Employment Law Solicitors

The United Kingdom has one of the most regulated and legally complex employment markets in the world offering thorough protection to employees through national legislation. Our panel of specialist employment law solicitors give advice to employees and executives on how to deal with employment law issues in a fair, equitable and lawful manner. Recent changes in legislation have extended the arsenal which can be put to use by employees to ensure that they receive a fair deal from employers. Employment law solicitors offer advice on a wide range of matters including industrial relations, discrimination, harassment, unlawful dismissal, redundancy and employment rights and they deal with all classes of employees ranging from the most junior staff up to senior executives who have been unfairly treated. They also draft and advise upon restrictive covenants and compromise agreements which apply if an employer has offered an employee financial terms to preclude an application to the Employment Tribunal for damages.

Discrimination

Employment law solicitors can take advantage of extensive anti-discrimination legislation which makes it unlawful to discriminate against an employee or potential employee on the basis of a wide range of issues including sex, race, sexual preference, pregnancy, disability, religion and age. Discrimination can be either direct or indirect which may be simply a more subtle approach to a deliberate intention. Discrimination is still unlawful even if it was not intended.

Harassment

Harassment is unwanted conduct usually based on gender, race, sexual orientation or age which is unwanted and affects the dignity of men or women whilst at work. It does not matter that the behaviour was not intended to be offensive to the recipient, what counts is the effect that the behaviour actually had on the recipient. This behaviour can include unwelcome or hostile act or a series of acts and includes abusive language and jokes, offensive behaviour, name-calling, damage to property, offensive written or visual material including graffiti and vandalism. A slightly different form of harassment is victimisation which occurs when a person is treated less favourably than others due to seeking legal advice on employment matters. Harassment issues can be complex legal matters and if you have been a victim of this type of behaviour you should not hesitate to take advice from a qualified employment law solicitor.

Wrongful Dismissal

UK law classes wrongful dismissal in a number of categories including unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal. Both unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal amount to wrongful acts justifying an application for compensation or reinstatement. The doctrine of ‘constructive dismissal’ is often used by employment law solicitors, which occurs when an employee has no other realistic alternative than to terminate their own employment due to unlawful behaviour by the employer which entitles the employee to claim wrongful dismissal and seek compensation.

Redundancy

An employee may be entitled to redundancy pay if an employer decides that they no longer want that employees job to be done by anyone and terminates their employment. This can occur due to new technology, business recession, relocation, mergers or restructuring. There are strict regulations that an employer must follow to justify a redundancy situation. In certain circumstances a dishonest employer may use a sham redundancy as a method of terminating employment which is cheaper than other alternatives and this amounts to unlawful dismissal for which damages are payable.

Compromise Agreement

There may come a time when an employer and employee decide by mutual consent to terminate the employer/employee relationship and in doing so both may want a clean break with no possibility of further retribution in the future. In these cases both sides may consult employment law solicitors to draft a legally binding agreement called a compromise agreement whereby an employee accepts financial recompense in exchange for agreeing to certain contractual terms. The advantage of a compromise agreement which is effectively a deed of release is that it provides certainty for both parties and precludes the possibility of expensive court proceedings in the future. Many of these agreements are generous to the employee – some are not. Am employee cannot be forced to sign a compromise agreement if it isnt acceptable to the terminated empoylee who may thereafter resort to law by application for redress to the Employment Tribunal.