Employment Law For Employers

They should, because of the certainty that a written document provides. It is not essential, because there can be a contract between an employer and an employee even if terms are agreed orally, but we would advise all employers to issue well-conceived and well-drafted contracts to staff members.

Be aware of employees’ legal entitlement to a written statement of their main terms and conditions within two months of starting work.

This depends entirely on the sort of claim and on the stage it has reached. If our employment lawyers are involved early on - when you first become aware of a potential problem - we are often able to help sort it out by way of correspondence with the employee before it escalates. (It is the escalation of an issue that generally leads to cases becoming tricky and expensive to resolve.) Where early resolution does not work, we will continue to try and bring it to an end as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. Cases that do progress to a tribunal hearing can cost many thousands of pounds to bring or defend, and that is a cost that each party will usually bear themselves. But a tribunal is a place of last resort; our employment law solicitors do everything they can, including mediation, to avoid clients having to defend a case before a tribunal judge.

We take very seriously our responsibility to keep clients’ costs down. We do not send invoices that clients are not expecting. Instead, we will tell you at the outset how much we think a particular matter will cost to resolve, and you will have regular updates on the level that our fees have reached so that you can keep track of your finances. You might be interested in our employment protection insurance policy, C3, which can significantly reduce an employer’s financial risk. 

Yes. Our view, and this is borne out by our team’s successful track record in resolving issues between employers and employees, is that truly understanding an opponent’s position, and anticipating their next move, brings significant advantages to our clients.

This is so important. Employers rely on managers, and others in their organisation, to do and say the right thing in a wide range of situations. However, many managers are promoted to that position without having had any formal guidance - and that can significantly increase the employment law risks to which an employer is exposed.

Training is vital. Ask us about our programme of training events, or about providing some personalised employment law and HR training to your employees. Clients often hire us to address, through training, particular issues in their organisations or to update key people on relevant changes in the fast-moving world of employment law.

It is usually unlawful to not recruit a person because she is a woman, irrespective of the potential cost to your business if she were to take a period of maternity leave. A job applicant who was rejected on that basis could bring a discrimination claim.

Where there is an occupational requirement that someone is of a particular sex, that can be a defence to a claim.

Dismissal isn’t an inevitability. In some situations, employees who have been on long-term sick return to work and pick up where they left off. However, in others, a return to work looks unlikely.

There is no set rule or formula governing what an employer should do in the case of an employee on long-term sick. It depends on the circumstances, not least the condition from which the employee is suffering. If the employee is deemed to be disabled, additional employer obligations are triggered. But the law does recognise that employers cannot be expected to wait forever for a sick employee to return. The key in all these cases is to have good medical advice on the employee’s condition and prognosis, and good legal advice on your employment law obligations.