News24 Business | Minimum wage set for candidate attorneys

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• The South African Legal Practice Council has introduced minimum salaries for candidate attorneys in urban and rural areas. 
• According to the Government Gazette notice, those in rural areas should earn a minimum of R6 000 per month or R72 000 per year, while those in urban areas should earn R8 000 per month, or R96 000 per year. 
• More than a third of law firms which took part in a survey pay candidates less than R6 000 a month.  
• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.

Candidate attorneys are set to earn a minimum of R72 000 and R96 000 a year after the Legal Practice Council of South Africa (LPC) published a notice in the Government Gazette last week about the salary requirements for the profession.

According to the notice, law firms would need to pay candidate attorneys in rural areas a minimum of R6 000 per month (R72 000 per year) during their vocational training, while those in urban areas will earn R8 000 per month (R96 000 per year).

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After years of studying towards an LLB degree, candidate attorneys can apply to a law firm to complete their articles for two years. During these years, they are expected to write four Law Bar exams before being admitted as an attorney.

Alternatively, graduates can apply for a six-month practical legal training course, costing R20 000. Once they pass the course, they can do articles for a year, pay, and apply for board exams before being admitted as attorneys. 

Raising the bar

In the notice, the council said they would review the salary amount in future, as the economic climate and other relevant factors change. 

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 had worked 40 to 45 hours per week, with more than 90% saying that they weren’t paid overtime and they weren’t offered 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.