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All business owners want to avoid grievances, claims against unfair redundancy, unfair dismissal, discrimination and the worst case scenario a case at an employment tribunal. However, even best practice employers will inevitably experience some of these issues with their staff at some point. In the last decade there has been an increase in publicity around these types of cases and the number of claim bought against employers. You will naturally be concerned about the wider impact of such claims and will want to limits these as far as possible. Handling these issues correctly is vital in order to protect the morale within your organisations and public perception, whilst simultaneously limiting the costs in terms of settlements and compensation claims.
Effective representation and defence means that you are much more likely to mitigate the costs and risks to your wider business. Few business owners, will have ever attended an employment tribunal, and will be unprepared for the procedure and the preparation required to ensure a thoroughly prepared defence. We have an excellent track recording in defending employers in numerous sectors call us on 01616 966 229 to find out more about how we can assist.
As part of our packages we are happy to provide insurance cover so that in the event a claim is raised against your company, you have certainty in terms of ensuring your legal costs are covered. Such insurance policies would also cover the costs of any compensation in the event you are unsuccessful with a claim. For further details about our fixed price HR packages, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01616 966 229.
Whilst best practice will help to limit the need for disciplinaries and dealing with grievances, there will come a time when, as the business grows, when action will need to be taken against staff and complaints may be raised by staff about their concerns.
We can provide help and support as part of our packages or separately on an hourly rate or fixed fee in terms of guiding you through the relevant disciplinary or grievance process. Should you require, we can also act as the chair of any meeting in the event you do not have appropriate staff to deal with these matters at a fixed rate.
It is important that when undertaking any disciplinary or grievance process, a reasonable process is followed which involves suitable consultation with the member of staff involved. We can assist in drafting all documentation and providing guidance for those meetings, whether through your staff members or for us to act directly.
If this is something you require further advice on, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01616 966 229.
You may be considering re-structuring parts of the business or undertaking a redundancy exercise. In such situations it is important that you comply with your obligations from a legal perspective in terms of following a fair process and ensuring that the business rationale is suitably communicated to all staff involved.
This is often a process that takes many weeks, if not months, and therefore before embarking on this process it is recommended that you take legal advice regarding the options available to you to plan and map that process. At Stephensons we can assist you with this and provide you with certainty on your options and the costs involved in doing this.
If you wish to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01616 966 229.
Employee exits are often necessary in all types of businesses. Whether this relates to issues such as poor performance, ill-health or due to a commercial need to restructure the business, inevitably arranging employees to exit a business is sometimes the only viable option.
This can be complex whether this is simply for one particular individual’s exit or when dealing with multiple exits, i.e. through a redundancy situation. It is important in these situations that you seek legal advice on any HR and employment law issues arising from those exits to understand your legal position and to consider the tactics to be implemented in order to achieve your objectives whilst staying on the right side of the law.
Here at Stephensons we can provide you with expert advice in relation to employee exits, whether this be through settlement agreements and termination packages, dealing with protected conversations or providing advice on managing performance and capability.
In order to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01616 966 229.
In the event that a tribunal claim is raised against you, we are able to help you defend that claim and seek a resolution.
We can help defend those claims as part of our existing packages under which you would have the certainty of your costs being covered, or on a privately paid basis.
We will be happy to give you advice as to the strength of that defence right from the outset and give you advice on the options moving forward with that claim.
We will give you clear advice and inform you of the options available to you but will act on your instructions - whether this is to fight the claim or to engage with the opponent in an attempt to reach an early resolution.
We will give you a clear indication about the level of costs you are likely to incur from the outset and also clarity on any risks and cost consequences you face in defending the claim. Our success rate in defending and resolving claims is very high and we provide an excellent service, aiming to take the stress out of the process leaving you free to concentrate on your other priorities.
If you have any questions about defence to employment tribunals or you wish to discuss this with us further, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01616 966 229.
Mary Jarrett shares her experience of using the Workplace Plus package and working with the HR and employment law team at Stephensons.
Head of Employment Law Philip Richardson explains what is included in Workplace Plus, the benefits of having a fixed price employment and HR support package like Workplace Plus to rely on and the cost of the package.
"They've been amazing. Everything is so easy. I have a question, I can make a phone call or send an email and it doesn't matter when I do this, I'm always going to get a prompt response. It's taken away some of the worry actually from trying to ensure that I always get it right."
Mary Jarrett
"Right from the outset, we'll go and visit a client at their premises to understand the client's needs and what we'll focus upon is undertaking a full audit of the company's HR and employment products. So for instance, we will draft any documentation or take them through a disciplinary or grievance procedure for instance."
Philip Richardson - Head of Employment Law
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What do I need to consider when offering an employee a settlement agreement?
Settlement agreements can bring an end to any claims from an employee such as, claims for unfair dismissal or discrimination arising out of the employee’s employment or termination. If executed properly settlement agreements...
Settlement agreements, which used to be known as compromise agreements, are legally binding documents which can be used by both the employee and employer to resolve a dispute or end employment. Settlement agreements are covered in the Employment Rights...
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