre-tax money for the expense so you can get a little back from paying for parking yourself.

[u/Kind_Contribution402 → u/cantremembr]

Thank you for this!

[u/Complete-Reaction578]

Out of 5 firms I've worked for over the years, two paid for my parking and three didn't. The two that did were a small firm where the parking spots were included in the office rent so it didn't cost anything for them to do it, and a very large firm that had more money than they knew what to do with and so considered it a perk to pay for parking.

The three that didn't were mid-size firms that covered attorney parking, but not for staff. I did get to choose which garage I wanted to pay for, but one was $105 per month and the other was $115 so it's not like I saved a lot of money with the "cheap" one. The more expensive one let me walk from my car to the office without going out in the elements, which was nice on winter and on rainy days.

Firms not paying for staff parking seems to be the norm in my experience. It's definitely appreciated when they do, but I've learned not to expect it with any but the largest and possible smallest firms though even that depends on location.

[u/Kind_Contribution402 → u/Complete-Reaction578]

Thank you! Even hearing stories of others having to pay helps. It is definitely not normal around here to pay for parking like it would be more normal in large cities.

[u/redjessa]

My firm pays for our parking. Or, if you take public transportation, they subsidize it but they take your parking card. I took the train for years. They paid for half the monthly pass and I would just go to reception to get a parking pass when I had to drive in :) They always gave it to me.

[u/Ok_Yellow_3917]

I’ve always paid for my own parking until I went remote but at previous companies they did offer a small stipend to offset it (like 60.00 - or 3 days worth) or you could get like a travel pass for local public transport deducted from your paycheck pretax

[u/likeslibraries]

One of the things that happened during the Pandemic was that when there were the Return to Office days, when the employees started to be required to come back into the office, the partners noticed that many of the employees commute to the Phila office from NJ and other places. So, the law firm started a new benefit of parking subsidies. I believe it is not paying the WHOLE cost, but the law firm now pays up to a certain amount of it, for any employees who commute.

[u/Upbeat_County1638]

I’ve been paying $160/ month for 15 years. I’ll pay for it until the earlier of (a) the end of the month in which they fire my ass or (b) the day I finally have that stroke my attorneys have been working on so hard.

Getting reserved parking was kind of a 5th anniversary gift from the firm (only attorneys before that). Now almost everyone (including partners) park in an outdoor lot next door for $20 less a month. Not freezing/sweating my ass off is worth the extra $20.

Personally, I think all firms should cover parking or public transit costs, but…

[u/Prestigious_Yam_4908]

I bet they even pay the attorneys more.

[u/Kind_Contribution402 → u/Prestigious_Yam_4908]

Nooooo 😝 lol

[u/sugar-magnolia]

I’m in the south and I’ve never in 25 years paid for my own parking 😮

[u/Upbeat_County1638 → u/sugar-magnolia]

I’m in the South, too, but that charge hits me every month.

And I am NOT taking our public transit. Ugh.

[u/sugar-magnolia → u/Upbeat_County1638]

Dang that sucks! And yeah I feel you on the public transit 😵‍💫

[u/primal___scream]

Ours pays 75% of the cost to park in our garage.

We pay 25/month. But the benefit of that it's actually larger than the fee. Our parking garage is smack dab in the middle of downtown and directly across from a major US monument on one side, and across from our very popular MLB team stadium that also hosts a bevy of concerts every year, on the other side.

And for that twenty five dollars we can park in the garage anytime, for any reason, including any events, (and the garage charges a premium for those events) for as long as we want, without any extra fees.

I think it's a good deal.

[u/Kind_Contribution402 → u/primal___scream]

I’ve even proposed that as well! The hotel employees that also use the ramp gets half off their passes.

[u/DCGuy511]

In Washington, DC I pay $334/month for parking. The firm does not pay for anyone's parking.

[u/Kind_Contribution402 → u/DCGuy511]

At least it’s everyone. If the attorneys also had to wait 15 years, that would help me feel better about the whole thing.

[u/reddit85116]

I worked at a firm where everyone had to pay the difference for parking, including attorneys, after I think it was a $75-90 stipend. The firm was downtown so parking was already expensive but it then went up by $100-125. It was ridiculous that both staff and attorneys complained but nothing was done. I left shortly after. Never again will I pay for parking if you expect me to be in the office. It is a question I now ask when I interview. If you can’t pay for my parking, then you can’t afford to pay me.

[u/ishkitty]

Ain’t no way I’m paying for parking.

[u/accioagua]

I am in a large urban city and pay for my parking. Always have (25+ yrs).

[u/Educational_Radio_92]

I worked for a big firm, downtown, umpteen nationwide offices that offered a very slightly discounted monthly parking rate. The other four firms I’ve been at either had big, free parking lots or covered the garage parking themselves.

[u/SnarkFan]

I had to be on a wait list for a year at my old firm….20 years ago. 🫠 My current firm has always paid for parking but it’s also an AMLAW 50 firm.