The descriptions in the listed classifications give a hint as to the type of workers this Award will apply to, based upon their day to day functions and skills. Whether you have full-time, part-time, casual staff – recognising and understanding this legal instrument in plain english today can save your firm a costly lesson down the road.
Am I covered by the Legal Services Award?
To assess whether you or your staff are covered by the Award, it’s important to view the tasks and responsibilities performed in the context of the Award itself. We’ve prepared a table of roles that may be undertaken in a law firm workplace.
| Job title | Covered | Not covered |
| Legal Secretaries | | |
| Law Clerks | | |
| Paralegals | | |
| Law Graduates | | |
| HR Assistants | | |
| IT Manager | | |
| Payroll Manager | | |
| Admitted Solicitor | | |
Admitted solicitors are not covered by the Award. Employees carrying out work which fall outside the scope of the listed classification descriptions are NOT covered by the award. This may include IT workers, accountants and non-legal managerial roles with firms.
What are the pay rates under the Legal Services Award?
There are many pay rates that legal industry employers may have to consider when employing their staff. Here is a rather comprehensive list of categories that may have application to you (as an employee) or your workforce (as an employer)
| Weekly Pay Rate | Overtime – Saturday before 12 noon – after 3 hours other than continuous shiftworkers | Public Holiday – other than continuous shiftworkers |
| Hourly Pay Rate | Overtime – Saturday before 12 noon – other than continuous shiftworkers | Overtime – Monday to Friday- first 3 hours – other than continuous shiftworkers |
| Early Morning Shift | Saturday – all shiftworkers | Overtime – Monday to Friday- after 3 hours – other than continuous shiftworkers |
| Afternoon or Night Shift | Sunday – shiftworkers | Overtime – any day – continuous shiftworkers |
| Permanent Night Shift | Overtime – Sunday – other than continuous shiftworkers | Working on an RDO |
| Overtime – Saturday before 12 noon – first 3 hours other than continuous shiftworkers | Public Holiday – continuous shiftworkers | Less than 10 hours between shifts |
To learn more about pay rates you should get in touch with the Fairtime team.
What are the levels under the Legal Services Award?
The classifications for each employee is set out in
Schedule A. With five levels under ‘Legal clerical and administrative employee’ and a further set of classifications for ‘Law graduate’ and ‘Law clerk’- it can be quite the challenge. To ensure the highest level of compliance, legal services employers MUST be familiar with the details of these classifications. Each level makes reference to uniquely identifiable characteristics such as the required level of supervision, competency and indicative training. Beginning at an introductory level, each subsequent level progresses to an expectation of more developed skills and experience. Correctly assessing the appropriate award classification is not like a plug-and-play formula. Instead it requires a practical but cautious judgment of the level (and minimum pay rate) that best matches the specific skills needed for that job. This also means ongoing monitoring is necessary as employees move through the relevant levels as their skills & responsibilities evolve over time.
Have there been any recent changes to the Legal Services Award?
Fair Work now requires that law firms to record all hours worked by eligible staff regardless of salary level – this has helped ensure employees are not paid below minimum rates and get paid any overtime penalties owed to them. The reporting and reconciling regulations is a welcome relief for most in the new modern workplace, with unconventional work hours blurring the lines of work life balance. By penalising excessive overtime recorded by young lawyers, there are hopes that legal teams will employ more staff to handle high-volume periods. The obligations on employers have also increased. The system is much more onerous than it used to be and the law now requires that employers keep detailed records. These records may include shift start and end times, unpaid rest breaks as well as specific categories of hours worked including ordinary, overtime and hours attracting penalty rates. The
Fair Work Ombudsman is more active than ever before with
enforcement action for instances of wage theft. Employers are now at an increased risk of facing severe legal and financial penalties, with courts imposing heavy-handed civil penalties under the
Fair Work Act provisions for cases of underpayment.
Contact us to arrange a confidential no obligation health check to assess your business’s needs and to discuss how Fairtime can help reduce your risk of non-compliance.