We review and suggest amendments to existing contracts, policies and employee handbooks where they already exist – to bring them up to date with changes in the law, best HR practice and changes within the business. Where a business is just starting out or growing from a start-up, we provide templates for use in hiring new employees. The contract and the handbook is the starting point for the relationship between the business and its employees – it’s the foundation stone and the first place we look when we are asked to advise on any areas of conflict between a business and its employees, so it is important that it accurately reflects the business’ current approach to management of employees and how the business works, as well as being legally compliant.

As an employer there may be a variety of circumstances in which you may agree with an employee their exit from the business on mutually agreed terms, and want the security of knowing that no litigation will follow. A settlement agreement describes the terms agreed between the business and the employee who is leaving and typically provides that those terms are in full and final settlement of all potential claims that the employee may have against the business as a result of their employment and the termination of it.

Where a business faces the need to reduce the workforce or close a business or part of it, redundancies are likely to result. An employer is required to enter into formal joint consultation with Trade Unions or elected employee representatives ahead of any redundancies taking affect if 20 or more employees are at risk of redundancy from one establishment in a 90 day period. Even if there are less employee’s affected employers are expected to adopt fair means of selecting those to be made redundant and consult with employees individually about the impact of their selection. Significant costs can be incurred by an employer who is not aware or fails to meet its obligations.

Getting reward strategy right can make a big difference to the success of recruitment and ongoing staff loyalty and retention. A well-defined strategy should align with your overall business objectives and also be a good fit with your specific workforce, processes, values and culture. We can help you shape and tailor your organisations approach to reward looking at a broad range of factors from salary, benefits and bonus through to training, development and the working environment, to ensure you’re attracting the best employees and motivating your existing teams.

Salary benchmarking is not just an activity for large corporates any more, many SMEs are now realising the benefits of reviewing their salary offering. Our in-house HR specialist can provide insight on trends in your industry and competitor comparisons, and help with designing pay structures and progression frameworks. Our clients can also benefit from our access to online salary benchmarking tools to help you better understand where your organisation sits within the marketplace.

Employees and workers may bring claims against your business and we can help you to defend the business (and prevent them if involved early enough!). Litigation is expensive and time consuming, we take a pragmatic and commercial approach to our advice and our handling of litigation on our clients’ behalf.

Are the constitutional documents for your business in apple pie order? Shareholders agreements, the articles of association and Directors’ service agreements are the cornerstones to peace and harmony in your owner managed business…..and the rules on exit when things don’t go quite to plan. So whether its planning for the future success or for potentially negative outcomes, it is essential that all owner managers are aware of their rights and obligations, and their route to exit. We can help you prepare for the future or exit from your past as cleanly and swiftly as possible.

Does your business recognise a Trade Union or is it facing a recognition request? Do you have other established mechanisms for consulting with your employees or have you received a request for an information and consultation agreement? There are many positive reasons to have healthy and effective communication arrangements with your workforce and we can advise on the various mechanisms, making the most of those relationships, managing any disputes that arise and articulating the rules of engagement.

Empowering your managers with the correct policies and the confidence to act on them to manage their teams is essential in businesses of all sizes, for reasons of efficiency and good employee relations. Our team can train your HR colleagues and line managers in all aspects of employment law and HR subjects, using practical tools and case studies. We can also provide training at Executive level on the Companies Act obligations of statutory board members .

Lack of attendance or reliability is a key issue for business and can be difficult to manage, particularly when mental health is involved, or where there is a combination of issues ( e.g. poor health and unreliability, and underperformance when in attendance, are often seen together). We can draft policies to support effective management of these issues and provide step by step guidance to navigate through an employer’s desire to understand the root cause of absence and either take steps to support an employee’s return to reliable attendance or exit the employee from the business.

Any change within a business is likely to have an employment law impact. Where a business (or part) is bought or sold, or a service contract lost or won, and employees are aligned to the business which is moving, it is important to understand any obligations and consequences of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). Employers who do not take advice or work within the regulations can face surprising and significant unbudgeted costs.

If you have an innovative product or your employees are creating, designing or crafting something new, the rights to exploit the innovation belong to your business. You can ensure that you protect that right and that your business is well positioned to exploit the full potential of it, by including careful wording in your contracts of employment and policies. And if anything goes wrong, we can help you to recover and protect what rightfully belongs to your business.

Where an employee is suspected of wrongdoing, or alleges wrongdoing by the business or a colleague, an investigation should be conducted by an independent person, different to the person who may ultimately decide on any disciplinary proceedings or a grievance procedure that follows. We can act as an independent investigator, or conduct disciplinary and grievance procedures on behalf of your business, where time, resources or practicalities require it. In the alternative, in order to mitigate risks of a claim, we can coach you through formal procedures and decision making, providing a step by step guide, templates letters and meeting scripts to guide you through the trickiest of issues.

Those participating in such schemes are required to take advice independent of the business. We offer independent advice to participants on cost effective terms.

Where relations are strained between co-workers, or the business and an employee, mediation can help to ensure the relationship survives the difficulty. Mediation focusses on repairing and moving on, rather than fact finding and blame allocation. When losing a disenfranchised employee could damage your business, or be hard to replace, this may be an essential tool.