Employment Solicitors.

Employment law is the area of law that deals with the responsibilities of employers and the rights of employees. Under the umbrella of employment law, there are various forms of legal matters, which include: issues over employment contracts, dismissals and discrimination, amongst others.

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

There is a long list of things an employer must provide for their employees. Regardless of the size of the company, an employer must:

• Make the workplace safe
• Prevent health risks
• Ensure all equipment is safe to use
• Make sure that safe working practices are set up and followed
• Ensure all materials are handled, stored and used safely
• Provide adequate first aid facilities
• Inform you about any potential hazards associated with your job and provide you with information, instructions, training and supervision as needed
• Set up emergency plans
• Make sure that ventilation, temperature, lighting, toilet, washing and rest facilities all meet health, safety and welfare requirements
• Check that the right work equipment is provided and is properly used and regularly maintained
• Prevent or control exposure to substances that may damage an employees health
• Take precautions against the risks caused by flammable or explosive hazards, electrical equipment, noise and radiation
• Avoid potentially dangerous work involving manual handling (and if it can’t be avoided, take precautions to reduce the risk of injury)
• Provide health supervision as needed
• Provide protective clothing or equipment free of charge (if risks can’t be removed or adequately controlled by any other means)
• Ensure that the right warning signs are provided and looked after
• Report certain accidents, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences to either the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland or the local authority, depending on the type of business

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 needing to submit a claim to the Employment Tribunal hearing will cost in the region of £2,500 to £5,000 plus VAT. This is based on the approximate 8 to 16 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 the Employment Tribunal, you can expect to pay over £15,000 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 on the experience level of the chosen barrister.

The general rule is that the Employment Tribunal is a cost-neutral environment, so neither party is rarely made responsible for the other side’s costs. However, there are exceptions to this general rule.

Our solicitors charge £295 to £550 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. 

• 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 early conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
• Preparing to submit your claim or your response to a claim
• Reviewing and advising on a claim or response from the other party
• Exploring settlement and attempting to negotiate a 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

Depending on when your matter settles, not all stages may be applicable.

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

Cost Variables include:

• Whether the claim includes elements of discrimination and/or victimisation. This includes issues around whether the claimant has a disability and whether this is disputed by the defendant
• Whether whistleblowing is, or could have been the cause for dismissal
• Whether or not an application for costs is going to be made
• If there are complexities arising from Transfers of Undertakings (TUPE)
• 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 unless there are practical reasons why this is not possible.

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 period 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 preliminary case management hearing date within 26 weeks from when the claim commenced. The final hearing date is generally set at the preliminary case management hearing. The court is currently scheduling final hearings around 18 months are the preliminary case management hearing.