Pressure mounts for legal industry to employ living wage

Law firms are under increasing pressure to pay its most vulnerable members - junior lawyers, support staff, and clearing staff - the living wage. Photo / 123rf

Amid fears that wages have stagnated despite the cost of living, unions and associations are banding together to call on the legal industry to employ a living wage.

The Aotearoa Legal Workers' Union, together with E tū, the Council of Trade Unions, the Anglican Bishop of Wellington, the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington, and respective law students' societies of the five law schools in New Zealand are calling on legal employers to become Living Wage Accredited.

In a letter addressed to 47 law firms around the country, co-presidents Tess Upperton and Isabella Lenihan-Ikin said "a law firm that pays its most vulnerable members - junior lawyers, support staff, and clearing staff - the living wage, contributes to a more inclusive and respectful workplace".

The pandemic and cost of living crisis has exacerbated growing poverty and inequality in Aotearoa, undermining the pursuit of justice that the legal profession is founded on, the letter read.

"New Zealanders' wages, including those of legal workers, have stagnated, but they are working harder and longer than ever before."

Talking to the Herald, Lenihan-Ikin said law firms have a responsibility to value their workers, and employing a living wage can demonstrate the value and respect they have for their staff.

"We want the legal profession to step up. We're experiencing a cost of living crisis, and it is unfair and inequitable that wages have not increased, despite the significant increases in the cost of living."

There are currently 11 legal employers that are Living Wage Accredited Employers. These include: MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Buddle Findlay, Meredith Connell, Anderson Lloyd, Anthony Harper, Presland and Co Lawyers, Darroch Forrest Lawyers, Wesley Jones, Henry Hughes Law and Intellectual Property, Black Door Law, and Lyall & Thornton Barristers and Solicitors.

According to Living Wage Movement Aotearoa, to become accredited employers must ensure all workers and contractors are paid a living wage and no changes are made to employment conditions or working hours. Employees must also be provided with access to a union.

The New Zealand living wage hourly rate for the 2022 and 2023 period is $23.65, and will come into effect September 1, 2022.

Living Wage Movement Aotearoa New Zealand brings together community, union, and faith-based groups. Accredited employers include Wellington City Council, and the Parliamentary Service.

In 2020, the banking sector became New Zealand's first Living Wage Accredited industry.