“The government may terminate contracts with firms that fail to meet these reporting requirements or minimum service standards,” she said.
“I encourage any young lawyers concerned about their working conditions to contact WorkSafe.”
The government’s current panel includes the big six firms – Ashurst, King & Wood Mallesons, Minter Ellison, Herbert Smith Freehills, Allens and Clayton Utz – as well as more than a dozen mid-tier firms including Gilbert + Tobin.
The rules followed WorkSafe Victoria issuing an improvement notice to King & Wood Mallesons’ Melbourne office in late 2018 after investigating claims made during the Hayne royal commission of fatigue and 16 to 18 hour days.
Gilbert + Tobin has been the subject of two regulator inquiries into alleged safety issues in the past 12 months, the most recent launched late last year.
The government panel contract requires all firms to produce a “workplace wellbeing” report as part of their annual performance assessment.
The contract manager can also request quarterly updates on safety investigations and seek ad-hoc reports on other possible safety incidents, including interstate.
Firms must also develop strategies to achieve effective work/life balance for their staff under minimum service standards.
The state Labor government is understood to be the first to address overwork concerns at firms through its procurement policy and the move follows lobbying by the Australian Services Union.
RMIT University Professor Sara Charlesworth, who has studied work hours in the legal industry, said the policy was an “innovative” step towards addressing the industry’s decades-old history of long hours.
“The onus is on the employers to take proactive, preventative workplace action. It’s not just [reliant on] one worker complaining.”
It can’t be done in isolation. You have to build a positive and respectful culture and that is not just hours.
— Genevieve Collins, chief executive partner, Landers & Rogers
Barrister Fiona McLeod, a former Law Council president, said government work was worth millions of dollars for firms and would be influential.
“It’s a very significant pool of money,” she said. “[The new standard] would require significant review by the firms as to their internal practices … It has the potential, as the dollar does, to drive real change.”
Landers & Rogers chief executive partner Genevieve Collins said the policy formalised the government’s long-standing concerns around fair workplaces.
“It definitely focuses attention to wellbeing and hours, so it will make a difference.”
However, she warned regulations alone were not enough to change the culture of law firms.
“It can’t be done in isolation. You have to build a positive and respectful culture and that is not just hours.”
The Queensland and NSW governments do not have similar requirements but a spokesman for NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman said that could change for the state in 2021.
“NSW government agencies will consider Victoria’s new requirements for firms when the legal services panel is refreshed [in 2021],” the spokesman said.
