Employment Law

• Summary
• Case Studies

Summary

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Reasons to contact an employment lawyer are:

1. If you have suffered from discrimination: this includes discrimination on the basis of your age, skin colour, sexuality, religion, gender or for any other reason, then you will want your employer to known that this behaviour is unacceptable.  You may have been unfairly dismissed, or passed over for promotion for no obvious reason.  If you are unable to resolve the problem internally within the workplace, then you may decide that the only option left open to you is to take legal action with the help of an employment law solicitor. Please fill out your details here to have your case review by law firms in your area.
2. As an employer you might want to dismiss one of your staff members.  Reason for terminating an employment contact from an employer side include, but not exclusive to : poor performance; misrepresentation of qualifications, skills or experience on a CV; breaking company rules. Regardless of the reasons for dismissal, an employer should be careful to ensure that you act within the boundaries of the law. Please fill out your details here to have your case review by law firms in your area.
3. As a company you might want to introduce a staff handbook, or update your existing one.  You will want to make sure that all areas of staff behaviour, performance, remuneration, benefits and holidays are covered and kept up to date.  As technology continues to play an ever increasing role in many businesses, do your staff handbooks mention laptops, USB memory sticks, the Data Protection Act, mobile phones, internet use, and any other technologies that you use? An Employment Law Solicitor will be able to advise you. Please fill out your details here to have your case review by law firms in your area.
4. All Company Documentation will need to be checked to ensure that it is legal, and not discriminatory.  Maybe you have a lot of memos, notices, procedures, instructions and advice documents that staff , external visitors and customers read and use on a regular basis.  By making sure that the wording is appropriate and legal, there will less chance of people misreading the documents, or of being unsure of what is expected of them.
5. Staff contracts may change on a regular basis, perhaps due to promotion, or a change of focus by the business.  You may employ temporary or contract staff for some roles, rather than permanent workers.  You may need to hire a team of specialists for a certain project, or need additional sales staff, or you might be thinking about implementing a graduate training scheme.  Whatever your reasons for needing contracts, and different sorts of contracts, let an Employment Law Solicitor help you to make sure that there are no loopholes or ways that the contract can be exploited by either the employee or the employer. Please fill out your details here to have your case review by law firms in your area.
6. You are leaving your current employer or are worried about restrictions from previous employment contracts you have signed affect your ability to either start you own company or work for a competitor. This could include the length of non-compete clauses in place, the length of gardening leave, or restrictions on organisations you may not contact. Please fill out your details here to have your case review by law firms in your area.

Case Studies

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All case studies supplied by Stone Joseph. Should you find any of these case studies relevent to you situation you can contact Stone Joseph on 0207 8549098 or visit there website at http://www.employmentlawyer.co.uk

Dan - Wrongfull Dismissal

Dan, an international banker, had never imagined he would bring an unfair dismissal claim or need help from experienced employment lawyers. He had moved from a bulge bracket bank after 15 years service to a smaller investment bank and, as part of the package to encourage him to move, he had been given two years of guaranteed bonus by his new employer. He was paid his first year bonus without any problems. However, about three weeks before his next bonus was due to be paid, he got a call from the HR Department. Dan was told he could either accept a compromise agreement or a performance procedure would be commenced. The compromise agreement offered him a lot less than his guaranteed bonus.

In this case it was not possible for the bank to dismiss him for poor performance within 3 weeks, so his bonus would be payable, unless he was dismissed for 'cause'. Cause did not include poor performance. Dan was sacked by his bank the day before his bonus was due to be paid.

The bank instructed one of the biggest litigation law firms in the City. The matter was highly contested but, with the help of solicitors, he received his full bonus and compensation. He retired immediately thereafter

Isabel - Bonus and Unfair Dismissal

Isabel had worked for a tier 1 bank for almost eight years. She was bright and ambitious and believed she was very close to being promoted to director level when the scenario changed completely. A new line manager was appointed from the bank's US operation. Isabel was the most senior person in the team,while the new manager had come from a different area of the business , but within two weeks of him starting she discovered he had made two new male hires without even consulting her. Within three months of the new boss she was put through a disciplinary procedure for misconduct in circumstances which were highly questionable. In the meantime, the three men on the team formed a 'boy's club', going out two to three evening a week drinking and visiting lap dancing clubs. As Isabel worked long hours and didn't drink, she was effectively excluded and noticed that the other team members talked to her less and less. She was not even invited out to the Christmas lunch. Her boss never gave her any credit for business she brought in and whatever she did seemed to be damned with faint praise. She was constantly told to give introductions to the new hires. Eventually, her boss told her she was not cooperating and started a disciplinary procedure to dismiss her.

