News

Better pay for Singapore Legal Officers 
Posted on Friday, October 05, 2007 - 03:00 PM

The Singapore Legal Service Commission (LSC) has been losing its legal officers to the private sector because of pay differences of up to 30 per cent more. To stem this flow, the Legal Service Commission conducted a remuneration review in April 2007 and which was completed recently.

There were 22 resignations from January to October this year, including those who have served notice, the highest number since 2001.

The LSC recently sent out notice to its legal officers, informing them of the changes store which includes the introduction of two new components to ensure that the salaries at the Singapore Legal Service remain competitive.

From September 2008, deserving legal officers whose performance meets the grading criteria will get a legal personal allowance of half a month to two months’ salary.

There will also be a long-term incentive plan. Under this scheme, a sum of money, its amount depends on the officer’s grade, will be deposited annually into an account set up for each lawyer. A portion of the amount can be withdrawn at defined points every three to five years, and the remaining balance will be paid in full when the officer retires. The first payment is expected to be made three years from now.

To retain junior officers who make up the bulk of the yearly resignations, an additional benchmark has been introduced since 2005 to closely track their salaries in the first seven years of service. This means that their pay rise will be pegged to the market and move in tandem with any rise in the private sector.

The monthly salary range for all Timescale and Superscale officers has also been expanded to allow salary progression within and between grades, as well as for future adjustments.

Timescale as well as Senior Superscale officers will be paid the market adjustment rate to quickly close the salary gaps in between salary revisions. Their performance bonus will be paid in full in March each year, instead of the current practice of staggering it over three years.

About 295 legal officers will be affected by the latest changes, which come seven years after the last major revision.