Our employment team can advise you on all aspects of employment law, including:

• Employment Contracts – We can advise you about your rights and responsibilities under your employment contract, whether you are about to start work, negotiating a change to your contract or are having problems at work and want to know what your rights are under your contract.

• Company grievance and disciplinary procedures – If you are using your company procedures to complain about a problem at work or if you are facing disciplinary action we can advise you about how to approach this.

• Unfair Dismissal – If you believe that you have been dismissed from your employment unfairly then we can advise you about whether or not you have a valid claim. You can only usually claim unfair dismissal if you have been employed for a year or more unless you have been dismissed for an ‘automatically unfair’ reason. These include:-Trade union membership or duties, Whistle blowing, Health and Safety Issues, Exercising a Legal Right (for example, to a minimum wage, paid holiday, pregnancy or maternity leave, itemised pay statement or to a written statement of your terms and conditions of employment)

• Harassment and Bullying – If your employer or fellow employees are harassing or bullying you then we can advise you whether or not you have a valid Employment Tribunal Claim. It is also possible that you may be able to make a claim in the Civil Courts for harassment, which again is something about which we can advise you.

• Discrimination on grounds of sex, race, disability, beliefs sexual orientation or age – If you believe that you have been treated less favourably than other employees for any of the above reasons then you may have grounds to make a discrimination claim to the Employment Tribunal. It is important to remember that the less favourable treatment can occur at any stage of your employment, including the job application and interview as well as during your employment and even after it has ended.

• Compromise Agreements  - If you and your employer are able to reach a agreement to bring your employment to an end, this agreement is called a compromise agreement. This will set out the terms on which you agree to end your employment in return for which you agree to give up some or all of your legal rights against your employer. We are able to help you negotiate terms with your employer and advise you whether the agreement you have reached is fair. Your employers will usually pay your legal costs for seeking advice.

• Bringing Employment Tribunal Claims – We can help you to complete all of the forms required to bring an Employment Tribunal Claim and also guide you through all of the steps in the tribunal process, such as preparing statements, gathering evidence and preparing  for the final hearing. Claims very often settle before reaching a final hearing, but if they do not then we are very experienced in representing employees at hearings in the Employment Tribunal.
   

Time Limits

Time limits for bringing Employment Tribunal claims vary according to the type of claim that it is (see below for details) and are very strictly enforced. Therefore, you should telephone us to seek advice as soon as possible.