Employment Law

We provide advice and assistance to both employers and employees in all aspects of employment law including the following areas:

Claims and disputes

• Unfair dismissal claims
• Discrimination claims
• Whistleblowing and protected disclosure claims
• Disciplinary and grievance process
• Breach of contract and wrongful dismissal claims
• Disputes involving confidentiality, breach of duty and fiduciary duties, breach of restrictive covenants
• Redundancy disputes
• Settlement negotiations and settlement agreements
• All Employment Tribunal claims and appeals

Advising and assisting on:

• The preparation of employment documentation including contracts of employment, consultancy agreements, contract for services, employee handbooks,
• Policies and procedures
• TUPE transfers
• Data protection
• Equal pay
• Workplace monitoring

Costs

We act for clients defending or pursuing employment tribunal claims and appeals. These include unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, or other claims. Where a claim is not a straightforward unfair or wrongful dismissal matter, but includes another element such as
whistleblowing or discrimination, these are complex claims.

The following key stages of a claim fall under our standard fees:

• Obtaining initial instructions, reviewing papers and advising in respect of merits;
• Dealing with early conciliation to consider whether there is a potential for settlement;
• Preparing a 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;
• Dealing with disclosure of documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents;
• Taking instructions and drafting witness statement;
• Preparing bundle of documents;
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statement;
• Agreeing a list of issued, a chronology and/or cast list;
• Preparing for and attending trial including any separate hearing relating to an application, or to determine compensation.

Each claim is different and so the not all of the above stages will be required. If this is the case, then the standard fee will reflect this. There may also be elements of the claim that you are able to handle yourself, with some advice and/or assistance from us for other stages. This can be tailored according to your requirements.

In some cases, there will be the need for some extra work, for example, in respect of additional applications or dealing with other parties where there is a multi-party claim. In these cases, our fees will be higher.

Our fees are generally based on our hourly rates. In some cases, a fixed fee agreement may be better suited, and this is something we are able to offer for some work.

Our hourly rates are as follows:

Partner: £475 plus VAT (£570 including VAT)
Senior Associate: £350 plus VAT (£420 including VAT)
Associate: £250 plus VAT (£300 including VAT)
Trainee Solicitor / Paralegal: £150 plus VAT (£180 including VAT)

The current prevailing rate of VAT is 20%.

These charges exclude disbursements such as Counsel’s fees and other third-party expenses, which are payable in addition to our fees.

A claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal will be more often than not, a straightforward claim. If there are other elements attached to the claim, for example, discrimination or whistleblowing, or multiple parties involved, the claim will increase in complexity and in turn the costs will also increase. We have set out estimated costs for claims of three different levels of complexity:

• Simple Case: £30,000 – £60,000 plus VAT (£36,000 – £72,000 including VAT)
• Medium complexity case: £50,000 – £120,000 plus VAT (£60,000 – £144,000 including VAT)
• High complexity case: £100,000 – £250,000 plus VAT (£120,000 – £300,000 including VAT)

These estimated costs are on the basis that the claim would proceed to the final stage, that is the final tribunal hearing. In reality, most claims are settled prior to reaching the final hearing, resulting in lower costs.

If the matter does progress to a hearing, the length of the hearing will depend upon the complexity of the case. This will rage from 1-2 days in simple matters, to 5 or more days for highly complex matters. Fees will be incurred for each day of the hearing for both the attending solicitor and
counsel.

The level of counsel’s fees will depend upon his/her experience. Counsel’s fees for the hearing will usually comprise of a brief fee which includes the costs of preparation, the first day of the hearing, followed by “refresher” for all subsequent days following the first day.

An example of counsel’s fees are as follows:

Simple case:

• Brief fee £2000 – £4000 plus VAT (£2400 – £4800 including VAT)
• Refresher £1000 – £2000 plus VAT (£1200 – £2400 including VAT)

Medium complexity case:

• Brief fee £4000 – £12,000 plus VAT (£4800 – £14,000 including VAT)
• Refresher £1000 – £3000 plus VAT (£1200 – £3600 including VAT)

High complexity case:

• Brief fee £6000 – £75,000 plus VAT (£7200 – £90,000 including VAT)
• Refresher £1500 – £5000 plus VAT (£1800 – £6000 including VAT)

If settlement is reached at the Early Conciliation stage, it is likely that the matter will be resolved within a few weeks. If, however, the matter progresses through to a Tribunal Hearing, it may take up to 18 months to reach a resolution.

Tony Vieira is the partner in charge and the principal fee earner for employment matters, he is a solicitor who qualified in 2002.

In many cases, employment matters overlap with other areas of law including corporate governance, shareholder rights, director’s duties and corporate restructuring. Should this be the case we can arrange a multi-disciplinary approach drawing on the experience of a variety of professionals to find the ideal solution.