Employment
We will robustly defend any claim against your business and advise you on the risks
If you are looking for employee services, please click here...
Employment Tribunal Claims
If you receive a claim in the Employment Tribunals, we can help you to defend that claim. We will meet with you to discuss the prospects of the claim succeeding and the likely costs of the claim (including legal fees and awards of compensation). We will robustly defend any claim against your business and advise you on the risks and tactical options at each stage of the claim.
Settlement Agreements/ Compromise Agreements
We can advise on termination packages and prepare a compromise agreement that protects your business from claims in the Employment Tribunals and help with the negotiation of the terms of the compromise agreement with your employee or former employee.
Contracts
We can prepare new contracts of employment or update your existing contracts of employment to ensure that they are legally compliant. We can also deal with director's service agreements, consultancy agreements, apprentice agreements, secondment agreements and contracts for casual or temporary workers – including zero hours contracts and fixed term contracts.
hr policies package
We understand the challenges and complexities faced by employers when it comes to establishing clear guidelines, fostering a positive work environment and ensuring legal compliance. Our Staff Handbook and Contracts of Employment Package have been meticulously crafted to address these needs, enabling you to streamline your HR processes and enhance employee satisfaction and productivity.
Our package consists of 26 policies and 2 contracts templates that cover a wide range of areas crucial to the smooth operation of any business. Some key policies included are:
- Recruitment policy
- Holiday policy
- Flexible working policy
- Equal opportunities policy
- Drug and Alcohol policy
- Wellbeing policy
- Menopause policy
- Maternity and Family friendly policy
- Homeworking policy
- Social media policy
- Harassment and bullying policy
- Performance improvement policy
- Absence management policy
- Grievance policy
- Whistleblowing policy
- Bribery policy
- Data Protection policy
- Modern slavery policy
- Disciplinary policy
- Redundancy policy
- Right to work policy
- Religious and national holiday celebrations policy
- Car policy
- Computers & Internet policy
- Appraisals policy
- Training and development policy
These policies have been carefully drafted to align with legal requirements and best practices, ensuring that your business remains compliant with applicable laws and regulations while fostering a positive work culture.
Moreover, our contracts of employment templates will provide a solid foundation for employer-employee relationships. They cover essential terms and conditions, compensation and benefits, working hours, termination procedures, confidentiality clauses and restrictive covenants.
By implementing our Staff Handbook and Contracts of Employment Package, you can enjoy several benefits, including:
- Legal compliance: our policies and contracts are regularly updated to reflect the latest employment legislation, reducing the risk of potential legal issues.
- Consistency and clarity: standardised policies and contracts create a consistent and fair working environment for all employees, minimising misunderstandings and disputes.
- Efficiency and time saving: with our comprehensive package, you can save valuable time by avoiding the need to develop policies and contracts from scratch.
- Employee engagement: clearly defined expectations and procedures empower employees and promote a positive work culture, leading to increased engagement and productivity.
- Brand reputation: demonstrating your commitment to fair and equitable employment practices enhances your reputation as an employer of choice.
We would be happy to discuss your specific requirements and customise the package to suit the needs of your business.
Should you have any questions or wish to schedule a meeting, please feel free to contact us on employment@eatonsmith.co.uk or 01484 821300. We are dedicated to providing excellent customer service and ensuring your business’ success.
Restrictive Covenants/ Anti-Competitive Behaviour
We can draft restrictive covenants for your senior employees that give you the best chance of protection for your business. If you know or suspect that a former employee has breached their restrictive covenants, we can advise on the steps you can take to enforce those restrictive covenants. If you have started or would like to start legal proceedings in relation to restrictive covenants, our Dispute Resolution Department can help you.
Handbooks
We can write new policies and procedures for you or audit the rules and procedures that you already have in place. Recommended policies and procedures include disciplinary procedure, grievance procedure, IT and social media policy and equal opportunities policy (covering discrimination, bullying and harassment).
Family Matters
We can advise you on the current entitlements to statutory maternity leave and pay, statutory paternity leave and pay, and statutory adoption leave and pay. We can keep you up to date on changes in the law. If you receive a flexible working request we can advise you on the procedure you should follow and make sure you have the right letters and documents to use.
Grievances
If you receive a complaint from a member of staff (for example a complaint about their hours of work or an allegation of discrimination by a co-worker), we can advise you on the procedure you should follow and make sure you have the right letters and documents to use.
