Lawyers to get overtime pay to stop burnout
Overworked lawyers will be entitled to greater benefits after a landmark judgement designed to stop them working thousands of hours outside the expected period.
Overworked state lawyers will be entitled to greater overtime benefits after a judgment was delivered to stop NSW lawyers forfeiting their leave, and allow time worked outside traditional hours to be paid at a higher rate.
The judgment comes amid increased focus on the treatment of lower-ranking workers across the profession, with one High Court judge recently calling out the “exploitation” of juniors who are at extreme risk of burnout.
An inquiry chaired by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission found dozens of lawyers, including many junior workers, employed the state Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions were working thousands of hours outside the expected periods, contributing to an unsustainable culture of overwork.
Those lawyers, who are entitled to take overtime hours back as leave, were forfeiting it due to growing pressures to keep up with bulging workloads.
As such, a ruling was made for a new award to ensure the lawyers will no longer able to give up their overtime hours, and will be paid at higher rates for any hours worked before 7.30am and after 6.30pm.
Public Service Association industrial officer Dean Allen told the hearing that solicitors who were contracted to work 210 hours over six weeks worked on average an additional 20 hours during that period.
“Fourteen per cent of solicitors who were contracted to work 210 hours over a flex period worked an additional 40 hours or more during this six-week period,” he said. “From the document, it appears that during the 15-month period, over 44,193.76 flex leave hours were forfeited by solicitors working full time.
“Every flex sheet submitted by an employee has to be approved by their manager.”
Prosecutor James Staples gave evidence that in a four-year period he forfeited 1115 hours (148 days) of leave, while his colleague Maryanne Rogers gave up 576 hours (77 days). Peter Clayton forfeited 362 hours (48 days), and Adam Brown gave up 323 hours (43 days).
The lawyers will be required to seek approval before taking overtime, except in an instance of “unforeseen or exceptional circumstances which preclude a lawyer seeking such approval”.
“If a lawyer routinely seeks approval to work overtime, their supervisor should meet with them to discuss their workload and why their work is unable to be performed during contract hours,” the judgment read.
The decision comes after High Court judge Jayne Jagot took aim at a culture of overwork plaguing legal workforces across Australia, saying: “Work hours in the legal profession are a large systemic issue.”
“I do not pretend to know how to begin to address that problem,” she said in August.
“But let’s not fool ourselves – work hours matter.
“Working long hours and not getting weekends to recover and regular holidays uninterrupted by work demands, over the longer-term, place stresses on many people that are unsustainable.”
Earlier this year, The Australian reported legal practices were haemorrhaging young lawyers who left due to their harsh treatment and exhausting hours, after it was revealed young solicitor Isabel Muscatello had allegedly been sacked from firm Sydney Criminal Lawyers for taking a sick day.
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