Also reinstates partner distributions
Slaughter and May is bumping up associates’ bonuses but is continuing with its firm-wide pay freeze until a review of the situation early next year.
Slaughter and May executive partner Paul Stacey said the partnership had decided “not to move associates through the salary scales this year nor to award salary increases across the rest of the firm”, according to an email seen by RollOnFriday.
Stacy announced the firm is also awarding associates with annual discretionary bonuses 2% higher than last year in recognition of their efforts.
Among its higher ranks, the magic circle firm reinstated the partner distributions it suspended in April this year.
Slaughters chipped away at the salaries of its newly qualified (NQ) associates in May, from £92,000 to £87,000, to curb the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The rest of the magic circle followed with their own NQ salary cuts at the time.
Yet, a number of City law firms have now reversed or increased NQ pay in recent months. Fellow magic circle firm Allen & Overy, for example, has nudged its NQs’ total pay package slightly albeit not quite as high as its six-figure pre-COVID sum. The firm is also keeping the salaries of its business services and support staff frozen.