Pinsent introduces bonus plan for trainees

Pinsent Masons has shunned the economic downturn by launching the first-ever bonus scheme for trainees, with candidates standing to make a possible £5,000 upon qualification.

Pinsent Masons has shunned the economic downturn by launching the first-ever bonus scheme for trainees, with candidates standing to make a possible £5,000 upon qualification.

The bonus will be awarded to trainees who log more than 2,000 hours of work in one year, with this figure also including time spent in internal training or marketing initiatives.

Pinsents HR chief Jonathan Bond said the depressed economic climate had not been a factor in developing the bonus scheme.

"It's a way of rewarding the highest-performing trainees. We don't look at what the other firms do - we look at the right things to do for us," he said.

Pinsents' trainee retention rate has fallen from 87.5 per cent in 2005 to 75 per cent last September, but Mr Bond maintained the bonus was not a retention tool but rather a way of giving trainees a share in the business.