Fin24 reports that candidate attorneys are set to earn a minimum of R72,000 a year (rural areas) and R96,000 a year (urban areas) after the Legal Practice Council of SA (LPC) published a notice in the Government Gazette last week relating to the salary requirements for the profession.

The monthly minimums during vocational training will be R6,000 for rural areas and R8,000 for urban areas. The LPC said it would review the salary rates in future, as the economic climate and other relevant factors changed. Candidate attorneys have long complained about their work conditions, including unpaid overtime and long hours. According to a survey released by the LPC last year, more than half of candidate attorneys said they worked 40 to 45 hours per week, with more than 90% saying that they were not paid overtime and they were not afforded medical aid. Meanwhile, more than a third of respondents (1,957 attorneys were surveyed) said they paid candidate attorneys R6,000 or less, or nothing at all. Most candidates earned between R6,000 to R12,000 per month. Sixty percent of the surveyed attorneys said that law firms would become reluctant to employ candidate attorneys – and employ fewer – if a minimum wage was set for them.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Na'ilah Ebrahim at Fin24 (registration required)

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