Isabel's solicitors began negotiations and immediately raised the issue of a discrimination claim. She was able to ensure that her settlement agreement took account of her bonus, discrimination claim, as well as salary, and received a six figure sum in compensation.

Beth - Bonus Discrimination

Beth was a professional and ambitious young woman who had started her career in a large estate agency and surveyors. She worked hard to get a promotion into the highly specialized area of valuing portfolios of residential properties, which was a small department when she joined. Over two years Beth and her line manager, the only two members of the department, generated a significant amount of business. When her manager left Beth, not unreasonably, assumed that she would be considered for his post. Unfortunately, it was given to a man running an entirely different department, although she was asked to continue in the role under the aegis of a third department. When she queried why she had not been promoted, she was told she had to 'prove herself'. Always ready for a challenge, Beth worked hard to show what she was capable of. When it came to bonus time she was presented with a derisively small bonus, despite bringing in huge revenues for her employer. Beth queried why her bonus was so small when the fee income she had brought in meant that under the bonus scheme it should have been over twice as much. The Finance Director told her it was comparable to other women of her age. Beth came to us and got an increase in her bonus but we also advised her about the other discriminatory actions taken by her employer. Eventually, Beth decided that she could no longer continue to work where her skills were not recognised and resigned.

Beth brought a claim for constructive unfair dismissal rather than a claim for discrimination, as it was more practical to argue it and Beth already had a new job. She got a handsome six figure settlement, although for her the important point was that her employers should have given her a fair chance.

Jay - Problem Employee

Recruitment consultants have highly powered and stressful jobs and whilst they are very hard working, some consultants work and play hard, and can be assertive to the point of being aggressive in the workplace. Our client employed a highly successful consultant whose behaviour at work became increasingly erratic. He had a habit of turning up late on some days, but this began occurring with increasing regularity. On some days he seemed to forget to wash, change his clothes or shave, forcing his colleagues to tolerate his unpleasant body odour. On other days he would be in the office at 6.30 am and work until late before going out for drinks. As he was so successful, these faults were noted and comments were made but little else was done until the owner of the business, Jay, decided to have a quiet chat. The consultant told Jay that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Jay, with the consultant's permission and following our advice, told his line manager and a plan was agreed to help the consultant if he needed time off work.

Over the next month the consultant became more and more rude to both his colleagues and clients. Eventually, he phoned Jay one weekend under the influence of alcohol and resigned, stating that he was no longer accepted because of his bipolar disorder, and that he would sue. Jay asked him to think it over but the consultant did not turn up for work on Monday. When he did turn up for work on Tuesday, he stank of alcohol, which prompted Jay to call us for advice. We recommended he be sent home immediately but still be allowed a cooling off period.

Eventually, the consultant left our client's company and made a claim. The claim was not successful at the Employment Tribunal.

Adam and Ben -Restrictive Covenants, Confidentiality and Constructive Dismissal

Adam and Ben worked for a high profile headhunting firm, and competed against each other to be the top performers in the firm. Senior management were concerned about Adam and Ben's future intentions and feared that they may take a significant proportion of the firm's work, if they left together. The senior management first went after Adam to secure a long term commitment. The firm asked Adam to either resign immediately to receive his full commission, or agree to stay for at least another nine months. If he left during this period he would lose all of his commission.

We immediately advised Adam that the company's position was a fundamental breach of his employment contract and if he chose to resign he could make a claim for constructive dismissal. Adam explained he had always dreamed of starting his own company, but unfortunately the restrictive covenants made this a distant and impractical hope. We advised that if he were to resign due to the firm changing the terms of his financial package, a claim for constructive dismissal would stop the firm relying on the employment contract. The effect of the firm's action is similar to them tearing up the contract. Adam followed our advice.

The firm then discovered that Ben had taken confidential information and started Injunction proceedings. The City Law firm's strategy was to force Ben into very restrictive undertakings post employment and also land him with an astronomical legal bill of six figures to stop any chance of funding a new start up. We immediately started a damage limitation exercise. We closed down the litigation quickly and effectively and charged our clients a small fraction of what the City lawyers had charged. Adam began an unfair dismissal claim and we negotiated much weaker undertakings with a hugely reduced legal bill from the City solicitors.

Ben and Adam took a holiday of a few months and set up their successful headhunting firm, with the benefit of knowing that their restrictive covenants had been reduced by several months to clearly defined undertakings.