UK EMPLOYMENT SOLICITORS ADVICE

The lawyers role

If you have been treated unfairly at work, whether this involves dismissal, bullying, or discrimination, or if you need detailed advice on legal protections you have in the work place, then consulting an employment solicitor might be advisable. What exactly are the roles and duties of employment solicitors, and how may they provide legal services which could help you?

Specialist advocates

Employment solicitors are lawyers who specialises in representing clients involved in disputes at work. Obtaining compensation in this arena requires a high degree of expertise and focus, making it important that if you have a claim involving these issues, you find a specialist with competence and experience in this particular field of law.

Areas of law

In what fields of law do employment solicitors specialise? Three sub-fields are worth discussion, in which an employment solicitor might be able to provide advice or represent you in an employment tribunal:-

1. They can handle cases involving dismissal. This may extend to unfair dismissal, where an employee has been fired from his or her job, or made redundant, without sufficient reason. Employers should provide a clear reason for dismissal, and have evidence to back such a claim up; otherwise a claim for unfair dismissal may succeed. Or it may involve constructive dismissal, where an employee has left the firm due to conduct of the employer which breaches the employment contract, and consequently deserves damages.
2. They handle cases of harassment and discrimination at work. In the past, harassment at work might have been construed as harmless teasing, but in more recent times the true cost of harassment has become more evident. Shouting at employees and being unfairly critical are more obvious ways in which one worker may harass another, but more subtle ways are worth consideration too. Systematically overloading employees with work, blocking them for promotion, spreading rumours about an employee among other workers, even excluding them from activities or ignoring them – all are ways in which employers or colleagues may harass employees. At its worst, harassment may take the form of discrimination on the grounds of age, race, gender, sexuality, or disability. An employment solicitor may be able to help you with all of these problems.
3. They can provide you with detailed advice on particular aspects of the law. If you want to clarify and understand your rights in respect to wages, equal opportunities, working time regulations, maternity leave, or on the rights you have when the firm you work for is transferred to other owners (or ‘Transfer of Undertakings Regulations’), then talking to a specialist lawyer is likely to help. You may be looking for employment, and keen to understand the conditions under which employers are required to employ you. You may be in employment, and concerned that your employer is breaching regulations. Or, you may be an employer who wants to ensure that they are acting in compliance with the law.

Expert Advice

The complexity of this area of the law makes it important that if you are involved in disputes concerning the above topics, you consult a specialist who can advise you, or provide you with representation at an employment tribunal, or do both. An expert employment solicitor is trained in this complicated field, and may well be worth consulting.

If you believe you have a claim or if you are an employer facing a potential claim against you please ring us for a free initial consultation.