Expert employment solicitors advise employers on the full range of employment law issues including: redundancy, settlement agreements, tribunals and discrimination cases

Whether you run a business or work within one, employment law is evolving rapidly and affects us all.

Our employment team works as trusted advisors to owner managed/family businesses, entrepreneurs, SMEs and individuals throughout Hertfordshire and the rest of the UK. We help you navigate the complexities of employment law and minimise commercial risk; whether by taking defensive action to avoid time consuming and costly court disputes, or by offensive action to protect business connections or confidential data.

When complications arise, we take a commercial and creative approach to protect your reputation and avoid lengthy and costly disputes.

We help individuals, particularly at senior/board level, to negotiate favourable terms before starting a new role, or achieving a swift and fair outcome to any workplace dispute, including exit agreements.

Whatever your needs, short court time limits and commercial realities dictate the pace of our work. Time is almost always of the essence, and our team’s focus is on delivering excellent advice quickly with the aim of achieving fast and pragmatic solutions.

Herts CIPD

Our employment lawyers have in recent years been pleased to present at some Herts CIPD webinars and events, including at their annual employment law update. In these sessions we offer practical advice to HR professionals and businesses across Hertfordshire from a variety of industries and sectors.

Employment Tribunal and Court Representation 

Whilst a swift and amicable settlement to any employment dispute is always desirable, sometimes this is not possible. An employee and employer may not see eye to eye regarding the fairness of the dismissal or redundancy, or one party may be making unreasonable financial demands of the other. A departing employee may fail to respond to solicitor letters about the return of confidential information or an alleged breach of their post-termination restrictive covenants.

Although we work hard to resolve disputes as quickly and as cost effectively as possible, we are highly experienced to handle claims in the Employment Tribunal and the High Court where necessary, employing specialist barristers. The key to success can often be choosing a barrister who has a particular and niche expertise in our client’s sector or in the area of law which is relevant to the case.

There are strict time limits in the Employment Tribunal for bringing proceedings, or a claim will be barred. For example, a claim for unfair dismissal must usually be brought no later than three months from the date of dismissal. However, there are some complexities and exceptions; it is mandatory to approach ACAS to conciliate prior to issuing proceedings, and this can affect time limits. It is vital to consult a lawyer at an early stage to ensure that you do not fall foul of these strict rules.

Time limits in the civil courts, including the High Court, are much more generous, but claims to enforce restrictive covenants can fail as a result of delays of even a matter of weeks, and so again action needs to be taken quickly.

Redundancy and Restructuring 

Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal provided that a fair procedure is followed which includes adequate consultation with the employees affected. Redundancies may arise for various reasons and not necessarily as a result of a downturn in business. A growing company may decide to restructure its organisation resulting in changes to its staff requirements.

Careful consideration needs to be given to:

• the selection employees to be made redundant
• the procedural steps to be taken
• special rules for large scale redundancy procedures
• the extent of consultation
• the ground to be covered at meetings
• the alternatives to redundancy
• the formulation of redundancy packages and negotiating these with employee
• the use of settlement agreements to protect the employer from the risk of claims.

Our experience is wide-ranging and includes advising on a redundancy programme in the oil industry through to dealing with redundancies arising from changes in arrangements for delivery of services to residents of a care home. We focus on practical solutions so that business reorganisations and redundancies can be dealt with as harmoniously as possible.

Senior Executives

Senior executives and board directors have a unique suite of issues which apply to both hiring and exiting.

Upon hiring, both employer and employee will need to consider complex provisions such as how to structure bonuses to include claw backs and other incentive schemes such as EMI share schemes. Contracts should normally refer to fiduciary duties towards the employer, which go beyond the normal employee duties of fidelity. Termination, garden leave and post- termination restrictions are all the more important at this level and need careful drafting and negotiation.

Where a dispute arises, the stakes can be high. Often, when an employer or a senior executive has decided that it is time to part company, a swift and amicable separation is desirable and achievable.

We can advise on the more complex provisions which need to be considered in a settlement agreement but, where agreement cannot be reached, we can help our clients to bring or defend court claims involving unpaid bonuses, unlawful termination, discrimination/whistleblowing, breach of fiduciary duty and related shareholder disputes.

Settlement Agreements 

When an employment relationship terminates, it is crucial that both employer and employee are aware of their legal rights and obligations. Settlement agreements can be used in a wide variety of situations to terminate the employment relationship and will normally require the employee to waive all possible claims against the employer in exchange for an enhanced financial package. Initial discussions relating to the offer of a settlement agreement will usually be inadmissible in any later court proceedings as long as the employer complies with minimum legal requirements.

To be legally enforceable a settlement agreement must require the employee to obtain independent legal advice on its terms.

We work with employers and employees on all aspects of the settlement agreement process including the initial offer stage, drafting the settlement agreement and advising upon the terms. Where negotiation on the terms of a settlement agreement is required, we can deal with the negotiations on your behalf to ensure a fair settlement is reached.

If you are an employer planning on making large scale redundancies, our settlement agreement advisory service will make the restructuring process quicker and easier for you and your exiting employees.

When you carry out mass redundancies you can offer settlement agreement terms but this can involve a great deal of negotiation with each employee and their legal representatives – burdening your HR team and slowing down the process. That’s where our settlement agreement advisory service comes in. Our employment law specialists will work with you and your employees to reduce the administration and costs associated with your large-scale restructuring, and help you retain the goodwill of employees exiting your company.

We have advised on large scale settlement agreements for employees of large companies across Hertfordshire, Essex and the Thames Valley involving groups of 10-150+ employees. Find out more about how our settlement agreement advisory service can help you and your business.

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