The Law Society has decided to cease recommending a minimum salary for trainees – instead telling employers to pay staff doing qualified work experience no less than the real living wage.
Since the Solicitors Regulation Authority stopped setting mandatory minima in 2014, the Society has continued recommending minimum pay rates using the Consumer Price Index’s 12-month rolling inflation rate.
However, this year, instead of recommending a minimum salary, the Society has updated its guidance for people undertaking qualifying work experience.
Confirming the change, a spokesperson said: 'Ahead of updating our position on recommended minimum salary, we carefully considered a range of options and engaged with members at all career stages, including junior lawyers. We consider this approach to be proportionate and appropriate at this time and will continue to review it in future years to ensure it remains relevant. It is important to underline that this is not a regulatory requirement, but rather a proposal to support good practice across the profession.'
The spokesperson said the new position, first revealed by Legal Cheek, was updated in August.
The guidance states that employees undertaking qualifying work experience should be paid ‘no less than the real living wage’. The real living wage, set by the Living Wage Foundation, is £13.45 across the UK and £14.80 in London.
‘We believe that employers paying the RLW as a minimum could have a positive impact on equality and diversity within the legal profession, in addition to being good practice in supporting entrants to the profession,’ the guidance states.
Last year the Society recommended that trainees and aspiring solicitors doing qualifying work experience should be paid £24,916 outside London and £28,090 in the capital.
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