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If you run an organisation, whether it is a large corporation, SME, charity or owner-managed, a large part of your day-to-day work will be managing the workforce. You will want them to be happy, productive and positive, as this directly affects your reputation and your profitability. Therefore, it is important to stay on top of the employment law and its effects on your employees.
We can help you do just that, thanks to our specialist team of employment law solicitors and HR advisers. If staffing issues get tricky, we know exactly what to do, helping to minimise the impact on your business. However, what we really want to do is stop things from reaching this point in the first place.
What can our employment solicitors help with?
Through a process of open communication, we will keep you, your policies, handbooks, job descriptions and contracts current and relevant. We will advise you on all aspects of the employment relationship from interpreting contracts, guiding you through internal processes (eg, disciplinaries) and aspects arising on termination.
When disputes inevitably occur, our team is here to support you every step of the way. We are experienced in all types of employment disputes, from preparing a response to representing you at Employment Tribunals.
We have created retainer packages too, which give you a telephone helpline, and document health checks as standard, and can include extras like document drafting, face-to-face meetings and in-house training.
“Concerned about the cost of potential issues? So we provide access to a specialist insurance package that covers legal fees, expenses, and awards related to employment tribunal disputes.
Who do we help?
We advise organisations of all sizes, with particular experience in the following sectors:
- Healthcare – Our employment lawyers have a unique level of experience in the care sector and also understand the legal requirements on care providers which are subject to scrutiny by CQC. We provide pragmatic legal advice focused on making sure your policies and procedures comply with the regulations and protecting your service from other problems further down the line. We also have dedicated helplines available for information and advice. We offer toolkits for care homes to ensure they are complying with new Covid mandatory vaccination requirements.
- Charities & Social Enterprises
- Retail
- Manufacturing
Why choose our employment law solicitors?
We are experts in our field; combining significant employment law and HR expertise that is delivered to you in a practical and commercially-focused way.
We have high rankings in leading independent legal directories including The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, including a Top Tier ranking in The Legal 500 for Employment: Dorset and South Wiltshire.
How much does an employment tribunal cost?
You can find out more about our fees for employment tribunal claims on the employment tribunal claims page.
Our prices are competitive and depend very much on the circumstances and the work undertaken. For details of our rates, please contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some core legal protections only apply to employees, for example the right not to be unfairly dismissed, so it’s useful to know what an employee is.
- An employee is an individual who has entered into or works (or worked) under the terms of a contract of employment. The contract can be expressly agreed (in writing or orally) or implied by the nature of the relationship
To have employee status:
- An individual must be obliged to do the work personally (rather than being able to send a substitute)
- The employer needs to provide the work and the employee is obliged to accept the work
- The employer needs to have some control over the way the employee does the work
Workers are entitled to fewer statutory rights than employees, but do have some key legal rights, including:
- Protection from discrimination
- Protection against unlawful deduction from wages
- Entitlement to the national minimum wage
Just because you’re viewed as self-employed by HMRC for tax reasons it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be viewed like that for employment reasons, so it’s really important for you to know the terms of your employment. This really will affect your rights as:
- The self-employed enjoy no statutory employment rights (although they may be protected by discrimination law)
- An employer is responsible for deducting tax and national insurance at source (PAYE) from the salary paid to employees. Self-employed individuals are responsible for paying their own tax and national insurance under self-assessment
