Employment Law

Employees are the lifeblood of every successful business. Our employment experts can help you manage the legal side of the relationship with everyone on your team. We can also provide cost-effective, practical and commercial advice around their ongoing management.

Employment law issues have a habit of becoming costly, time-consuming and stressful if you don’t handle them quickly. But you'll be moving in the right direction if you first get proper advice. Having the right documentation in place can help you to manage risk, allow you to concentrate on your core business and protect your investment. All giving you peace of mind.

Our specialist employment lawyers can advise on individual issues or work with you on a retainer basis. For many of our clients, we're an external resource that's virtually in-house.

In the press

TES Magazine

With new law coming in to strengthen worker protection against sexual harassment, TW's Emma Thompson outlines what schools and trusts should be doing to prepare.
New law on sexual harassment: what schools need to know | Tes

TW's Emma Thompson explains why Labour’s proposed tax plans have got private schools considering their options on staff pay – but the law is clear on what actions they can and cannot take
General election: Labour's private school tax plans and the law | Tes

HR Magazine

Interim CEO unfairly dismissed after whistleblowing

Why HR needs to know about the new law on tips

How is holiday pay changing?

The Telegraph

Private schools mass redundancies

Private schools tell parents paying fees in advance 'won't protect you from Labour'

Labour risks union revolt over private school tax raid job losses

Other features

Private schools mass redundancies

Costs

Our expert employment lawyers charge an hourly rate for all work that they undertake. The hourly rates of our employment lawyers range from £240 plus VAT to £390 plus VAT.

As a general guide, our pricing for bringing and defending Employment Tribunal claims (for wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing etc.) are:
Simple case: between £5000 and £12,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements)
Medium complexity case: £12,000 and £18,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements)
High complexity case: between £18,000 and £30,000 (excluding VAT and disbursements).

It is difficult to give an accurate estimate of the total amount of fees you are likely to incur in Employment Tribunal proceedings as each case is assessed on its own facts. We will be able to give you a more accurate estimate once we have further information on your proposed claim and we will update this as the matter progresses.

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
• Making or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing (charged at 7 hours of the solicitors’ time for each day of the Hearing that you wish your solicitor to attend).

All quoted prices attract VAT at 20%.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as counsel’s fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Counsel's fees range between £700 to £5000 plus VAT per day (depending on the experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).

Additional disbursements

• Medical reports / OH reports - £500 plus VAT - £5,000 plus VAT
• Translation fees - £250 - £2,000 plus VAT
• Handwriting experts - £500 - £1,500 plus VAT
• Company searches/solvency checks - £35 - £500 plus VAT

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• 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
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from 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 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 a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
  Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel
• The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the stages above are not required, you will not be charged for this. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 4-6 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 12-18 months. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

Key individuals
Our list of experienced employment professionals with experience in this area is available here.
Our employment team are under the direct supervision of Emma Thompson.