Minimum trainee pay confirmed in Scotland

In contrast to the Solicitors Regulation Authority's (SRA's) reported plans for England and Wales, the Law Society of Scotland (LSS) has announced that the minimum pay for trainee solicitors in Scotland cannot go below the national minimum wage of £6.08 per hour. The LSS plan, set to be implemented in June 2012, could see trainees in Scotland being paid nearly £3.50 more per hour than their counterparts in England and Wales, who could be earning as little as £2.60 per hour under SRA plans to stop setting the minimum salary levels, which would lead to trainees being reclassified (by the government) as apprentices.

As reported by Lawyer2B, the LSS will continue to encourage firms to pay their trainees salaries above the minimum level, recommending salaries of £15,965 and £19,107 for first and second-year trainees respectively. However, even the trainees at those firms in Scotland that will decide to implement the new minimum salary stand to be better off than some in England and Wales who could be qualifying for housing benefits during their training contracts. The LSS decision to uphold a minimum wage is a result of the advice it sought following an increase in requests for people to be allowed to commence unpaid traineeships.

An LSS spokeswoman said: "Trainees do valuable work for their firms and merit payment. Finding a second job to fund their traineeship would reduce their efficiency."