Slaughter and May has increased its salary rates for its junior associates, with newly qualified (NQ) pay rising by £3,000.

The increases come alongside performance-related end-of-year bonuses, which the firm generally pays out to staff at this time of the year.

All associates from NQ through to one-and-a-half years' post-qualification experience (PQE) will see salary increases, with NQs seeing a boost from £80,000 to £83,000.

Pay for associates with six months' PQE is increasing by £2,000 to £86,000, with one year and one-and-a-half years' PQE pay both up £1,000, to £89,000 and £93,750 respectively.

The increases will take effect from January next year.

The firm is also paying associates achieving a "good or exceptional" level of performance a bonus ranging from 8.25% to 14.5% of salary, depending on their level of experience.

Meanwhile, other staff, including trainees, business services, professional support lawyers, secretaries and paralegals will receive a bonus of 3%.

This year's bonus rates are slightly lower than last year's, when the firm handed out end-of-year payouts of up to 16%.

In 2016, Slaughters ushered in a series of reforms to its pay and benefits. The changes saw the firm move away from performance-based pay, a decision that senior partner Steve Cooke said would "clearly differentiate" it from its competitors.

This summer, fellow magic circle firm Allen & Overy increased its NQ rates by 2.5% to £83,000, with Linklaters matching this figure a couple of months later. 

In August, Clifford Chance increased maximum pay for NQs – which includes what the firm describes as a "binary" performance-based bonus – by more than 4% to £91,000.