Law firm Osborne Clarke is to begin reimbursing employees for salary reductions implemented as a result of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
From 1 June 2020, employees earning above £30,000 per annum have been subject to a 7% reduction in salary. The reduction was capped at £30,000 per annum, meaning employees who would have earned less than this following the 7% reduction received a higher proportion of their salary.
Following better-than-expected H1 results, the organisation will reimburse affected employees for the reduction in salary for the period June to October 2020 with a one-off payment in December.
Osborne Clarke will review the pay reduction again against Q3 results. If figures permit, it will reimburse staff for the remainder of the balance and restore employees to their former salary levels going forward.
In addition, the organisation has deferred 2019/2020 performance bonuses until July 2021. It is planning to hold a pay review as usual for 2020/2021, although will not do so retrospectively for 2019/2020.
A spokesperson for Osborne Clarke said: “From the start of the Coronavirus crisis, our top priority has been to protect our people, ensure the long-term sustainability of our business and support our clients. Earlier in the year, we promised to review a number of actions we’d taken related to pay due to the pandemic.
“We’ve demanded a lot of our people since the start of the first lockdown in March, and their hard work and sacrifices have driven our performance. We would like to thank all our people for continuing to work so hard both for our business and our clients during this time.”