Temp Staff Update - Aug 2020 (PDF version)

Please forward this bulletin to temporary colleagues

Results are in for the PSA Temporary Employment Survey and the results paint a concerning picture.

• Slightly more than half of the survey respondents were on contracts of 6 months or less.
• Of the staff who supplied information re the reason for their contracts:
  * 76 per cent were backfilling leave or relieving and
  * 24 per cent were in temporary funded positions.
• The average number of temporary contracts respondents have had is 12.
• 20 per cent of temporary staff said their manager had not discussed their contract with them.
• 97 per cent wished to have an ongoing career with Legal Aid and 70 per cent had applied unsuccessfully for permanent positions. Only 30 per cent thought they would ever obtain a permanent position.
• These results confirm statistics provided earlier by Legal Aid management which show that a large majority of temporary positions are to cover staff on leave or to backfill staff who are relieving in other positions.

Our results validate that many temporary staff have been on a series of temporary contracts for a number of years and the fact that the vast majority of them are unable to fulfil their desire to work permanently for Legal Aid.

Legal Aid management has indicated to the PSA an intention to bring this situation under control. It is likely that a significant number of permanent positions will be advertised in the future. The PSA is keen to ensure that long-term temporary staff receive appropriate consideration for these positions.

Again we encourage Temporary staff to JOIN the PSA to ensure your concerns are heard during discussions with Legal Aid management about this process.

If you have any temporary colleagues who wish to have a career and job security in Legal Aid, please forward this email on to them as it is important they have a voice in this process.

Any questions, suggestions, or information on joining the PSA, please contact your Organiser Glenn Duncan at .