Employment law solicitors for employees

How our employment solicitors can help

Every workplace dispute is different. Our role is to understand your circumstances, explain your legal rights and help you achieve the best possible outcome.

We regularly advise employees on:

• Settlement agreements and negotiated exits
• Workplace investigations and disciplinary proceedings
• Grievances and internal appeals
• Redundancy
• Unfair, constructive and wrongful dismissal
• Workplace discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• Whistleblowing
• Disability and reasonable adjustments
• Unpaid wages, bonuses, commission and holiday pay
• Senior executive disputes
• ACAS Early Conciliation and Employment Tribunal claims

Our first step is to understand what has happened and what matters most to you. That may be protecting your job, stopping unfair treatment, recovering money you are owed, negotiating a fair exit or preparing a claim.

We will give you a straightforward assessment of your position, explain what is realistic and identify the next steps available to you.

Employment law services for employees

Settlement agreements

If you’ve been offered a settlement agreement, it’s important to understand exactly what you’re signing before accepting the terms. We’ll explain the agreement, review the financial package, identify any clauses that could affect your future career and negotiate improvements where appropriate. Straightforward settlement agreement advice would typically be covered by the employer’s contribution to legal fees.

Employment Tribunal claims

Not every workplace dispute needs to end in a tribunal claim, but where legal action is appropriate we’ll support you throughout the process. We advise on ACAS Early Conciliation, preparing and submitting claims, gathering evidence, negotiating settlements and representing clients all the way through to an Employment Tribunal hearing. Our aim is always to resolve disputes efficiently where possible, while ensuring you’re fully prepared if a hearing becomes necessary.

Dismissal and redundancy

If you’ve been dismissed, are at risk of redundancy or believe you’ve been treated unfairly, we can assess whether your employer has followed the correct legal process and advise on any potential claims. We also advise employees considering resignation where their employer’s conduct may amount to constructive dismissal.

Discrimination and whistleblowing

Everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work. If you’ve experienced discrimination, harassment, victimisation or unfair treatment after raising concerns about wrongdoing, we’ll explain your legal rights and advise on the most appropriate course of action.

Employment law for senior executives

Senior executives often face additional issues during workplace disputes, including bonus arrangements, share options, restrictive covenants, reputation management and regulatory obligations. We advise directors, partners and senior professionals on complex exits, high-value disputes and negotiated settlements, drawing on expertise from across our full-service firm where required.

Get advice at any stage of a workplace problem

You don’t need to wait until your employment has ended before seeking advice.

We regularly support employees who are:

• Responding to disciplinary or capability proceedings
• Who have been off work due to sickness or injury
• Raising or responding to a grievance
• Managing workplace investigations
• Going through redundancy consultations
• Negotiating settlement agreements
• Considering resignation
• Challenging unfair dismissal
• Preparing for Employment Tribunal proceedings

Taking advice early often provides more options and can help protect your position before decisions become more difficult to reverse.

Why choose Hugh James

Our employment team combines specialist claimant employment expertise with the wider strength of a full-service UK law firm.

When you instruct us, you’ll benefit from:

• Specialist employment solicitors acting for employees and senior executives
• Legal 500 recognised expertise
• Experience handling complex Employment Tribunal claims
• Advice on both individual disputes and large-scale group employment matters
• Practical insight into how employers approach workplace disputes and negotiations
• Access to specialist colleagues across dispute resolution, corporate, pensions, professional regulation and data protection where needed

Above all, we provide honest, practical advice. We’ll explain where your case is strong, where there are risks and whether pursuing a claim or negotiated resolution is likely to achieve the outcome you’re looking for.

Costs and funding

We believe you should understand the likely cost of legal advice before deciding how to proceed.

Depending on your circumstances, we can offer:

• Fixed-fee initial consultations
• Advice on settlement agreements
• Advice and representation on an hourly rate
• Guidance on whether your Legal Expenses Insurance may cover some or all of your legal costs

We’ll explain the likely costs at the outset and agree the scope of work before any charges are incurred.