Field Fisher gears up for a competency-based pay model and concludes its review of flexible working

Field Fisher Waterhouse will move away from paying its associates based on post-qualified experience (PQE) from the start of the new financial year.

The top 30 law firm is set to consult with all qualified lawyers below partner level in March about moving to competency-based pay from 1 May.

The move comes after the firm launched a career development framework in January last year, at a time when growing numbers of firms are looking at moving towards merit-based pay for associates, including Simmons & Simmons and Norton Rose.

Field Fisher's framework links fee earner career paths with five core competencies: business and firm management; client relationships; people and team management; personal effectiveness; and technical expertise.

Although fee earners have been appraised against the new system for a year, this will mark the first time that the framework has been brought together with pay scales. The firm is also drawing up plans to introduce a career framework for partners some time next year, although currently there is no specific timeline in place.

Charlie Keeling, Field Fisher's HR director, said: "Only the legal and medical professions in the UK still reward their staff on the basis of years of experience. We need to move to rewarding the development of core competencies, not length of service. It is time for the legal sector to embrace this change and I am delighted that Field Fisher is doing so."

Separately, Field Fisher has concluded a consultation into its policies surrounding flexible working in a bid to identify the barriers to flexible working facing its staff.

The firm will draw up a plan to present to partners at its March conference on the back of the consultation.