Employment law cases
Specialist Advice & Guidance
Boeing & Wise can offer clients specialist legal advice and guidance with regards any employment law issue, not just when an employment has come to end but also from the very beginning. Our expert team can review your employment contract and help you to understand the terms therein and, most importantly, your legal rights. We can also help negotiate favourable terms on your behalf before you start your employment and assist you with a favourable exit strategy should you the time come that you wish to move on and bring your employment to an end.
It is vitally important, as an employee, that you understand your legal rights that are provided for by law (statute) and by the terms of your employment contract. As an employee, you have specific, enforceable rights with regards the environment you work in, the minimum pay you should receive, training, references, holidays and maternity, paternity or adoption leave. As a minimum, you should not accept any treatment from your employer that is less than equal and fair. Employers always have the advantage in these situations due to the resources they will have available and owing to the fact that you need to work to live! As such, it is ever the more important that, as an employee, you understand your rights and the terms of your contract, so that you know if your rights are being inappropriately abused.
Below we have set out some further information regarding two key grounds in which our team has successfully obtained compensatory awards from employers for unfair dismissal and treatment. The information below only seeks to give you a brief outline of a very wide area of practice. It is recommended that if you are unsure as to whether or not you have an employment law claim or whether or not your rights are being abused to speak to one of our expert legal advisers who would be happy to help you today. Please also refer to our articles and publications section for more information regarding employment law issues generally.
Unfair & Constructive Dismissal
So you have been working hard for your employer for over 2 years’, perhaps something has changed internally within the company you work for, such as new management has come in which, for no particular reason, you have not particularly gelled with: and, then one day you find out that you have been dismissed without reason and without warning. What do you do?
Depending on the specific circumstances of your dismissal, Boeing & Wise can assist you with bringing a claim against your employer on the ground that the dismissal was legally unfair. What we would need to show is, firstly, that your employer had no good reason to dismiss you. Secondly, that they did not follow the company’s formal disciplinary procedure in dismissing you (that is, if your employer had a formal disciplinary procedure in place at all!)
Example cases in which we can help clients claim their dismissal was legally unfair include ones where employees were dismissed for simply enforcing their legal rights, such as for taking maternity, paternity or adoption leave, exposing wrongdoing in the workplace, taking time off for jury service or taking rest breaks in the working day. If you have been dismissed for any of these reasons or you feel there was no good reason for your employer to have fired you, then contact us. We can help.
Most commonly (although unfortunate) we find that the majority of our employment law clients are not unfairly dismissed, per se, but feel they have been forced to leave their work due to their employer’s conduct. In law this is known as ‘constructive’ dismissal, which basically means ‘as good as’ an unfair dismissal claim. Example cases of constructive dismissal include where an employer is harassing or bullying you, or allows other members of staff to harass you or bully you, suddenly demotes you for no particular reason, stops paying you, or forces unreasonable changes on you as to the way you work, such as changing your hours, shifts, travel or office location.
In either of the situations above (unfair or constructive dismissal), you could be entitled to receive compensation: either from the employer in settlement of the claim or as an award ordered by the Tribunal following a hearing. Boeing & Wise can also help you with other remedies if you feel you have been unfairly or constructively dismissed, such as getting your reinstated back into your previous role.
Our approach is to deal with these cases sensitively, quickly yet firmly. Our employment law team takes employee rights very seriously and offers an above-and-beyond legal service in order to ensure those rights are properly respected. Call us today to find out how.
Discrimination
It is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of their age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, race, handicap or disability. (These are commonly referred to ‘Protected Characteristics.’) Discrimination in the work place can take many different forms.
We have helped clients with discrimination cases where the discrimination they have experienced has been both direct and indirect.
Direct discrimination cases we can assist on include those where an employer is out-rightly treating you less favourably because of either your age, gender, sexual orientation (etc.) than others. We can also help if you feel you have been indirectly discriminated against at work: for example, where you feel your employer has set unreasonable and unjustifiable requirements in work that indirectly excludes you either from training, progressing in your career or doing your job.
Our approach is to deal with all cases sensitively but also aggressively on our client’s behalf. Discrimination is a serious claim and issue. If you are being discriminated against, you can rest assured that Boeing & Wise’s expert employment law team will do their best to achieve the compensation you deserve.
