Employment Law
EMPLOYER LEGAL ADVICE EAST LONDON
Ask almost any employer and they will invariably say that they feel that employment law is stacked heavily in favour of the employee.
We can certainly understand why employer clients feel this way as employment law and changes to them have come thick and fast over the last decade. It can be hard enough just keeping up-to-date with the law, let alone dealing with inevitable issues of personalities and human resource issues. It doesn’t help employers also that the employment Tribunal rule that neither party is awarded costs has meant that far more employees have taken a “punt” over the last decade.
In dealing with the problems and risks created by employment law, employers generally benefit from getting contracts, policies and procedures right, regularly reviewing them and adopting a consistent line with all employees. We can help with all of these issues cost effectively and in ways which benefit smaller businesses which don’t have an in-house HR function.
What makes employment law particularly tricky for employers is that in many areas not only does the employer have to act reasonably in dealing with any problems or issues but that reasonableness also extends to procedures and it is far from uncommon for employers to lose an employment tribunal case simply due to procedural unfairness with an unfair dismissal claim even if, in substance, they have come to a reasonable decision to dismiss.
Typical issues with employment law for employers employers are:-
- not falling foul of discrimination laws applying to recruiting staff
- getting contracts of employment right and updating and adapting regularly
- having bespoke policies and procedures relevant to your industry, sector and size of business
- dealing fairly with dismissals including summary dismissal for gross misconduct
- unfair dismissal claims
- claims for sex, race, disability, age or religious discrimination
- dealing with disciplinary, grievance and performance reviews
- making staff redundant
- defending employment tribunal claims
- drafting and possibly enforcing employment contract restrictive covenants such as non-competition and non-poaching clauses
- social media issues in employment and preparing appropriate social media policies and confidentiality of data
- TUPE
- negotiating and preparing a compromise agreement to mutually terminate the employment relationship
- Maternity and paternity rights
- dealing with persistent or long term sickness absence
- complying with the Working Time Regulations