Compel law firms to pay ‘pupils’ minimum wage, Bar Council urged

 

Chambering students are being treated like ‘odd-job workers’, says the Young Lawyers Movement.

PETALING JAYA: The Young Lawyers Movement wants the Bar Council to draw up rules compelling legal firms to pay a monthly minimum remuneration of RM1,200 to chambering students.

Its spokesman, Vince Tan Hoo Seh, said the amount is similar to the minimum wage implemented by the government for workers in the peninsula.

“It can be a good starting point and the amount can vary from state to state but RM1,200 should be the minimum, depending on the cost of living and financial capabilities of the firms,” he told FMT.

Tan said the trainees, referred to as pupils in chambers, were vulnerable as they were treated like “odd-job workers”.

“This is because the Legal Profession Act (LPA) states that pupils’ training must be continuous for the nine-month duration. Some are asked to work without leave,” he said.

He said an average of 1,000 pupils undergo compulsory training with the “masters” in a year before they are enrolled to the Bar.

The young lawyer said this in response to a recent circular by the Bar Council’s National Young Lawyers and Pupils Committee over the council’s failure to take steps to implement a resolution on the minimum remuneration approved at the Malaysian Bar’s annual general meeting in March.

Tan said an overwhelming 95.35% of the 2,492 national survey respondents expressed support for fixing a minimum remuneration for pupils but the circular did not state what the council plans to do in the rest of its term.

He said the circular also highlighted that amendments need to be made to the LPA in order to implement a minimum wage.

He said the council was empowered to amend and make rules like its plan to introduce a Code of Conduct of Pupils and Masters.

“We believe that any attempt by the current council to push this issue to the next term’s council is highly irresponsible. Such lack of ‘political will’ to see reforms through should not be tolerated,” he said.

Tan said the minimum remuneration proposal was new and was first raised about 10 years ago, but nothing had come out of it. - FMT