Crown Employees-Legal Officers (Crown Solicitor's
Office, Legal Aid Commission Staff Agency, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
and Parliamentary Counsel’s Office) Reviewed Award
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Review of Award pursuant to Section 19 of the Industrial
Relations Act 1996.
(Case No. 180394 of 2021)
|
Before Commissioner Sloan
|
16 September 2021
|
REVIEWED
AWARD
Arrangement
PART A - GENERAL
Clause No. Subject Matter
1. Title
2. Definitions
3. Legal
Officers to Whom Award Applies
4. Salaries
5. Salary
Progression
6. Calculation
of Service
7. Indemnity by
Public Service Agency
8. Anti-Discrimination
9. Grievance
and Dispute Settling Procedures
10. Area,
Incidence and Duration
PART B
MONETARY RATES
Table 1 - Rates of Pay
PART A
GENERAL
1. Title
This Award is known as the Crown
Employees-Legal Officers (Crown Solicitor's Office, Legal Aid Commission Staff
Agency, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and Parliamentary
Counsel’s Office) Reviewed Award.
2. Definitions
In this Award:
"admitted as an Australian lawyer" means admitted
to the Australian legal profession in this jurisdiction or any other
jurisdiction (within the meaning of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW)).
"agency head" of a Public Service agency, means
the head of the agency within the meaning of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013.
"lawyers" means any of the following:
(a) graduates in
law from a university that is recognised for the purposes of admission to the
Australian legal profession or graduates of the diploma in law of the NSW Legal
Profession Admission Board,
(b) persons who
possess qualifications in law that are deemed to be equivalent,
(c) persons who
have been admitted, or who are qualified to be admitted, as an Australian
lawyer.
"legal officer" means a lawyer to whom this Award
applies.
"Public Service agency to which this Award
applies" means the Crown Solicitor's Office, the Legal Aid Commission
Staff Agency, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
and the Parliamentary Counsel's Office.
"service" means continuous service. Legal officers
are deemed to have the years of service indicated by the salaries at which they
are appointed.
3. Legal Officers to
Whom Award Applies
This Award applies to lawyers who are employed under
the Government Sector Employment Act
2013 in the Crown Solicitor's Office, the Legal Aid Commission Staff Agency,
the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Parliamentary
Counsel's Office and who are employed in the role of a legal officer (however
described).
4. Salaries
(1) Subject to the Government Sector Employment Act 2013
and the regulations under that Act, legal officers are to be paid not less than
the rates of salaries specified in Part B, Monetary Rates of this Award.
(2) A minimum
salary at the rate specified for the fifth year of service in Grade I is to be
paid to a legal officer:
(a) who has been
admitted as an Australian lawyer, or
(b) who has
completed at least 2 years’ practical legal experience in a Public Service
agency to which this Award applies or equivalent
practical legal experience approved by the appropriate agency head.
(3) A legal officer
is not eligible to progress beyond the salary specified for the second year of
service in Grade II until the legal officer has been admitted as an Australian
lawyer.
(4) A legal officer
who is not employed in full-time ongoing employment under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 is to be paid the weekly equivalent of
the annual rates specified in this Award, unless otherwise determined by the
Industrial Relations Secretary under that Act.
(5) This award is
listed in Schedule A of the Crown Employees (Public Sector - Salaries 2021)
Award and salaries payable to employees will be in accordance with that award
or any award replacing it. The rates set out at Part B, Monetary Rates are
subject to the rates as set by the Crown Employees (Public Sector - Salaries
2021) Award or any award replacing it.
5. Salary Progression
(1) The salaries of
legal officers are to be adjusted to the appropriate scale specified in this
Award on the basis of years of service as a legal
officer.
(2) A legal officer
who has served for 12 months on the maximum rate specified for Grade I is to be
progressed to the minimum salary for Grade II if the appropriate agency head,
after the required review:
(a) is satisfied
that work appropriate to Grade II is available and that the legal officer is
suitable to perform that work, and
(b) approves the
progression to Grade II.
The appropriate agency head is required to undertake a
review in relation to every such legal officer at or prior to the completion of
12 months’ service on the maximum rate specified for Grade I.
(3) A legal officer
who has served for 12 months on the maximum salary specified for Grade II is
eligible to be considered for progression to Grade III. When that occurs, the
appropriate agency head is to review the work performed by the legal officer
and the work available to be performed by the legal officer, and may approve
the progression of the legal officer to Grade III if satisfied that:
(a) the legal
officer's performance warrants the progression, and
(b) work appropriate
to Grade III is required to be performed, and
(c) the legal
officer is suitable to perform that work.
