Employment
The members of our team are recognised for their ability to quickly identify the issues and providing pragmatic legal advice.
We provide legal advice and support for business owners, senior management and in-house HR teams on a full range of HR and regulatory compliance issues across a broad range of sectors including: agriculture and fisheries, aviation, construction, distribution, employment businesses and agencies, energy, food and beverages, healthcare, hotels and hospitality, IT, manufacturing, professional services, renewables, retail, shipping and transport.
We primarily provide employment law advice and assistance for employers, however, we also provide employment law advice to individuals in relation to all aspects of employment law that may arise during the employment life cycle. We understand that the cost of seeking employment law legal advice is likely to be very important to the parties concerned and therefore, our Employment Law Advice Pricing Structure guide is available for review.
Experience
HR support
We provide advice and support for disciplinary and grievance procedures, capability and performance management, contracts of employment, restrictive covenants, policies and procedures
Redundancies & Business reorganisations
We provide advice and support on redundancy exercises, (including large scale collective redundancies), restructuring and changes to terms and conditions of employment.
Settlement Agreements
We advise employer and employees in relation to Settlement Agreements.
Disputes & Litigation
We conduct employment litigation, including Employment Tribunals, civil court proceedings as well as alternative means of dispute resolution such as mediation.
Regulatory Compliance
We provide advice and support on a broad range of regulatory compliance issues, including data protection, IR35, health and safety, business immigration.
TUPE
We provide advice and support in relation to business transfers and service provision changes under the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.
Key Contacts
To make an enquiry, please contact a member of staff below or call 01224 845 845
David Chalmers
Anya Duncan
Annika Neukirch
Employment News & Insights
National Minimum Wage 2024/25
The Government has announced that the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates will increase from 1 April 2024. The rates will increase as follows:
Employment Law Accreditation
We are pleased to share that the Law Society of Scotland has accredited partner, Anya Duncan. She joins her fellow partner, David Chalmers as an Accredited Specialist in Employment Law.
New rights for parents and carers on the horizon
Last week, three Private Members Bills received royal assent which will, when in force, give new rights to parents and carers, namely:
Paid neonatal leave of up to 12 weeks for employed parents whose children are admitted into neonatal care. This will be in addition to existing leave entitlements such as maternity and paternity leave.
Enhancement of existing redundancy protections for pregnant women and new parents for a periodof time after they return to work.
A week of flexible unpaid leave per year for unpaid carers who have dependants with long-term care needs.
Employment Law Updates – Smarter Regulation
On 10 May 2023 the UK Government published the ‘Smarter Regulation’ policy paper which announced a number of post-Brexit employment law reform measures. The package of regulatory reforms includes:
- Limiting non-compete clauses to three-months
- Changes to Working Time Regulations
- Reforms to the rules governing the transfer of employees between undertakings (TUPE)