From time to time every business will be in need of sound, honest employment law advice.
It’s our intention to help keep you on the right side of the law, for example, by making sure you have up to date contracts of employment and appropriate policies and procedures for managing your staff. As part of our HR services, we will help you deal with tricky matters such as employee disputes, dismissals, redundancies, and the TUPE transfer of staff in or out of your business.
In addition, whilst all our HR Business Partners are qualified and experienced HR Professionals, we are pleased to be able to offer you access to additional legal expertise. Whether you are a current client or new to our service, we can be on hand to help if there comes a time when a disgruntled employee threatens to sue you or you get a call from the ACAS early conciliation team to notify you that an Employment Tribunal claim is in the pipelines. If you find yourself in a spot, Kate, our legal expert, can help you.
Defending a claim can be time consuming, stressful and expensive. We can do most of the hard work for you and reduce the stress and costs to you. Kate will assess the claim against you and the risk to your business and give you honest, straightforward advice. She will work with you to defend the claim and minimise the impact on you and your business. Wherever possible, she will work to an agreed fixed fee structure that will enable you to control your costs.
ACAS
In most cases, the claimant must go to ACAS before bringing their claim in the Employment Tribunal (ET). ACAS are an independent body and provide up to 6 weeks of early conciliation (EC) to help the parties find a resolution.
ET1
If there is no resolution after EC, the claimant files an ET1 claim form setting out their complaint. In most cases, the claimant must do this within 3 months of the act complained of – but this deadline may be extended.
ET3 & CMO
The ET1 is sent to the respondent who has 28 days to file their ET3 response form setting out their defence.
CMO
The ET will set case management orders (CMO) to help the parties prepare for hearing. In more complex cases, the parties may be required to attend a hearing to discuss the issues in the complaint, decide any preliminary matters and set the CMO.
Disclosure
The claimant should prepare a schedule setting out the losses they are claiming and disclose related documents. Both parties must disclose documents relevant to the claimant's complaint – including documents that might support or adversely affect their case. The respondent will usually be tasked with preparing a joint bundle of documents to be used in the final hearing.
Witnesses
Anyone who is going to give evidence in the final case must have a witness statement setting out what they will say. The parties must usually exchange their witness statements simultaneously.
Hearing
The bundle of documents and witness statements must be sent to the ET, along with any other information ordered by the ET, before the final hearing. The parties will each have time to present their case and to question each other's witnesses. The ET will identify the key facts and apply the law to reach a fair conclusion.
For an illustration of the fixed fee, click here.
Our commitment to you:
- We won’t pass your work down to a junior member of staff or someone who is not fully qualified. You can be assured that all of the work undertaken on your behalf will be carried out by Kate who is a former solicitor with many years specialist employment law experience.
- We won’t leave you in the dark, wondering what is happening with your claim. At the start of your case, Kate will explain the stages involved and time scales for action so that you know what to expect. She will provide you with regular updates throughout your case so that you know what is happening at each stage.
- We won’t leave you hanging! We don’t want you worrying. If you want to talk about your case, you can call Kate and she’ll talk through your questions.
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Personnel for Employment Law