Legal Services Award

If you run a legal practice in Australia and employ non-lawyer support staff - legal secretaries, receptionists, law clerks, paralegals, legal administrative staff or law graduates - MA000116 generally applies to them. Admitted solicitors and barristers are usually award-free, so the award typically governs your support team rather than your lawyers. Confirm coverage for each role against the Fair Work source before setting pay and conditions, since status can depend on the actual duties.

The award sets minimum rates against classification levels defined by the skills, judgement and responsibilities a role requires, so a paralegal or experienced law clerk sits above an entry-level clerical or reception role. You place each employee at the level matching the work they actually do, then pay at least that minimum. Title alone is not enough; assess the real duties. Once the level is settled, read the current rate from the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

Casual support staff are paid an hourly rate plus a casual loading in place of the paid leave and other entitlements casuals do not receive. Across modern awards this loading is commonly 25%, but treat that as a guide and confirm the exact figure for MA000116 on the Fair Work source. Casual loading applies on top of the minimum for the relevant classification, and you should check how it interacts with any weekend or overtime penalties before running pay.

Where support staff work ordinary hours on weekends, the award provides penalties on top of the ordinary rate. As a general guide across awards, weekend penalties commonly run around 25% on Saturday and 50% on Sunday, but MA000116 sets its own figures and they can vary with the day and employment type. Confirm what the award actually provides for the relevant shift on the Fair Work Pay Calculator rather than assuming a percentage before processing pay.

Public holiday entitlements flow from the National Employment Standards and the award. As a guide, public holiday work across awards can attract penalties of up to 150%, and the award's own provisions determine what applies to a given shift and employment type. Employees who would normally work that day but do not because it is a public holiday are generally entitled to their ordinary pay. Verify the public holiday entitlement for MA000116 on the Fair Work source before a relevant pay run.

Overtime generally applies to hours worked beyond ordinary or rostered hours, or outside the spread of ordinary hours set by the award, and is paid at penalty rates that step up after the first hours worked. A meal allowance can apply on qualifying overtime. Where an annualised wage is in place, overtime is absorbed only up to the agreed limits. Identify which hours count as overtime and confirm the applicable rate for MA000116 via the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

Yes. Part-time employees work fewer hours than full-timers on a reasonably predictable basis, and the award requires the agreed pattern of hours to be set out, with changes agreed. Part-timers receive pro-rata leave and the same minimum rates as full-timers for their classification. Part-time arrangements are common in legal practices, so documenting the agreed hours matters for calculating overtime correctly. Check the part-time provisions in the award for the full requirements.

The award allows a firm to pay an annualised wage that absorbs overtime and penalties, but only up to the outer limits set in the arrangement, and it does not remove the underlying award entitlements. The firm must keep records and reconcile the salary against what the award would have required, topping up any shortfall. An annualised wage is not a way to avoid penalties; treat it as a structure with conditions and confirm the requirements against the Fair Work source.

MA000116 provides office-oriented allowances, including an overtime meal allowance after qualifying overtime, a uniform or special clothing allowance where a uniform is required, and a living-away-from-home allowance in relevant circumstances. Because some apply only in particular situations, they are easy to overlook in a practice that pays mostly on salary. Identify which apply to each role and confirm the current amounts on the Fair Work Pay Calculator rather than relying on remembered values.

Yes. Annual leave loading is an extra payment on top of base pay when an employee takes paid annual leave, and under this award it is 17.5%. It applies to full-time and part-time support staff taking annual leave; casuals do not accrue annual leave. Where an annualised wage applies, check how leave loading is dealt with in the arrangement. Apply the loading when processing leave payments and confirm the calculation against the Fair Work source.

Minimum rates and many allowances are reviewed each year in the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review and take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. The 2026 review increased modern award minimums by 4.75%. Apply the new rates from the correct pay period, not the calendar date, and refresh the figures for each classification and allowance from the Fair Work Pay Calculator each year - and re-check any annualised wage against the new minimum.

Under MA000116 a law clerk is largely engaged in interviewing clients, preparing documents and substantive work assisting a barrister or solicitor, whereas routine clerical work - filing, word processing, switchboard, delivery of documents - is classified differently and typically lower. The distinction matters because it changes the minimum rate. Classify each person by the substance of their work, not the job title, and confirm the right level on the Fair Work source.

Start by confirming which staff are award-covered, then each person's correct classification - distinguishing genuine law clerks and paralegals from routine clerical roles - apply the right rates, penalties and allowances, and reconcile any annualised wage against the award, refreshing every figure from the Fair Work Pay Calculator after each 1 July increase. Accurate records of hours are essential. Valont runs award-compliant payroll for legal practices, mapping support staff to the correct classifications, allowances and penalties so the right amount is paid every cycle.

General office and clerical work outside a legal practice is the Clerks — Private Sector Award; clerical staff inside a law firm are covered by Legal Services.