Salary: a burden or a relief?

“Salary is a fixed amount of money or compensation paid to an employee by an employer in return for work performed…” www.en.m.wikipedia.org

It is customary in employment of labor for an employer to reward an employee in form of wages commensurate with work done; depending on the structure of the firm. Payment could be hourly, weekly, monthly, or yearly. The idea is to protect employees from being exploited by employers. The general provision of the Labour Act {Cap 198 Laws of the Federation} is for the protection of wages, contracts of employment, terms and conditions of employment.

Coming down to the Nigerian legal environment, the selfregulatory nature of Nigerian Bar Association makes it somewhat difficult to have a uniform structured mode of paying salaries to lawyers under the employ of a law firm. Some lawyers work in a law firm on mutual agreement of no monthly salary. Some law firms do not have a fixed amount as salary {payment varies from month to month depending on the buoyancy or otherwise of the firm}, while in an ideal law firm a legal professional is employed with a contract of employment containing allowances, and entitlements due to him/her.

Ordinarily, a salary ought to serve as a relief for employees to cater for their basic personal needs, thereby focusing and channeling effort on service delivery to the firm. Matter of fact, the main reason why anyone goes to work is to be paid at the end of the month, the only exception being volunteers. It therefore presupposes that the monthly salary paid to an employee ought to be a relief, availing one the resources to settle financial obligation associated with living.

Sadly, many Nigerian legal professionals complain about the low pay cheque paid as monthly salary by their principal partners. In this case, instead of the monthly salary being a relief to the employee, it becomes a burden as the pay is not commensurate with the work done by such employee.

Take for instance, a lawyer is paid N20, 000 per month with no adjourning allowance by the law firm. Such employee is expected to pay transport to and from work, feed, clothe, and provide a roof over his/her head. To make matters worse, these genre of law firms do not pay the mandatory fees a legal professional ought to pay, and the Nigerian Bar Association seems to pay a blind eye to the recurring plight of its members.

One of the institutionalized core objectives of NBA include amongst others, to promote the welfare, security, economic, and professional advancement of legal practitioners in Nigeria. In the instant case. Welfare and economic situation of a legal professional is the point of discuss, which begs the question, how has NBA helped in promoting the economic and welfare situation of its members to be paid commensurate wages for work done?

Coming into the profession, young lawyers are confronted with numerous stories of how legal practice was more difficult for our senior colleagues when they were junior lawyers, but then the fact that something works does not mean it cannot be improved upon.

While it is true that half bread is better than none, in the legal profession the stipends paid by law firms is not satisfactory enough for a junior to solve his/her basic needs, rather it places much burden on the employee. It is surprising, yet disappointing that some lawyers once employed in a law firm begin to perform the duties of a secretary, driver, messenger, paralegal, e.t.c all on the meager salary paid monthly. The legal profession requires lot of mental exertion to a provide legal solutions to clients’ problems, thus for a law firm to achieve optimal result it ought to ensure that its staff are mentally balanced by adequately compensating their efforts with the right wage.

In sum, the Nigerian Bar Association need do more to improve the welfare of its members by making operational an endowment fund that can be assessed by lawyers in dire need through soft loans. Becoming a lawyer in Nigeria comes with its expectations from family, friends, and the society at large. It is for this reason that the economic and welfare status of a legal professional should not be restricted to what a law firm pays as monthly salary, rather the association should lend a hand and assist her members find their feet.

God speed!

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