Employment Law for Employees
Our specialist employment solicitors can handle your unfair dismissal or discrimination claim.
Have you been dismissed from your job for a reason you think is unfair? Or are you still employed but feel you are being treated unreasonably at work? If so, you may have cause to issue a claim to an employment tribunal or to raise a formal grievance. At Wolferstans, we can allocate an experienced and specialist employment solicitor to act on your behalf.
As well as dealing with dismissal or discrimination cases, we can advise on workplace harassment, redundancy and more. This may lead to an employment tribunal claim or a settlement agreement. Whatever the agreed course of action, our friendly legal team will provide targeted, expert guidance throughout.
We offer:
- A no obligation call to assess your situation and determine whether we can help
- Fixed fees
- Specialist advice
A strict three month time limit (minus one day) exists for issuing unfair dismissal and workplace discrimination claims. So it is essential that you seek advice promptly if your employment has come to an end.
When you appoint Wolferstans to represent you, an experienced specialist employment litigator will take care of your claim. We are firm believers in personal relationships and take time to fully understand our clients’ situations. So we will allocate your own employment solicitor who will provide a consistent service during the litigation process. They will be available for telephone conferences or meetings in person throughout your case.
Our employment solicitors are heavyweight litigators with experience in pursuing claims against employers of all kinds. No organisation is too large or too small. We regularly act against sole traders, national institutions, and public sector organisations such as the NHS or city councils.
It may be possible for us to run your case on a no-win no-fee basis, or for you to rely on legal expense insurance. Alternatively, we are happy to run your case for an agreed fee. That way, you know the maximum cost of pursuing your claim.
Help With Work Issues
We’ve supported people through redundancy, discrimination, unfair dismissal, bullying, and workplace disputes.
Whether you need advice on a settlement agreement, want to challenge a decision, or take your case to tribunal, we’ll help you understand your rights and explore all your options. Our experienced team will guide you through the process with clarity and confidence.
More employment legal services:
Settlement Agreements
Until 29 July 2013, Settlement Agreements were known as Compromise Agreements, so you may hear your employer refer to either term. If you have a Settlement (or Compromise) Agreement for signature, we can help.
These are simply agreements to end your employment with a severance payment, and are designed to make sure that you have no further possible employment tribunal or other legal claim against your employer. They will almost always include a confidentiality clause, and a clause providing that neither side will make any derogatory comments about the other.
The agreement will almost always provide for your employer to pay your legal fees.
Unless you have the agreement signed by an independent legal adviser, like us, it is not valid. This is to protect you against signing away your employment rights without proper compensation, so in each case we will discuss with you the full circumstances to make sure the agreement is in your interests before it is signed up.
Sometimes some re-negotiation is required and this can add to the legal costs, but we will only embark on extra work at your request and where there are good reasons for pressing for an improved offer.
Useful Links
The Citizen’s Advice on your basic rights at work
The Government’s guidance on discrimination and knowing your rights
ACAS
Confidential Information and Restrictive Covenants
Restrictive covenants are often included within an employment contract by a business to protect their commercially valuable information (confidential information) from misuse after an employee leaves. Employees are usually required to agree them when joining a company and will form part of their employment contract. The pro-active employers should therefore be reviewing their contracts and restrictive covenants as well as their systems and controls to ensure they afford the right protection to those in business development, client facing and revenue generating roles.
However, with the continued competition amongst employers to attract and retain the most talented employees, the number of issues and claims arising from the breaches of restrictive covenants contained in employment contracts are on the increase.
Many employers and, on the other side, employees will likely require legal assistance, especially given the complexity of this area of law and the next steps that may need to be taken, which for example may include an application to the High Court for an injunction and associated search orders as necessary.
Funding Your Employment Tribunal Claim
Here at Wolferstans, we empathise with employees who through no fault of their own have lost their employment. We understand the implications of such an event on you, your family and your home, as well as your self-esteem, wellbeing and mental health. Whenever it is possible, we will fight for you to obtain justice, financial compensation, and a reference or to clear your name.
We recognise that issuing a claim against your employer or former employer is a daunting process and having been dismissed, funding such a claim may be a worry. At Wolferstans, we have a range of options available to you including legal expense insurance, possible no-win no-fee and price certainty.
Our team of experienced Tribunal Litigators can effectively pursue claims for employees wherever you are based.
We have a proven track record when it comes to obtaining successful results for our clients and providing exceptional customer service. You will be kept up to date, your file will be proactively managed, we will communicate in plain English and adopt an approach that is tailored to your needs. Different approaches are required for different situations and different opponents; we can pursue a persuasive but considerate negotiation or a robust and targeted strategy, which we will always agree with you in advance following an extensive review of your case and any supporting documents.
Legal Expense Insurance
Many of our clients are surprised to discover they have the benefit Legal Expense Insurance through their household or other insurance policy. The benefit of such a policy, is that the insurer will meet some of, or all of, your legal fees connected with issuing a claim.
Legal Expense Insurance ordinarily only covers you from the stage at which you are required to issue a claim. If you believe you have the benefit of legal expense insurance, we can review your policy and case for free and then advise you on the best way forward. We can help you to arrange for the cover to be in place and then pursue your former employer with a view to obtaining compensation.
No-Win No-Fee
Alternatively, if you do not have the benefit of an insurance policy, it may be possible for us to run your claim on a no-win, no-fee basis. This means you pay us nothing if you lose, and we take a percentage (usually around one third) of any settlement or award at an Employment Tribunal.
Whether we are prepared to run your case under such an arrangement depends upon both the value of your claim and your prospects of success. If you believe you have a strong claim, please contact Mara Cunha on 01752 292221 who will conduct an initial and free telephone assessment. If your case has sufficient prospects and is of sufficient value, we will then need to receive the relevant documents and undertake a full case review to ascertain whether we can pursue your claim on a no-win no-fee basis.
Private Funding
If a no-win no-fee arrangement is not possible, or if you would prefer to receive 100% of your compensation, we are happy to run your case for an agreed fee or for you to pay for our services on an hourly rate.
Many of our clients prefer to agree a price in advance so that they are aware of the limit of their costs. Under such an arrangement, we agree billing milestones and charge you a fee for a particular step. For example, for us to consider your claim and papers, issue the claim and review your former employers’ response, we aim to agree a fee of between £1,500 and £3,000 plus VAT. Often, settlement can be achieved relatively quickly after issuing a claim. If this is the case, your total costs are likely to be limited to between £1,500 and £4,000 plus VAT.
*All reference to VAT on this page is at the standard rate of 20%
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