I am really confused
In the latest instalment in our Career Conundrums series, one furloughed trainee, who was meant to start her second year this summer, has been told she won’t receive a pay increase as agreed in her training contract. What should she do?
“I am a trainee solicitor who is currently on indefinite furlough at the 80% rate. I was hoping to ask a question in respect of a trainee salary issue I am having with my firm for which I cannot find an answer on the SRA or Law Society sites.
I along with a number of other trainees began our training contracts in the summer of 2019 and we have been furloughed since the beginning of the CJRS [Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme].
Our offer letters state that we will earn a salary of £22,000 per year, increasing to £23,000 upon commencement of the second year of the training contract. The contract itself states the firm will pay ‘£22,000 in the first year and £23,000 in the second year’.
The second year would have started in July 2020 and I was expecting an increase in my salary, but I was informed by the firm they will not be processing the increase. I am really confused as to whether I am entitled to the agreed increase given that I am on furlough.”
If you have a career conundrum, email us at team@legalcheek.com.