SRA launches online survey to canvas opinion on the minimum trainee solicitor wage
Should the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) continue to set the annual minimum rate of pay for trainee solicitors? This question is the subject of an online survey by the SRA which closes on 10 April.
Samantha Barrass, SRA executive director, says: “There is no clear evidence that setting a minimum salary fulfils any of the Legal Services Act’s regulatory objectives. We do not regulate prices or rates of pay, in any other area of our work. We have found very few examples where this occurs with other professional regulators.”
A spokesperson for the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) of the Law Society says removing the rate could lead to “more examples of exploitation occurring among trainees, as the JLD is already finding with many [on] work experience and paralegals. Individuals could find themselves encouraged or simply due to desperation forced to work for very low salaries or next to nothing (if not free)".
More information is available at: www.sra.org.uk/minimum-salary.
