Employment law
Get advice on your employment rights and ways to solve problems at work.
Our employment law services
We offer a number of employment law services including, contracts of employment, compromise agreements, employment tribunal claims, employment litigation, redundancy, unfair dismissal, sex or race discrimination, and TUPE advice.
Our employment law team is:
Employment case process
The period of time from taking initial instructions to final resolution of the matter will depend on the stage at which the claim is resolved.
The mandatory pre-claim conciliation period may last for up to a maximum of one month and two weeks.
If settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation then the matter should be dealt with in that time frame.
If the claim proceeds to a Tribunal Hearing then the length of the process will depend upon the complexity of the claim, the availability of the relevant Tribunal to hear the claim and how many days the Tribunal Hearing is set for, as determined by the Tribunal.
Typically a more straightforward case may take up to six months and a more complex case may take up to nine or 12 months.
These time periods are indicative only and depend on the Employment Tribunal in question and its listing schedule.
We will discuss the timescale of the process with you as the matter progresses.
The ranges of fees set out below cover all work in relation to the following key stages of defending a straightforward unfair or wrongful dismissal claim.
We will:
1) Take initial instructions, review the papers and advise you on merits and the possible level of award against you if the claim succeeds.
2) Prepare the claim.
3) Review and advise on the other party’s response.
4) Prepare a schedule of loss.
5) Prepare for (but not attend) a Preliminary Hearing
6) Advise on the obligation to disclosure documents relevant to the claim.
7) Exchange documents with the other party and agree a bundle of documents.
8) Take witness statements, draft statements and agree their content with witnesses.
9) Prepare a bundle of documents
10) Review and advise on the other party’s witness statements.
11) Agree a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.
12) Prepare for the final Hearing including instructing counsel.
13) Explore settlement and negotiate settlement.
14) Prepare for any remedy hearing once liability has been established.
Prices
Most employment disputes can be settled outside of court or the employment tribunal.
Our pricing for filing and defending most cases are:
Simple case
£5,000 – £7,000 (+ 20% VAT)
Medium complexity case
£7,000 – £15,000 (+ 20% VAT)
High complexity case
£15,000 – £25,000 (+ 20% VAT)
Disbursements (not accounted for above)
Disbursements are expenses associated with your case that you must pay to third parties, including court costs.
Depending on experience, barristers’ fees for handling a case typically range from £850 to £2,500 (+ 20%VAT) a day for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation for the Hearing).
Factors that might further complicate the case include:
- Putting together a complex schedule of loss (a document that lists all losses that have been claimed).
- The quantity of documentation and witnesses.
- Claims relating to insolvency, TUPE, or collective bargaining.
- Discrimination claims connected to the dismissal.
- The number of Claimants or Respondents.
- Whether applications to amend claims or to provide more information regarding an existing claim must be made or defended.
- Making requests for witness orders.
- Requesting medical records or a medical report.
- Making or defending a costs application.
- Complex preliminary issues like the claimant’s disability (if this is not agreed upon by the parties).