Employment Law Solicitors for Employees
We know that facing difficulties at work can be stressful.
Have you been treated unfairly by your employer or faced the unacceptable behaviour of colleagues? Our employment solicitors can help.
With extensive expertise in all aspects of employment law, our specialists advise employees and directors across all occupations and industries. Our employment law solicitors’ experience includes advising you about your employment claims and representing you at Employment Tribunals.
We take a proactive approach, with a firm focus on securing the best outcome for you in a way that suits your situation. In many cases, it is possible to secure a fair resolution through negotiation and alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation. However, if tribunal proceedings are needed, be assured that we will fiercely defend your rights.
Get in touch with our employment law solicitors in Coventry, Warwick and Southam
If you have any concerns about the way in which you have been treated at work and want to find out how we can help, please get in touch.
We have offices in Coventry, Warwick, Southam and Balsall Common. Our solicitors work across the whole of the Coventry and Warwickshire region, including Stratford-upon-Avon, Rugby, Nuneaton, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth and Atherstone, as well as further afield.
Our employment law expertise
We can help you with a range of employment law advice relating to issues including:
- Unfair dismissal
- Constructive dismissal
- Wrongful dismissal (breach of contract) e.g. unpaid notice monies
- Redundancy
- Discrimination
- Unlawful deductions of wages
- Claims relating to family-friendly rights
- Settlement Agreements and negotiating improved terms
- Employment procedures which may affect you e.g. investigations, suspension, disciplinary (misconduct and performance management) and long-term sickness procedures
- Grievance procedures
- Post-termination restrictive covenants
- Your rights regarding business takeovers where the law on the Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) applies.
How our employment solicitors can help
We realise that employment issues are often very sensitive and sometimes complex in their nature. Our employment law solicitors will carefully listen to your concerns and take the time needed to thoroughly understand your particular situation. We’ll explain the options available to you and, because we are highly experienced at working with employers as well as employees, we have the expertise to know how best to handle your claim to get you the best outcome.
We are regularly instructed by employees to assess their employment situation. Our employment lawyers provide employees with advice about their next steps, whether this be in a disciplinary or grievance situation or otherwise. We are often asked by employees to write to their employer seeking a severance package and a mutual termination of employment under a Settlement Agreement (formerly known as a Compromise Agreement).
Perhaps your employer has initiated the offer of a Settlement Agreement to you? We can advise you on the terms of a Settlement Agreement even if we have not had any prior involvement in your employment situation. If your employer asks you to sign a Settlement Agreement, it is a legal requirement that you take independent legal advice on the terms of the Settlement Agreement. Your employer will normally pay a contribution towards those legal fees.
Employment Law FAQs
What are the basic legal rights that all employees are entitled to?
In the UK, anyone legally classed as a ‘worker’ has certain rights regarding their employment. These include rights to receive at least the National Minimum Wage, minimum levels of holiday and statutory rest breaks. Workers also have a right not to work more than 48 hours a week, unless they have formally opted out of this right.
Workers also have the right to specific legal protections, including protection from unlawful deductions to their wages and unlawful discrimination, as well as protection for ‘whistleblowing’ regarding wrongdoing in their place of employment.
Employees may also have other rights, such as Statutory Sick Pay and Parental Leave, but these will depend on the circumstances.
If you have any questions about your rights, our employment solicitors will be happy to advise you.
Do I have a right to a written employment contract?
Employees must be given a written statement of the main conditions of their employment on or before their first day of employment. This is known as the ‘principal statement’. A wider written statement providing more detail should then be provided within the first two months of employment.
Technically, these statements are not the employment contract; they simply set out the key terms of employment. An employment contract is created as soon as someone accepts a job offer with an employer, whether in writing or verbally.
What should an employment contract include?
At a minimum, a principal statement of terms of employment should include:
- The name of the employer
- The name of the employee
- The employee’s job title and/or job description
- The employee’s start date
- The intended length of the contract
- The amount and frequency of payment
- Work schedule (including hours and times of work, as well as if this may vary)
- Main place of employment
- Details of any probation period and its conditions
- Holiday entitlement
- Any other benefits
- Any training requirements
The wider written statement must include details of:
- Pensions and pension schemes
- Collective agreements
- Rights to additional training
- Procedures for disciplinary matters and raising grievances
A specialist solicitor for employees can advise you on these rights and what to do if you have not received either of these statements within the required timeframe.
What counts as workplace discrimination?
Discrimination in the workplace is where someone is treated less favourably than someone else because of a ‘protected characteristic’ as set out in the Equality Act 2010. Discrimination is either classed as ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’.
Direct discrimination is where someone is treated worse specifically because of a protected characteristic, while indirect discrimination is where a company policy or process that applies to everyone results in a person with a protected characteristic being treated less favourably, even if this was not the intention.
What are protected characteristics?
Under the Equality Act 2010, protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. It is illegal to discriminate against a person because of any of these characteristics.
What is the legal definition of workplace harassment or bullying and what should I do if I experience it?
Workplace harassment or bullying is where someone is repeatedly subjected to an unwanted course of conduct that causes them alarm or distress or violates their dignity. It includes situations where a workplace environment is created that is intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive.
If you believe you have been the victim of workplace harassment or bullying, the first step is usually to speak to someone in your organisation about this informally. Depending on the situation, this might be your line manager, HR department or a trade union representative. If this does not yield the desired outcome, you may need to raise a formal grievance. If you are still not satisfied with the resolution of the matter, then you may wish to bring an employment claim.
Our employment dispute solicitors can advise you on your rights and whether you are likely to have grounds for a claim. We can then guide you every step of the way to ensure you get the result you deserve.
What are my privacy rights in the workplace regarding monitoring or personal data?
Employers do have the right to monitor employees, but the way in which they do this must be set out in the employee’s contract or staff handbook. Employer monitoring that is not set out in either of these documents could be grounds for a constructive dismissal claim.
Employers have a legal duty to protect employees’ personal data under the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Employees also have rights to be told how their data is used, access their data, have their data corrected or erased, restrict its processing and not to be subjected to purely automated decision-making.
A specialist lawyer for employment or data protection specialist can advise you if you have any concerns about the way your employer is monitoring you or handling your data.
What is the difference between unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal?
Wrongful dismissal is where an employer fails to follow the correct process for terminating an employee, even if the reason for the termination is valid. Unfair dismissal is where the reason and/or the process used by the employer for the termination is unfair.
If you believe you have been subject to wrongful or unfair dismissal, our employment lawyers will be happy to advise you.
How much notice must my employer give me before termination?
If your employer wishes to terminate your employment, they must give you whichever is the longer out of the notice period set out in your contact or the statutory minimum notice period. If you have been with your employer for between one month and two years, the statutory minimum notice period is one week. If you have been with them for more than two years, then you are entitled to a week’s notice for each full year of employment, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.
There are some limited circumstances where you can be terminated without notice, such as if you are considered to have been behaving violently during the course of your employment.
What is the process for raising a formal grievance or complaint against my employer?
Your employer should have a written grievance process and they should inform you of this within the first two months of your employment. If you have not received this information, you should speak to your line manager, HR team member or trade union representative.
Get in touch with our employment law solicitors in Coventry, Warwick and Southam
If you have any concerns about the way in which you have been treated at work and want to find out how we can help, please get in touch.
We have offices in Coventry, Warwick, Southam and Balsall Common. Our solicitors work across the whole of the Coventry and Warwickshire region including Stratford-upon-Avon, Rugby, Nuneaton, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth and Atherstone, as well as further afield.