Society runs survey on what trainees should be paid
Trainees and solicitors at all levels are being invited to take part in a Law Society of Scotland survey looking for views on how much trainee solicitors should be paid.
The survey comes as a blog by Rob Marrs, senior policy and development manager at the Law Society of Scotland, tells how the Society regularly hears a complete spectrum of views on whether trainees are paid too much or too little, and whether the Society should set any recommended rate at all.
At present the recommended rate for a first year trainee is £17,034, and for a second year £20,400, but legal firms are free to pay any salary at or above the national minimum wage (this rule is to be upgraded to require the living wage).
The Society reports that the "overwhelming majority" – understood to be more than 90% – of firms who take trainees pay at or above the recommended rate. However some complain that it is unrealistically high, while others say that it depresses salaries for some trainees. Many trainees believe that they would never get a pay rise unless a recommended rate was set and regularly reviewed; yet there are those who claim they should be allowed to work for nothing if it means gaining their qualification.
Factors on which the Society bases its recommended rate include data from the Cost of Time survey of practice costs and revenues, other graduate salaries, inflation, and input from Council and committee members about current practice conditions.
The survey, which should take only five minutes to complete, asks about the respondent's position within the profession, whether the Society should set a recommended rate and on what basis, and how much a trainee should be paid at present.