Whether your business has a few members of staff or a significant workforce, it is not possible to ignore the increasing number of employment laws all employers must comply with today.

The RadcliffesLeBrasseur Employment Department advises a range of businesses from small start-up companies to large NHS Primary Care Trusts and charities. Our services range from HR support for day-to-day enquiries to full support and running of Employment Tribunal claims. We also have pensions and share-scheme specialists and assist in the employment issues arising in corporate transactions. Further details are set out below and a list of all our employment services can be found by clicking here. If you would like more information about our general corporate services then please click here.

Employment documents

All employees are entitled to receive a statement of the minimum terms of employment as prescribed by statute. An Employment Tribunal may award compensation to the employee if such terms are not provided. The statement of terms can form part of the employee’s contract of employment. The contract governs the terms between you and the employee. We review and draft contracts to include the minimum terms but also to provide employers with as much protection as possible, bearing in mind the type of business and the job the employee is appointed to do.

It is increasingly common for employers to have a staff handbook or a collection of policies and procedures to run alongside the employment contract. These documents provide further communication between the employer and employee and can be instrumental in dealing with matters such as complaints of bullying and harassment, discrimination, or the employer’s position on health and safety, data protection or use of the email and internet at work. We can provide such policies if you do not already have them or we can review your existing policies to ensure they comply with any changes in the law and to reflect current best practice.

All employers are obliged to have and follow a minimum disciplinary and grievance procedure. Failure to do so can have financial implications in the event a successful claim is made by an employee in the Employment Tribunal. We can advise you on the basic requirements but also include additional terms to help you retain tighter control over such proceedings.

Contracts and sometimes policies and procedures form the basis of the relationship between you and your employees. Whilst they are therefore important at the start of the employment relationship, they will also be scrutinised at its termination. This will be of particular relevance to senior employees or executives from whom you may want to protect your business interests and so include restrictive covenants, garden leave or pay in lieu of notice clauses.

Workplace disputes or potential disputes

A disgruntled employee can cost your business financially but also in terms of the time spent in dealing with complaints or claims and the affect this has on other members of staff. Our main aim when providing advice in dealing with these issues is to help our clients deal with complaints swiftly and fairly and to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation. However, sometimes litigation is unavoidable and so we always advise you on the steps you can take to be in the best possible position in the event the employee does pursue his/her complaint in the Employment Tribunal.

We guide our clients through the complaints procedure, ensuring that the compulsory statutory grievance procedure is complied with where appropriate. We advise HR personnel overseeing the complaint and/or the line manager or senior member of staff hearing the complaint. Our team is sensitive to the stressful nature of these circumstances and the speed at which advice is required.

We have assisted our clients where mediation with an employee with a complaint has been desirable and we advise our clients on the alternative options to resolve the grievance. We are also well known for our workshops which train line managers to spot and deal with grievances but also how to avoid them arising in the first place.

Click here to download our flowchart setting out the stages of the statutory grievance procedure which must be considered when an employee makes a written complaint.

Termination of employment

There may be a number of reasons why an employer wants to terminate the services of one or several of its employees. However, the law states that there are only six potentially fair reasons for termination. In addition the dismissal must be dealt with in accordance with the statutory dismissal procedure and be fair and reasonable in the circumstances. A failure to comply with these requirements could lead to successful claims by the employee in the Employment Tribunal.

Enquiries from our clients about handling dismissals occur daily. We assist clients through this minefield and advise them on their obligations whether the dismissal be for: redundancy; conduct; capability; retirement; legal requirement; or some other substantial reason.

Click here to download our flowchart setting out the stages of the statutory dismissal procedure which must be considered when an employee is being dismissed.

A termination may be particularly sensitive if the employee is a senior executive. Often there are contractual issues to consider as well as ensuring the business is protected following the executive’s departure. We provide advice on severance packages including tax issues, compromise agreements and the enforceability of restrictive covenants.

