Bar Council committee starts survey on minimum wage for pupils

 

The Bar Council has started an online survey, getting feedback from pupils in chambers at the state level, to determine what their minimum wage should be.

The survey is being handled by the Bar's National Young Lawyers and Pupils Committee (NYLPC), said committee chairperson Yusfarizal Yussoff, who stressed that pupils are juggling both working and training at the same time.

"The simple fact that pupils are also doing work for the pupil-master while undergoing training should be the starting point," he said in a statement today.

In September 2019, the Bar Council conducted a survey among members of the Malaysian Bar to collect data on remuneration for pupils.

Subsequently, between January and February 2020, the NYLPC conducted a national online survey.

"The result is that 95.35 percent of the 2,600 respondents agreed that the Bar Council should implement a minimum remuneration for pupils, and 61 percent agreed that the rate should vary according to the state in which they practise," Yusfarizal said.

The result from the national survey led the Bar Council to direct NYLPC to conduct another survey at the state level.

"The state-level survey is currently ongoing and NYLPC is expected to be able to produce a final report this year," he said.

Yusfarizal added that while the Bar is considering the minimum remuneration proposal, they must factor in certain issues:

• Section 12(3) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (LPA) stipulates that the remuneration to pupils is only optional, and a structured training programme must be devised by the pupil-master once they decide to take a pupil under their tutelage
• Other legal impediments, such as the sanctity of contract between the pupil and the pupil-master based on consensus ad idem
• Whether the fixing of a minimum remuneration to pupils would affect the ability of pupil-masters to take pupils, as the option would be open for firm-owners to instead take paralegals or legal associates with better experience
• The movement and concentration of pupils from one place to another which provides better remuneration
• The current economic situation which affects legal firms in terms of financial capability and employability.

Yusfarizal said the NYLPC noted that fixing a minimum remuneration is not the only method to address the problem.

At the same time, it has studied the viability of a complete revamp of the pupillage system through vocational training.

"The Bar Council has proposed amendments to the LPA to pave the way for the possible implementation of a Common Bar Course for single-entry points to the legal profession," he said.

Separately, the NYLPC announced that it is neither associated nor connected with the Young Lawyers Movement (YLM) which has been issuing statements and conducting roadshows in certain states in relation to the minimum remuneration for pupils issue.

"Thus, statements made by YLM do not represent the official stand of NYLPC," he said. - Mkini