Legal Services Award
Covers law firms, barristers' chambers, patent and trade-mark attorney firms, legal aid commissions and in-house legal departments. Community legal centres are EXCLUDED per cl. 4.3. Single industry-wide scope — no sectors, no engagement subtypes, no sub-levels. 7 classifications across 6 levels (Levels 1-5 plus Law Graduate L5 plus Law Clerk L6). Standard rate is Level 5.
Fully built. Rates, allowances, penalties and any required apprentice / junior rates are all wired to the rate resolver and have been verified against the consolidated award text and the latest pay guide.
What's built
- All 7 classifications at the July 2025 figures (Law Graduate L5 shares the same rate as Legal L5).
- Junior rates per cl. 15.2 — 45 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90% age bands (the seeder previously claimed 'no juniors' which was wrong).
- Penalty rates including Saturday before noon first 3h at 150% / after 3h at 200%, Sunday non-shiftworker OT at 200%, public holiday non-shiftworker / non-continuous shift at 250%.
- Shift loadings — early morning 110%, afternoon / night 5+ successive shifts at 115%, less than 5 successive at 150% / 200% OT-style, permanent night 130%.
- Allowances per cl. 18: 4-variant meal allowance (cl. 18.2(a)) at $19.93 / $15.89 split by Mon-Fri vs Sat-Sun, uniform allowance ($3.65/wk, cl. 18.3), motor car ($0.98/km), motorcycle ($0.33/km).
Known limitations
No outstanding gaps at this revision — re-verify on the next Fair Work pay-guide release.
Setup & special instructions
- Community legal centres are EXCLUDED from coverage (cl. 4.3) — don't assign their employees to this award.
- There are no apprentices — legal qualifications are degree-based, not apprenticeship-based.
- Span of ordinary hours per cl. 13.1(c)(i) ends at 18:30 (not 19:00).
- Casual minimum engagement is 4 hours (cl. 11.3); part-time minimum is 3 hours (cl. 10.4).
- Law graduates have a 20-day-per-year study-leave configuration — confirm this is enabled for graduates pursuing admission.
- • Legal services
- • Law firms
- • Barristers' chambers
- • Legal aid
The consolidated award text is the authoritative source. Always confirm specific obligations against the award itself — Mployr's implementation status reflects what we've seeded; it does not replace legal advice.
Want to see this award running on your data?
We can demo a pay run on the legal services award using sample employees in a sandbox tenant — including any of the special-instruction steps above so you can see exactly what your team's day-to-day looks like.
Book a demo