Disciplinary Procedures, Dismissal and Performance Management
If you need to discipline or dismiss an employee because of their behaviour (e.g. bad attitude, insubordination, poor performance, gross misconduct) we can advise you on the procedure you should follow and what level of warning or sanction may be appropriate. We can make sure you have the right letters and documents to use and guide you through the process to achieve the outcome that you need with the least risk to your business.
Absence Management
If you have an employee with a high number of sickness absences or an employee on long term sick leave, we can help you to manage that situation to either achieve a reduction in sickness absences or return to work, or to terminate the employee's employment on the grounds of ill health/ capability in a fair and lawful way, with the least risk to your business.
Redundancy or Restructure
If you are contemplating short time working, temporary lay-offs or redundancy or you are planning a restructure of your department we can provide you with the toolkit you need to deal with the selection and consultation process in a fair and lawful way, with the least risk to your business.
Buying, Selling and Outsourcing
If you wish to buy or sell all or part of a business, or you wish to outsource work to another organisation or bring work in-house that has previously been outsourced, then we can advise you on the impact of TUPE (the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006) and provide you with the toolkit you need to meet your obligations to inform and consult with staff. If you are considering a transaction, our Corporate and Commercial team can help you.
Knowledge
We prepare regular email bulletins on changes in employment law legislation and the outcomes of key cases and we deliver regular seminars including employment law updates and hot topics for employers. These services are free of charge. To subscribe to the email bulletins and request an invitation to our seminars please contact events@eatonsmith.co.uk.
Employment Law Solutions
We have a number of fantastic fixed price packages for employers to give you the advice and support you need in relation to your employee issues. Whether you just want the option of occasional telephone support or you need someone to come along to your employee meetings and give you legal representation in the event of an Employment Tribunal claim, we can offer a package that will suit you. For more information on the packages available please contact us on 01484 821 300.
Team for Business – Employment
charges
Information regarding our fees for bringing and defending Employment Tribunal claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal can be found here.
Read More →testimonials
Thanks for all your efforts. You are really helping give me confidence regarding taking on new work and a strong hand when negotiating too.
I thought the way my case was dealt with was excellent from knowledge and understanding, speed and accuracy and general attitude to me was exceptional. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your guidance and advice today; it was more than I could have hoped for, or expected. This was a new experience for me and you made it stress free and painless, and managed to secure an improved outcome thanks to your legal-eagle eye.
We have been using Eaton Smith for the last few years for employment advice and have always found the assistance useful. This year they has helped us greatly with an employment case. Attention to detail and advice with the issues affecting our business have been invaluable and allowed us to successfully deal with some complex employment problems. I would recommend the Employment team to any business looking for employment advice and indeed have done so in the past.
Eaton Smith have been a ‘god send’ to our company for all our employee issues. Our HR team have learned so much which has created immense confidence in being able to deal with any employment issues on a day to day basis. Their approach is pragmatic with a warm, friendly reliable and very supportive attitude with an excellent understanding of our business and especially the need for a fast turnaround.
Thanks so much for your guidance on this, you’ve made a painful situation become a breath of fresh air!
The training was well-received by our team and following the training all who attended felt more confident about the approach to take in this difficult area for all managers.
Well done for all your hard work and strong will with this. We are delighted with the result.
I thank you for all your help. I will certainly recommend you to friends and relatives, should they ever be in need of legal assistance relating to their employment.
Thank you so much for your time and help with this. I am beginning to feel confident we know what we are doing with GDPR now!
Within 2 days of our original phone call explaining the situation, we had met with Eaton Smith, discussed our concerns and kick started our action plan, all with a full explanation of what was happening and what the likely outcome would be.
The costings were explained and at all times, it was apparent that they were trying to keep these to a minimum for us, always giving us different options and ensuring that the process was at all times cost effective as well as being the most effective solution to our problem.
The outcome was considerably better than expected and we had closure in just over a week from our original phone call.
We were confident at all times throughout that they were knowledgeable and a clear experts in their field and to this end, I would have no hesitation in recommending Eaton Smith to anyone.
Due to the superb service we received from Eaton Smith, we have also since began their retainer scheme where we can pay a small fee each month and be confident that should we have any employment law concerns, they will be on hand to help us.
I have to say your help on the employment contract was exceptional. Your expertise and responsiveness were really impressive, and I'm very happy with the service as it educated me as much as anything which is helpful!