Employment Law Advice for Employees

• Unfair Dismissal
• ACAS
• Employment Tribunal Claims
• Discrimination claims
• Settlement Agreements

Employment Law Solicitors for Employees

I am an expert solicitor in Employment Law for Employees. I have dealt with hundreds of employment law matters and every time I strive to provide:

• Plain English Advice
• Time - to understand your situation and all that you're faced with
• Results - getting you the best possible result
• Value - fixed fees for your certainty where possible
• Convenience - meetings by phone, video call or in-person at a time to suit you.

What employment rights do employees have?

Lots actually. But the main claims that I deal with as an employment law solicitor involve:

• Unfair Dismissal
• Redundancy 
• Settlement Agreements 
• Discrimination Claims

Being unfairly dismissed from your job is where your employer dismisses you without a fair reason or without following the correct procedures. 

You need to have worked at your company for at least 2 years to qualify for unfair dismissal protection. 

For redundancy, I can provide you with initial fixed fee advice or if necessary try to get a better redundancy package. 

Very frequently, I am asked to sign off Settlement Agreements and so I have a separate website for it at www.settlement-agreement.co.uk

How do I start an Employment Tribunal claim?

Firstly, before you can start an Employment Tribunal claim you need to have tried to settle your dispute with your employer through ACAS and the ACAS Early Conciliation scheme. 

ACAS will contact your employer to see if they would like to settle. It’s unlikely they will at this stage, and so if they do not, ACAS will provide you with an Early Conciliation certificate. You’ll need the EC reference number to issue an ET claim online. 

My strong recommendation is to seek legal advice before embarking on any claim, particularly Employment Tribunal claims. If you don’t state your case properly, you could find it either not accepted by the Tribunal or worse having it kicked out (known as being struck out) at the first hurdle. 

I would also recommend you consider the funding options, set out below.

Once you’re ready to issue an Employment Tribunal claim, it’s simply a matter of filling in a form; your details, employers details, details of what claims you want to bring and what remedy you are seeking. 

Recent examples of claims for employees

Here's a sample of the kinds of claims for employees Steven Mather Solicitor has dealt with recently:

• 100s of settlement agreements
• Unfair Dismissal claims
• Claims following whistleblowing in the NHS
• claims relating to pension rights following TUPE transfer
• disability discrimination claims
• transgender issues
• race discrimination claims

How much does an Employment Tribunal Cost and can you do “no win no fee”?

Most of my employee clients have the benefit of Legal Expenses Insurance as part of their home insurance. This will typically cover all of your legal costs with you only paying the small excess on your policy. 

My opinion is that no win no fee funding in Employment Tribunal claims is not the best funding option for the client and so I rarely offer them to clients.  There are many firms that do offer such funding. You will find they take 33% of what you win. 

The third main method of funding an employment tribunal claim is on a private paying basis. The following are examples of likely costs:

Simple case: £1,000-3,000 (excluding VAT)

Medium complexity case: £3,000-£10,000 (excluding VAT)

High complexity case: £10,000-£50,000 (excluding VAT)

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

What is the Employment Tribunal process and how long will it take?

The general steps in an Employment Tribunal are as follows:

• 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)
• Entering into conciliation through ACAS where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
• Preparing the ET1 Claim to be filed at the Tribunal
• Reviewing and advising your employer's response
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
• Preparing 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 for Trial
• 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

It can generally take up to 12 months for even a simple matter to get to an employment tribunal.

Next Steps

If you're unsure on the question of fees, or on any aspect of employment law advice for employees then please get in touch.

Send me the details and I will tell you how I can help and what it will cost. Get in touch today.