Legal proceedings

Employment Tribunal claims by former or existing employees have steadily increased in recent years, perhaps not surprisingly with the additional rights now attributed to employees and workers. Our team has litigation specialists who have vast experience of the UK’s Employment Tribunals. If you are faced with a Tribunal claim, our team will be able to assist you from the outset in submitting your defence right through to a Tribunal hearing, should the case proceed that far. However, our approach is always a commercial one and from the start of our involvement we will discuss with you the likelihood of the success of the claim, the estimated cost of the proceedings and whether or not settlement of the claim is an option. We keep all of these factors in mind and discuss them with you throughout the course of any litigation. We are often involved in the successful mediation and/or settlement of such claims where such an outcome has been desirable for our clients.

Sometimes employers are themselves forced to consider instigating legal proceedings, for example to enforce a restrictive covenant in the employment contract of a former employee or where the employer believes an employee is responsible for misappropriating funds. We are experienced in acting for businesses in these situations. We advise clients on the type of claim that may be brought and where appropriate will issue proceedings in the civil Courts. Such proceedings are often injunctive and must be made without delay and at short notice. Our team is adept at dealing with these often stressful and fast-moving situations.

Corporate transactions

Our employment team works closely with the Firm’s corporate department where employees are involved in the sale or transfer of a business. The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employees) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) apply in asset transfers and out-sourcing deals and have implications for both sides of the transaction. We guide our clients through this complex legislation. We apply our employment expertise to due diligence reports and disclosure letters and negotiate warranties and indemnities - at all times bearing in mind the commercial aspects of the transaction and our client’s appetite for risk and requirements. Where necessary we utilise our pension, share-scheme and tax specialists who work seamlessly with us to provide a comprehensive service.

Training, seminars and workshops and publications

We offer a vast and evolving programme of workshops and seminars looking at changes to employment law but which also offer practical advice and case studies for candidates to consider. The workshops can be targeted to HR professionals, line-managers or anyone else who may be involved in the business. They can be held at our offices or at your premises to suit you. Our workshops have become increasingly successful over the years and are extremely popular with existing and new clients alike. For a full list of our existing workshop programmes please click here. If you would like to discuss a bespoke course then please contact Sejal Raja on sejal.raja@rlb-law.com. If you would like to be added to our invitation list for details of forthcoming programmes then please contact Julia Worton on julia.worton@rlb-law.com.

We also keep in touch with our clients on a regular basis providing them with an employment law update and email alerts when an important change occurs or there is a development in the law, which we want to make our clients aware of as soon as possible. Click here to see previous updates and to add your details to our mailing list if you would like to receive these updates in the future.

Examples of work undertaken includes:

Providing corporate support to a client, Folli Follie on the purchase of Links of London at € 45 million.
Obtaining an injunction on behalf of a client to prevent one of its employees entering the organisation’s premises.
Acting for a University defending a claim made by a student on placement that he was discriminated against because of the requirement that he be chaperoned when carrying out intimate procedures on female procedures when there was no such requirement for female colleagues.
Advising an insurance company on a large-scale redundancy programme and varying the terms and conditions of employment throughout the group.
Dealing with all TUPE aspects on the £50m sale of a hotel business.
Seeking an injunction to freeze the assts of an employee who had stolen money from our client.
Advising a University through a period of strike action taken by lecturers.
Guiding a University through a complex redundancy programme involving the potential loss of a quarter of the workforce and advising on the statutory consultation process and involvement of Trade Unions.
Advising on and preparing documentation relating to the merger of two pension schemes.
Advising trustees of a pension scheme on the potential claims against the employer funding the scheme.
Providing a client with a step-by-step procedure for dealing with the closure of an entire factory where work was being transferred to Germany, including statutory consultation for all employees.
Drafting new contracts of employment for three levels of staff and up-dating policies and procedures for a telecoms company following a merger of two companies several years previously. Guiding the client through the consultation and procedures required to implement the new terms and conditions.
Advising an American and Canadian companies on their employment law obligations on the purchase of a UK company.

To instruct a member of our team or for more information please contact Michael Elks (michael.elks@rlb-law.com), Sejal Raja (sejal.raja@rlb-law.com) or Michael Farrelly (michael.farrelly@rlb-law.com) or telephone 020 7222 7040.