KEY POINTS:
Name: Andrew Scott-Howman.
Age: 39.
Role: Partner, Bell Gully, Wellington.
Working hours: 55 to 65 hours a week.
Salary: Some employment lawyers would earn $40,000 or less, some would earn more than $150,000.
Qualifications: Law degree, practising certificate.
Describe what you do
I'm an employment lawyer who helps sort out work problems - although I also assist in things such as constructing workplace policies and advising around change of business.
I have been doing this type of work for eight years, although I have been a lawyer for 16 years.
Your history?
I became a lawyer straight out of university. I worked in insurance law for five years in New Zealand and then I spent three enjoyable years overseas working in Canada, and then in Australia in this area.
I returned to New Zealand to practise employment law.
Do you work only with employment law?
The bulk of my work is in the employment area, although I also work in some other speciality areas, including broadcasting law.
Generally, however, the value that a lawyer can bring is speciality and expertise in a particular area of the law, which is why I have a primary emphasis upon employment law.
Do you work with employers or employees?
One of the important things about being a lawyer in this area is maintaining the ability to work for anyone who wishes to retain you.
That's an important quality because you gain perspective by being required to act for different parties in different situations.
In essence, you become a better lawyer if you are sympathetic to the issues of the parties whose interests you may be opposing on a particular occasion. I tend to work for employers for about two-thirds of the time.
The remainder of the work that I do is for employees and unions.
How is your role changing as legislation and the employment climate change?
Change is a feature of the employment area. Employment lawyers have to learn how to adapt and change their advice accordingly.
The most significant change that New Zealand experienced in this area was in 2000 when the employment legislation altered the way in which problems are addressed.
Employment lawyers used to be litigators, although now mediation takes account of 90 per cent of all employment problems.
To remain relevant, employment lawyers had to adapt to become advisers to negotiations, rather than adversarial mouth pieces.
What are the common issues you work with?
Nothing is ordinary. Being an employment lawyer is a lot more like being a GP than a specialist.
In the last six weeks, I have advised different clients on issues involving redundancy, sexual harassment, harm from stress, poor work performance by employees, fighting and bad language at work, disputes around pay and KiwiSaver.
What measures can workers and employers take to make sure they understand each other well?
Although it sounds trite to say so, communication is key to any relationship, be it at work or in a personal context. It is a natural consequence of life that issues will arise in the course of your work at some stage.
Those employers and employees who can talk openly and sensibly about those issues tend to be the ones that don't experience significant problems.
Our dispute resolution system is set up so that parties that aren't good at talking are encouraged to change their ways (by meeting in mediation).
What sort of training/experience do you need to do this job?
A law degree is technically enough but, because of the particular nature of the area, it helps to have some general experience with employment law and, most importantly, some familiarity with its processes.
What skills do you need for this role?
You have to be good at listening.
Talking is the second most important quality. The other thing you need is the ability to be dispassionate.
Your client pays you because of your judgment and experience, not because you are an automatic recruit to its cause.
Why is your job important?
I am not sure that my job is important. I tend to be called in when things have gone wrong, so I am a fire-fighter rather than a construction worker. However, the area of employment law is important.
Your job represents probably the second most important relationship in your life and it is fundamental that our law gives you some protection about the way that it works (protecting your minimum wage and giving you some basic rights).
Most challenging part of the job?
Dealing with other lawyers. We are not always the best at communicating with each other.
Most rewarding part?
It is unusual for a client to leave an employment law problem punching the air with joy. The best reward is the thanks of a grateful client for showing them the way through a process which is difficult and stressful.
Advice to someone wanting to do same thing?
Study hard, work hard and maintain a good sense of self-worth.
It's good to have an ability to laugh at yourself.
You need a good intellect and broad shoulders to be a good employment lawyer.