We can also help with cases to do with harassment in the work place and victimisation. For more information, please refer to our articles and publications section or contact one of our expert legal team who would be more than happy to assist.
To get a fixed fee quote for our fees click below and receive a quote today. The quote will include details of any disbursements, VAT and the expertise of the person dealing with your matter.
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What Does it Cost?
| Employment Law Specialist | Experience | Fixed Fee Consultation |
| Director,Partner Employment Law Solicitor | 15 years plus post qualification experience | £450 (£375 plus VAT) |
| Associate, Senior Employment Law Solicitor | 5 years plus post qualification experience | £360 (£300 plus VAT) |
| Employment Law Specialist | Experience | Hourly Rate Fees |
| Director, Employment Law Solicitor | 15 years plus post qualification experience | £300 (£250 plus VAT) |
| Associate, Employment Law Solicitor | 5 years plus post qualification experience | £240 (£200 plus VAT) |
BELOW YOU WILL FIND OUR COST ON A FIXED FEE BASIS (all work is undertaken by an associate or senior solicitor)
| SERVICE | DESCRIPTION | FEES (+VAT) | DISBURSEMENTS | TIME | FACTORS WHICH CAN INFLUENCE THESE FEES |
| Initial call - review of case | This is an initial call with a caseworker. basic details shall be taken, discuss with a legal adviser case facts and confirm cost | FREE | £0 | Immediate | None |
| Consultation with Solicitor and written confirmation of advice | This is a telephone call or video meeting with a qualified solicitor. (time limit of 60min on the length of meeting). Advice provided during this meeting will be recorded in an email and the client care letter. | £300 | £0 | Immediate | None |
| Consultation, review of contracts and policies, strategy advice on contract of employment or other contractual dispute | This is a meeting, we set out a case plane for you. If further work is required, a quote will be provided by the legal adviser. | £300 - £1,000 | £300 - £1,000 for Barrister's/Counsels fees – required for a very complex or serious matter | 2 weeks - 3 weeks | Can vary depending on the complexity of the contracts, policies or law involved. Costs can increase if a Barrister's opinion is required although this should be reserved for complex, high value dispute. |
| Further advice and guidance in relation to grievance, disciplinary, sickness or other internal procedures | With this stage we take a more in depth look at your case and really get to grips with the legal issues. It helps you have the confidence to tackle and, hopefully, resolve your workplace problems. At the end of this process, if an Employment Tribunal claim is required, you will be provided with options for funding options. | £800 - £3,500 | £200-£800 on further Barristers/Counsels advice | 1 - 2 months | The fees and timescales can vary depending on: your health; any sick leave needed facilitate your recover before tackling the issues head on; the complexity of the problem. |
| Case planning an strategy talks | This service involves having a full depth look at your case, and then putting in a strategy to move forward. It puts in place an individual strategy designed to protect health and income while encouraging you to face the future. At the appropriate time, we will endeavour to secure terms to a settlement agreement so avoiding an Employment Tribunal and facilitating a clean break for both parties. | £1,000 - £5,000 | £0 | 1 - 4 months | The fees and timescales can vary depending on your health, need for sick leave to facilitate your recover before tackling the issues head on, the complexity of the problem we are dealing with and how proactive or effective your employer is at dealing with your internal dispute. |
| Settlement agreement (agreed) | This service is on the assumption that all terms in the settlement agreement are agreed and do not need further work. Our team advises on the suitability of the settlement offered by your employer, whilst ensuring you understand what each clause of the settlement agreement means. We will take you through the entire agreement and clauses ensuring you fully understand the settlement offer. | £450 - £800 | £0 | 2 weeks | Your employers commonly contribute towards this work. Employer contribution often ranges from £250 - £500 plus VAT. For this work, we will cap our fees at the sum of money your employer is contributing towards the cost of the settlement agreement. If there is no contribution, we will charge you £250 plus VAT. |
| Settlement agreement (negotiated) | Sometimes, an employer may offer a settlement which is too low for acceptance. We can come up with a strategy and negotiate improved terms on your behalf. Once terms are agreed, we will ensure you understand what each and every clause of the settlement agreement means whilst renegotiating on unreasonable or overly restrictive clauses. | £250 - £1,500 | £0 | 1 month | Like the exit strategy service, the fees are largely dependent on the outcome and what we are able to achieve on your behalf. Whilst negotiating, we will also seek improvement to the employer’s contribution towards the legal fees. |