The legal officer is to be
progressed to Grade III on the anniversary of the attainment of the maximum
salary specified for Grade II if the legal officer satisfies those requirements
on that date or from such later date on which those requirements are satisfied.
(4) Promotion
beyond Grade III is subject to the occurrence of a vacancy in a role at a
higher grade.
6. Calculation of
Service
In calculating years of service for the purpose of this
Award, the following periods are not to be taken into account:
(a) any period in
respect of which an increment is refused in accordance with the regulations
under the Government Sector Employment
Act 2013,
(b) any leave of
absence without pay exceeding 5 days in any incremental year,
(c) any period
necessary to give full effect to a reduction in salary imposed under section 68
(Unsatisfactory performance) or section 69 (Misconduct) of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013.
7. Indemnity by Public
Service Agency
A legal officer is indemnified by the Public Service agency
in which the officer is employed with respect to the whole of any order made
against the legal officer pursuant to clause 5 of Schedule 2 to the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act
2014 (NSW) in any matter, unless the conduct of the legal officer giving rise
to the making of the order:
(a) was
"serious and wilful misconduct" as that phrase is construed under
section 5 of the Employees Liability Act 1991 (NSW), or
(b) did not occur in the course of, and did not arise out of, the employment
of the legal officer.
8. Anti-Discrimination
The provisions of clause 100 of the Crown Employees (Public
Service Conditions of Employment) Reviewed Award 2009 relating to the
prevention and elimination of discrimination in the workplace (or similar
provisions of any award that replaces that Award) apply to matters arising
under this Award.
9. Grievance and
Dispute Settling Procedures
The provisions of clause 9 of the Crown Employees (Public
Service Conditions of Employment) Reviewed Award 2009 relating to grievances
and dispute settling procedures (or similar provisions of any award that
replaces that Award) apply to matters arising under this Award.
10. Area, Incidence
and Duration
(1) The legal
officers to whom this Award applies are entitled to the conditions of
employment as set out in this Award and, except where specifically varied by
this Award, existing conditions are provided for under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013, the regulations and rules
made under that Act, the Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of
Employment) Reviewed Award 2009 and the Crown Employees (Public Sector -
Salaries 2019) Award or any awards replacing those Awards.
(2) Changes made to
this Award subsequent to it first being published, and
the Crown Employees (Office of the Legal Aid Commission - Indemnification of
Employed Solicitors) Award, have been incorporated into this Award as part of
the review.
(3) This award is
made following a review under section 19 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and rescinds and replaces the Crown Employees-Legal Officers (Crown Solicitor's
Office, Legal Aid Commission Staff Agency, Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions and Parliamentary Counsel’s Office) Reviewed Award
published 15 May 2020 (388 I.G. 283),
as varied.
(3) The changes made
to the award pursuant to the Award Review pursuant to section 19(6) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 and
Principle 26 of the Principles for Review of Awards made by the Industrial
Relations Commission of New South Wales on 28 April 1999 (310 I.G. 359) take
effect on and from 17 September 2021.
(4) This award
remains in force until varied or rescinded, the period for which it was made
having already expired.
PART B
MONETARY RATES
Effective from the first pay period commencing on or after 1
July 2021:
|
Grade
|
Amount (per annum)
|
|
|
$
|
|
Grade I
|
|
|
1st year of service
|
69,445
|
|
2nd year of service
|
72,077
|
|
3rd year of service
|
74,117
|
|
4th year of service
|
76,353
|
|
5th year of service
|
79,398
|
|
Grade II
|
|
|
1st year of service
|
85,938
|
|
2nd year of service
|
90,253
|
|
3rd year of service
|
95,539
|
|
4th year of service
|
100,431
|
|
5th year of service
|
104,437
|
|
Grade III
|
|
|
1st year of service
|
110,064
|
|
2nd year of service
|
113,343
|
|
3rd year of service
|
117,715
|
|
Grade IV
|
|
|
1st year of service
|
126,120
|
|
2nd year of service
|
128,547
|
|
Grade V
|
|
|
1st year of service
|
135,176
|
|
2nd year of service
|
137,826
|
|
Grade VI
|
|
|
1st year of service
|
145,211
|
|
2nd year of service
|
148,270
|
D. SLOAN, Commissioner
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.