The Law Society has recommended a higher minimum salary for trainee solicitors.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority previously set a minimum salary requirement, but this was abolished as of August 2014, to outcry from junior lawyers.
The Law Society stepped in to set a new recommended minimum, which it reviews every November, but firms are not required to adhere to it. They are now required to pay no more than the national minimum wage, currently £6.95 per hour or £12,649 per year for an average 35-hour week.
This year, The Law Society has recommended a rise in the minimum salary to £20,913 in London (up 3 per cent from £20,276), and £18,547 for trainees elsewhere in the UK (up 2 per cent from £18,183).
This recommendation is based on the living wage plus the average yearly Legal Practice Course repayment.
In February 2015, Lawyer 2B reported that since the abolition of the SRA required minimum wage, trainees at firms outside the City limits have been taking second and third jobs to make ends meet.
Research by recruiter Douglas Scott earlier this year found that, 31 per cent of trainees are now being paid below the Law Society recommended minimum. In the North West that rises to 51 per cent. In the South West only 12 per cent, while 20 per cent of London-based trainees are paid below the recommended minimum.
Previously…
11 Nov 15: Law Society sets recommended minimum trainee wage a year after SRA scrapped it
16 Feb 15: SRA dodges its moral responsibilities as trainees take second and third jobs to make ends meet
28 Jan 15: JLD rails against minimum wage abolition
21 May 12: Women hit worst by SRA minimum salary decision
29 Mar 12: SRA scraps minimum wage for trainees
12 Apr 12: Law Society warns SRA against removal of trainee minimum wage
20 May 07: Minimum trainee salary spared the axe
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