| Where an employment tribunal is necessary, assessment fee for suitability for no win / no fee agreement, legal expense insurance or advice in relation to existence of prospective employment tribunal claim | This service will include initial consultation, review of timeline and documentation with a view to identifying prospective employment tribunal claims, initial view on prospects and available funding options. | £350 - £1,000 | £500 - £750 - highly unusual | 1 - 2 weeks | The cost of the assessment will depend on the complexity of the matter, the volume of paperwork for review, whether any research or other work is required to complete the assessment. Barrister’s advice will only be necessary for the highly complex or unusual claims or where circumstance justifies it. |
| Employment Tribunal claim | Representation during an employment tribunal includes:
|
See below | See below | 1 - 12 months | The cost and timescales can vary depending on the following factors:
|
| Basic and straightforward | Where the listing for the final employment tribunal hearing is 1 - 2 days. | £4,000 - £6,000 | £750 - £1,500 | Up to 8 months | Most people are funded by legal expense insurance or no win / no fee agreement so reducing your financial risk in advancing these proceedings. |
| Medium complexity | Where the listing for the final employment tribunal hearing is 3 - 4 days. | £6,000 - £12,000 | £2,500 - £5,000 | Up to 12 months | As above |
| High complexity | Where the listing for the final Employment Tribunal hearing is 5 - 10 days. | £12,000 - £20,000 | £6,000 - £12,000 | Up to 18 months | As above |
| Very high complexity or very long listing | Where the list for the final hearing is 11 - 20 days. | £20,000 - £35,000 | £12,500 - £20,000 | As above |
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING
- If you want to avoid the cost of an employment tribunal claim, try the exit strategy and settlement agreements services.
- The costs set out above for employment tribunal claims are based on unfair dismissal and breach of contract claims only. If additional claims are included such as discrimination, whistleblowing etc the fees may be higher.
- If your employment tribunal settles before the final hearing, unless you are funding by way of a no win / no fee agreement you or your insurer will only be charged for the work carried out up until settlement. This means the fees may be lower than quoted above.
- If you have an employment tribunal, please check if you have legal expense insurance via your union, household contents insurance, credit card or any other insurance policy. If you do have legal expense insurance, let us know immediately so that we can tell you how this works.
- A legal expense insurance policy will not fund settlement agreements and will only begin funding a claim to the Employment Tribunal either immediately before or once the claim has been submitted to the Employment Tribunal claim.
- If you have legal expense insurance, you have a legal right to nominate your preferred legal representative once the claim has been lodged with the employment tribunal. Some insurers will allow you to appoint us as legal representative before lodging a claim. We can help make sure this insurance is put in place.
- A legal expense insurer will only fund your employment tribunal claim if your prospects of success are 51% or more. This demonstrates the importance of making sure you take advice beforehand to ensure you have made your points in the best possible way.
- If you are funding your employment tribunal by way of a no win / no fee, the firm’s standard fee is 35% inclusive of VAT of the amount recovered by settlement or employment tribunal award.
- Before offering a no win / no fee agreement, we will charge an assessment fee to ensure the claim has 51% prospect of either settlement or success.
- If you are funded by a no win / no fee agreement and prospects of settlement or success fall below 51% at any point, we reserve the right to withdraw this funding method. Should this happen, we will present alternative funding options for consideration.
- A no win / no fee agreement only covers the firm’s fees and therefore does not include disbursements.
- Disbursements are external costs and include things such as Barrister’s fees, medical expert fees, travel, courier costs etc.
- Barrister’s fees are quoted in advance and determined by length of hearing and seniority of the Barrister appointed.
- All fees set out in the above table are exclusive of VAT. VAT is currently charged at the rate of 20% of the fees.
Who will handle your case?
Only a fully qualified Solicitor with at least 5 years of experience will carryout any work on your case.