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I work at a mid-size boutique and will be lateraling out soon. I have heard from other associates who left the firm that the firm is somewhat known to try to skimp out on the last month's pay for associates who will be leaving. For example, whereas associates all have base salary raises starting in January, for associates who left in late January, their last paycheck didn't reflect the annual raise (effectively, a few thousand dollars short). Is there any recourse in a situation like that? Or is the firm entitled to do that (i.e., not give you a raise in your last month before you leave, that it gives everyone else in good standing who is not leaving)?

I don't know if they are entitled to do it, but it seems the more important question would be, if they did do it, would it be worth fighting over? It's like the clawback question that gets asked a hundred times - conventional wisdom around here seems to be that many firms don't pursue clawbacks even when they are written into the contract. I suppose you could raise the issue with HR but I don't know that I personally would fight much more than that given how small the legal world is and the amount they would be shorting you.

I don't do employment law, but: I think it is OK if they deny your annual raise and/or reduce your pay when you give notice, but they cannot reduce your pay without telling you and/or make the pay reduction retroactive.

Typically when your salary goes up you get an email from HR stating your new salary in writing (I've gotten this every year at three different law firms). If you received such a communication, and your paycheck does not reflect your increased salary, you should absolutely reach out to HR and they'll probably pay you what you're owed.

Seems to me the question is are they reducing pay after formally increasing it? Or just denying you the annual promotion you expected. If the latter, not sure there's much you can do about it. It does seem shortsighted to me if they want people to leave on good terms and give notice.

bretby wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 04, 2022 1:41 pm

I don't know if they are entitled to do it, but it seems the more important question would be, if they did do it, would it be worth fighting over? It's like the clawback question that gets asked a hundred times - conventional wisdom around here seems to be that many firms don't pursue clawbacks even when they are written into the contract. I suppose you could raise the issue with HR but I don't know that I personally would fight much more than that given how small the legal world is and the amount they would be shorting you.

I'm not sure why it wouldn't be worth "fighting over," though I would not call it "fighting", but rather just "raising" or "asking about". Yes, the legal world is small, but a few thousand dollars is more meaningful for an individual associate than a firm. The fact that the legal world is small doesn't seem like a reason not to follow up about salary concerns so long as it's reasonable. (If the concern is that you come across as cheap, that sounds like a bad reason not to follow up.)

Sorry if I wasn’t clear. OP should raise it of course, but if it were me, if I got any pushback, I would drop the issue rather than dig in. I’d be pissed about it, but I wouldn’t raise much of a fuss.