Legal officer pay

Overview

The following outlines the key components of legal officer pay for the Government of Alberta. Unless specified otherwise, legal officer pay is subject to overall Government of Alberta pay policies.

Application

The legal officer Pay Policy applies to legal officers who provide advice to the Government of Alberta through their employment with Justice requiring membership in the Law Society of Alberta.

Application of legal pay to Non-Justice Legal Counsel positions who provide legal services and advice to the Government of Alberta and require membership in the Law Society of Alberta is on a position by position basis, as approved by the Public Service Commissioner.

Classification

Legal officer positions are classified as follows:

• Legal Counsel 1 – Legal Counsel (Opted Out and Excluded)
• Justice Legal Counsel 2 or Non-Justice Legal Counsel 2 – Manager, Zone 2
• Justice Legal Counsel 3 or Non-Justice Legal Counsel 3 – Senior Manager, Zone 1
• Justice Legal Counsel 4 or Non-Justice Legal Counsel 4 – Senior Manager, Zone 2
• Justice Legal Counsel 5 – Senior Manager, Zone 2
• Justice Legal Counsel 6 (Legal, Executive Director) – Executive Manager 1
• Justice Legal Counsel 7 (Legal Chief, Legislative Counsel) or ADM Justice Legal Counsel 8 (Legal, Assistant Deputy Minister) – Executive Manager 2

Base pay

Treasury Board has approved salary maximums for legal officer work within Justice. Recommendations on salary ranges are developed jointly by the ministry and Public Service Commission.

Salary ranges for legal officers are adjusted by the amount of any general increase applied to opted out and excluded and/or management classifications.

Table 1. Legal officer compensation (effective January 1, 2023)

¹ Executive Manager 1 salary range inclusive of 20% salary modifier
² Executive Manager 2 salary range inclusive of 6% salary modifier

Anniversary date

April 1 is the anniversary date for all legal officer positions.

In-range/merit adjustments

Government of Alberta policy applies. A deputy head may adjust the salary of a management or opted out and excluded employee, on their anniversary date based on an assessment of satisfactory performance as outlined in the salary adjustments directive.

Promotion

Government of Alberta policy applies. An employee appointed to a position assigned a classification with a higher maximum salary will be paid within the new salary range according to factors outlined in the salary determination directive, effective the date of promotion.

Salary anomaly

Government of Alberta policy applies. An in-range salary adjustment for a management or opted out and excluded employee may be approved when a salary anomaly is identified as outlined in the salary adjustments directive.

Benefits

Employees receive the same benefits as provided to other management or opted out and excluded employees.