Employers

If you have received, or are about to receive, an Employment Tribunal claim, I can deal with the claim on your behalf from start to finish, including all advocacy at the hearing, and covering all categories of cases - e.g. unfair dismissal, discrimination, unlawful deductions etc.

If you have a need to reduce employee numbers whether it be by one or several thousand, I can provide advice on the procedures to be followed, and can provide all of the necessary documentation.  For example, I provided all the legal advice to Vauxhall Motors Ltd regarding the closure of its Luton Plant, which involved the loss of around 3,000 jobs.

In the workplace employers often find it very difficult to deal with disciplinary matters, but I can provide you with step-by-step help to take you through any disciplinary process.  I can also draft the procedures themselves, and draft warning and dismissal letters in relation to conduct, capability and other dismissals.

Employee sickness and disability often prove to be the most difficult of problems that employers have to deal with.  As usual, the best starting point is to have appropriate procedures, which I can draft, covering long term and intermittent absences, and also placement procedures to enable employers to deal with disabled employees in compliance with the Equality Act.

I can then provide ongoing advice with a view to helping the employer either bring the employee back to work, or to dismiss, depending on the circumstances.

Before getting to the point of dismissal, often the most appropriate means of terminating the relationship between employer and employee is to negotiate a Settlement Agreement.  I will advise clients on the strategy to adopt when going down this route, and then I will draft and negotiate the agreement.

If you take over another business, or replace an outgoing contractor in the provision of services to a customer, TUPE is likely to apply, which requires consultation with employees, the provision of employee liability information, and a structure under which the transfer has to take place.  This is often a minefield for employers, and one which I will guide you through from start to finish, ensuring compliance with all relevant Regulations.  

For many companies the best way of avoiding employment disputes is to provide regular structured opportunities for consulting employees and receiving their feedback on issues ranging from those personal to one employee, to those which affect the workforce as a whole. 

Many multinational companies have set up European Works Councils in order to provide a structure for transnational consultation.  I have drafted and negotiated a number of such works council agreements - for example I provided all the drafting and legal advice, as well as participating in the negotiations, relating to the creation of the GM European Works Councils, and more recently provided all of the legal advice in the creation of the European Works Council for the SSP group.

When you recruit any new employee you are obliged to provide them with a statement of certain terms of their employment.  This is another administrative matter to be dealt with, but is vital as the contract is the basis of the employment relationship between employee and employer.  If a written contract is not provided, it could be left to Employment Tribunal to decide what terms should be implied into the contract, and so it is always preferable to ensure that all contractual terms are understood by both parties at the beginning of the relationship.  I will provide such contracts for hourly and management employees including at director level.

If you have ever suffered industrial action, you will know how destructive it can be.  The legislation governing industrial action is complex, but I will be able to guide you through this complexity, and will engage with the relevant trade unions in order to ensure compliance with the legislation, and at the same time to try to avoid the industrial action being threatened.  

I have spent most of my working life advising employers with a significant trade union presence, and so I can provide advice on the laws affecting an employer’s relationship with trade unions, including the recognition procedure, and the drafting and negotiation of collective agreements.

Although employment lawyers might have jumped for joy when the Working Time Regulations were introduced in 1998, they have been the cause of severe headaches for employers ever since.  The Regulations affect all employers as they cover maximum weekly working hours, rest breaks, weekly breaks, and, most importantly, employees’ rights to annual leave, and when that rubs up against a long period of sickness absence, the fun starts.

I will advise on all aspects of the Regulations, ensuring that your employees are treated according to their rights, and that you stay out of the courts!

If an employee becomes pregnant or seeks one of the various kinds of leave that are available to new parents, I will be able to help you by explaining the employees’ rights in these situations, and by advising on the appropriate responses to ensure that you do not deny an employee their rights, at the same time you ensuring that the needs of the business are protected as far as possible.

All employers must comply with the data protection laws, and there are specific requirements in relation to employee data. I will advise on all of those requirements, which is likely to be only once, because once an appropriate structure is in place, everything should run smoothly.

I provide email updates free of charge as new laws, cases and developments arise, and give presentations to clients on the content and effects of the new laws generally, and how they will affect that particular client. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

As a sole practitioner I provide consistent care and attention to my clients, and am able to gain the fullest possible understanding of the client’s employment law needs. I am always available by phone, mobile phone, email and to visit the client whenever I am called upon.