SRA offers paltry trainee pay rise
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced a modest increase in the minimum salary for trainee solicitors.
The new minimum wage for trainees working in London will be set at £18,590 from August. This represents an increase of just 0.9 per cent from the current £18,420. However, the recommended salary for trainees in the capital has been set at £19,040.
The news comes as a growing number of City firms continue to freeze trainee salaries in response to the global economic crisis. On average a trainee working at a top City firm will receive around £37,000 in their first year.
The SRA has also put the minimum wage for trainees outside London up by 0.9 per cent, from £16,500 to £16,650. The regulator recommends those living outside the capital should be paid around £16,940.
The SRA began a consultation in October 2006 to determine whether the market favoured the abolition of the minimum salary for trainees. But findings in May 2007 showed the majority of respondents, two-thirds of whom were trainees, said they supported the minimum standards, which are aimed at protecting trainees from exploitation in the legal market.
