Employment Law can be a minefield. Our employment law service offers advice, assistance and tribunal representation to both employers and employees. At Montecristo LLP, we have an established team of employment law experts offering a comprehensive service on all such matters. While many employment law cases are dealt with through the courts, there is considerable scope for achieving positive outcomes at an earlier stage. With a strong reputation in mediation and dispute resolution, our employment solicitors can offer an efficient and cost-effective service to reach a fair result for all parties as quickly as possible. If litigation is unavoidable, our employment lawyers’ skills in advocacy mean that you will have the highest quality legal representation during any court proceedings.
• Unfair dismissal
• Wrongful dismissal
• Settlement agreements
• Contracts of employment
• Redundancy/re-organisation situations
• National minimum wage
• Working Time Regulations
• Maternity/Parental/Flexible working rights
We are specialists in workplace discrimination law, and can provide expert advice in relation to:
• Sex discrimination
• Sexual orientation discrimination
• Racial discrimination
• Religion or belief discrimination
• Disability discrimination
• Age discrimination
• Marriage and civil partnership discrimination
• Pregnancy and maternity discrimination
An individual may have a claim for unfair dismissal in circumstances where the reason for their dismissal, or the procedures followed in dismissing them, are deemed to be unfair. An employee can pursue a claim through the employment tribunal system.
An employer may dismiss an employee on one of 5 grounds:
• Capability
• Conduct
• Redundancy
• Where their continued employment would break the law
• Another substantial reason
If an employer can show that they dismissed the employee for one of these reasons, an employment tribunal will be required to determine whether it was fair to do so. Relevant considerations for the tribunal will include the employer’s size and resources, any investigations that were carried out and the procedures followed.
If you are an employee who has been dismissed without good reason, Montecristo LLP’s employment law solicitors can support you in making a claim for unfair dismissal. Your lawyer will assist you in engaging with the early conciliation process, administered by Acas, which is required to try and resolve matters between the parties without the need for going before a tribunal panel. If an agreement cannot be reached, we will support you in preparing your claim and represent you when a tribunal is called.
Alternatively, if you are an employer accused of unfairly dismissing an employee, our expert employment lawyers will take instruction to help you conduct the most robust defence possible. We will guide you through the required mediation process and support you in demonstrating that your actions were fair and legitimate. However, prevention is often better than cure and we are available to advise on practice and procedure before you make potentially expensive dismissal decisions, helping to ensure you take the required procedural steps. (Even if an employer has very good reasons for dismissing someone it is not uncommon for the employer to still lose at the Employment Tribunal due to having ‘slipped up’ procedurally).
We can also provide you with a ‘health check’ on your internal policies. These can be important for instance in ensuring your business is doing all it can to avoid being vicariously liable for discriminatory acts by your employees. We can similarly assist with drafting contracts and particulars of employment as well as staff handbooks in terms which ensure your business interests are safeguarded.
Our specialist employment lawyers provide a responsive service that is high in quality when it comes to discrimination in the workplace. This area of employment law is complicated, but Montecristo LLP’s solicitors will guide you through every step in a clear, concise and jargon-free manner.
If you believe you have suffered discrimination in your job on the basis of sex, age, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity then you may have a claim for discrimination. Each of these is recognised as a ‘protected characteristic’, and as such, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual on this basis.
For employers, a claim for discrimination can be profoundly harmful to the reputation of your business. In many cases, the basis of such a claim will not be clear-cut, and it is vital to seek guidance at the earliest possible stage. Montecristo LLP’s employment solicitors can offer clear, professional legal advice to contest accusations of workplace discrimination and to help you protect your position.
