Spoor & Fisher encourages and assists employees to improve their qualifications and also has a bursary programme to assist children and dependants of employees. We have also introduced a bursary programme aimed at assisting deserving candidates outside Spoor & Fisher.
Assisting Employees
Many Spoor & Fisher employees are candidate patent or trade mark attorneys who need to obtain further academic and practical qualifications before they can become fully qualified patent attorneys or trade mark practitioners. Spoor & Fisher pays the necessary tuition fees of such employees and assists them with study leave and other practical arrangements.
We also assist staff members who wish to improve their qualifications, even where this is not strictly necessitated by their job definition. In such cases, our assistance is discretionary, depending on the employee’s job definition and the further qualification they are studying for. The firm encourages non professional staff to study law and will provide financial assistance in this regard.
Bursary Programme for Children and Dependents of Employees
Employees are invited to apply for assistance, where needed, for the education of their children and dependants. Such assistance ranges from primary to tertiary education and is discretionary, based largely on financial need.
External Bursary Programme
In 2005 Spoor & Fisher introduced an external bursary programme aimed at identifying and assisting deserving science or engineering students at university, who need financial assistance in order to complete their studies. By 2007 we expect to be assisting three candidates. These bursary candidates receive assistance with tuition fees, books and residence fees, where necessary, and are offered holiday employment at Spoor & Fisher. However, the bursaries have “no strings attached” and the candidates are free to take jobs with the employer of their choice when they qualify. We feel that this programme makes a small contribution towards enlarging the pool of science and engineering graduates in South Africa.