Our Employment Law Solicitors Promise

Your rights, vary depending on whether you’re classed as an employee or a worker. The difference between an employee and a worker is that an employee is an individual employed under a contract of employment. Whereas, a worker would usually have another form of contract such as a ‘contract for services’ or a ‘zero-hours contract’, which provides fewer employment rights than an employment contract.

Worker rights

• Written terms outlining your job rights and responsibilities
• National minimum wage
• Paid holiday
• Payslips
• Protection against unlawful discrimination
• Protection for ‘whistleblowing’
• Not being treated unfairly if you work part-time

Employee rights

All employees are workers, but an employee has additional employment rights and responsibilities, which include:

• Statutory sick pay
• Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave and pay leave and pay (workers only get pay, not leave).
• Minimum notice periods if their employment will be ending, for example, if an employer is dismissing them (workers don’t get this)
• Protection against unfair dismissal (workers don’t get this)
• The right to request flexible working (workers don’t get this)
• Time off for emergencies (workers don’t get this)
• Statutory redundancy pay (workers don’t get this)

What if I’m self-employed?

If you’re self-employed you have limited employment rights which include:

• Protection for your health and safety on a client’s premises
• Protection against discrimination

The price associated with your employment case depends on the type of employment matter you need legal assistance with.

When facing any employment matter, whether an employment dispute or drafting of a contract, our employment law solicitors will first need to arrange an untimed initial consultation. During your consultation, you’ll receive:

• Unlimited time to go through the details of your matter and ask any questions you may have.
• Clear overview of where you stand from a legal perspective and what your available options are.
• Upfront fee and time estimate for your case.

If your case is a matter regarding the employment tribunal (unfair/wrongful dismissal), please see our section on Employment tribunal: fees and work.

To contact one of our employment law solicitors, please contact us on 020 3007 5500.

When facing an employment dispute, it’s always best to seek help from a specialist employment law solicitor. Seeking help from a solicitor will ensure that you don’t make avoidable but costly mistakes in your case.

In employment cases, our solicitors always guarantee:

• You understand your legal standpoint and available options.
• Your case is handled by an experienced professional.
• You get the best possible resolution for your matter.
• Representation in the employment tribunal.

To contact one of our employment law solicitors, please contact us on 020 3007 5500.

A simple unfair/wrongful dismissal case that settles before any Employment Tribunal hearing occurs will cost in the region of £1,000 to £2,000 plus VAT. This is based on the approximate 3 to 8 hours of work it will take to settle your claim with your employer. Costs can increase with complexity and how long the case goes on for. If your case proceeds to Employment Tribunal, you can expect to pay over £10,000 plus VAT. We don’t offer fixed fees for unfair dismissal.

There may be additional fees payable, such as barrister fees and administration fees to create bundles and other paperwork. Barrister fees will vary based upon the experience level of the chosen barrister.

You typically won’t be responsible for paying for the other side’s costs if you lose at an Employment Tribunal.

Our solicitors charge £250 to £300 per hour, plus VAT depending on the seniority of who is working on your employment matter. Our average costs represent the work involved across the period it usually takes to either settle your case out of court or proceed to a full hearing.

The stages below are indicative of the work involved in bringing an unfair dismissal claim to court. Depending on when your matter settles, not all of the stages may be applicable.

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on a claim or response from the other party
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing on a bundle of documents
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
• Preparing bundle of documents
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
• Agreeing on a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

No two unfair dismissal cases are the same, and there are many factors that affect how much your case will cost.

Cost Variables Include

• The claim includes elements of discrimination
• Whistleblowing is, or could have been the cause for dismissal
• Whether or not an application for costs is going to be made
• Complexities arising from Transfers of Undertakings (TUPE)
• Issues around whether or not the claimant has a disability and whether this is disputed by the defendant
• The number of witnesses and documents involved in a case
• The involvement of any experts to verify evidence or a person’s condition

If the case proceeds to a hearing, an additional daily fee of £1,200 to £2,400 plus VAT will be applied for the solicitor in attendance, depending on the seniority of the solicitor.

There are currently no mandatory disbursements payable for Employment Tribunal cases. However, there may be additional fees incurred for travel and expert witnesses. If any additional disbursements are required, we will always consult with you first.

This depends on at which stage your case is resolved. For matters that are settled out of court during pre-claim conciliation, your case can take a matter of 4-8 weeks.

If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, this will depend on the Employment Tribunal’s availability. Typically HMCTS aims to list a hearing date within 26 weeks from when the claim commenced, but it can take more than one year for a hearing date to be available in exceptional circumstances.