Services & Teams. Our Employment Service

Transcription

1 Services & Teams Our Employment Service

2 Employment Law Team Blandy & Blandy s specialist Employment law team provides a comprehensive service tailored to our clients individual needs. The team prides itself on a hands on flexible approach, providing practical, no-nonsense advice focused on business solutions. We recognise that business pressures demand a quick response to employment concerns. Our team is known for its approachabiliy, providing clients with direct contact at short notice in person, by phone or by . Employment Law Team Excellence Integrity Approachability

3 Terms of Employment, Policies & Procedures and Share Option Schemes Terms of Employment for all levels of staff including the drafting and negotiation of Directors Service Agreements. A full range of policies and procedures provided individually or as part of a handbook, including: Disciplinary procedures Grievance procedures Preformance review/capability Sickness Equal opportunities policies Policies relating to data protection and use of and the internet Share option schemes and incentive arrangements, including EMI share options, other approved schemes and unapproved arrangements, as well as the attendant taxation implications Disposals, Mergers and Acquisitions We advise extensively on issues arising from disposals, mergers and acquisitions, in particular: Collective consultations Multiple redundancies Transfer of undertakings (TUPE) Insolvency obligations Excellence Integrity Approachability

4 Employment Litigation and Termination Agreement We undertake all aspects of employment litigation including High Court and County Court proceedings and Employment Tribunal work. One of our partners sits as a part-time Employment Tribunal Judge which gives us a particular insight into the presentation of cases before tribunals. In all cases, we aim to ensure that our clients can approach a hearing with confidence. The members of the team regularly deal with a wide range of cases including: Unfair dismissal Redundancy Unlawful deductions from wages Discrimination Maternity rights Equal pay Contractual claims Protection of intellectual property rights and confidential information Enforcement of restrictive covenants Many disputes can be resolved through negotiation and we advise on the drafting and negotiation of termination agreements (otherwise known as compromise agreements) on a daily basis. Clients Our Employment clients include large national household names and PLCs, owner managed businesses, public sector organisations, charities and schools. The team has particular expertise dealing with the issues faced by clients with large and diverse workforces.

5 Additional support As well as providing employment law advice, we offer a range of additional support services, including: Know how At Blandy & Blandy we see the dissemination and sharing of know how as an integral part of our service to our clients, not as an added extra. Every client is different and by understanding their business and the issues they face we aim to provide them with information and training that is relevant to their needs delivered through a mixture of seminars and workshops, electronic updates and personal communication. Seminars and in-house training We have delivered in-house seminars to legal teams and managers with direct responsibility for personnel for a number of our clients. We believe this is highly productive for the managers, from whom there is usually very positive feedback, and for us in terms of establishing the issues that our clients are facing on the ground. We have also presented seminars to managers on HR specific subjects such as Sickness and Disability, Performance Management, Flexible Working and Age Discrimination. Employment updates and ad-hoc briefings We produce a monthly electronic employment law newsletter which highlights case law updates, changes to legislation and other important employment law news and analyses the likely impact it will have as well as any actions that will be necessary. Topics include: Jurisdictional extent of legislation relating to unfair dismissal Sex discrimination and race discrimination Stress at work Pregnancy and sickness Statutory trial periods in redundancy Children in the workplace Working Time Regulations Internal hearings Permanent disability schemes

6 The Employment Law Team Sue Dowling, Partner and Head of Employment T: E: Sue qualified in 1988 and has been a Partner since She has particular expertise in disability discrimination matters and is experienced in handling multiple claims in the Employment Tribunal. Sue is also experienced in mediation and High Court employment disputes. Sue is an experienced advocate, appearing regularly in courts and tribunals in London and the South and is a regular speaker at seminars and workshops. She is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association. Tim Clark, Partner T: E: tim.clark@blandy.co.uk Tim is a litigator by training and concentrates primarily on contentious employment work at both the pre and post issue stages of Tribunal proceedings. He undertakes his own Tribunal Advocacy and has extensive experience of handling a full range of tribunal claims including multi-party actions, complex discrimination cases and claims involving Health and Safety and pension loss. Tim s expertise includes advising on redundancy situations, the employment aspects of business transfers including TUPE and the resolution of any subsequent issues, relating his advice to the commercial context in which his clients operate. Tim is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association.

7 Laura Binnie, Associate T: E: Laura joined Blandy & Blandy in 2007 following completion of her training contract at Bond Pearce LLP where she undertook a range of respondent and claimant work, acting for large national PLCs as well as trade unions. She undertakes a mix of contentious and noncontentious work in the employment team and is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association. Rebecca Hill, Solicitor T: E: rebecca.hill@blandy.co.uk Rebecca graduated from Plymouth University and completed her Legal Practice Course at BPP in London. She joined Blandy & Blandy in 2007 having trained at Wedlake Bell in London. Rebecca advises on all employment and HR-related matters and undertakes a range of contentious and non-contentious respondent and claimant work. She is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association. Shaun Hogan, Solicitor T: E: shaun.hogan@blandy.co.uk Shaun is an employment law solicitor. He acts for both employees and employers in all aspects of employment law issues, both contentious and non-contentious. Shaun joined Blandy & Blandy in 2008 as a trainee solicitor, qualifying in to the employment team in He also works with Sue Dowling on licensing law matters. Shaun studied law at the University of Reading. On completing his LPC at the College of Law, Guildford he was awarded the Michael Fellingham Memorial Prize for the highest mark in the private client elective. He has had various employment law articles published on topics including whistleblowing, employment status and tribunal reform.

8 Testimonials Dealing with all manner of concerns, from discrimination issues to TUPE transfers. Sector specialisms include advising clients from the leisure, hospitality and charities industries. Client service: They handle things very sensitively, they know me and they know how I like to handle things. They take the time to know the individual and offer advice that works for them. Responsiveness: They have been able to meet with us to discuss our issues in the required timescales. Sue Dowling is responsive and gives clear advice according to clients. She continues to advise claimants on tribunal litigation. Sukhpal Matharoo stands out to sources as being sensible and clever. He focuses on non-contentious issues, including TUPE advice. Chambers & Partners UK 2014 Blandy & Blandy s Mock Employment Tribunal was an excellent professional development opportunity and a good investment as we had an all-deloitte audience of about 60 professionals attending. Blandy s Employment team provided a great case study which they presented with a style of communication with which we could all engage. What made the Mock even more valuable was being able to quiz the Tribunal Judge and Blandy s specialist employment lawyers about specific aspects of the case they gave very practical guidance rather than just quoting the law. There was a real buzz from the audience following the training. Catherine Allerton, Senior Manager, Human Resources, Deloitte LLP

9 About Blandy & Blandy LLP Blandy & Blandy LLP is a leading Thames Valley firm of solicitors which for nearly 300 years has advised generations of wealthy families and estates, entrepreneurs and their businesses, charities and philanthropists. Today, we also advise clients in the sport leisure and hospitality sector, professional practices, commercial organisations, landowners and developers. Our values of excellence, integrity and approachability underpinned by our independence mean that our clients trust us to provide them with solutions now and in the future. All of our partners and many of our associates are acknowledged as experts by the two major legal directories, Chambers UK and The Legal 500. Contact us If you would like to speak to us about our Employment Law services or to discuss your situation, please contact Sue Dowling. T: E: sue.dowling@blandy.co.uk W: March 2014

10 Blandy & Blandy LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and authorised and regulated by the Financial Service Conduct Authority. It is incorporated as a limited liability partnership under number OC and its registered office is at One Friar Street Reading Berkshire RG1 1DA. A list of Members may be inspected at our Registered Office. Partner denotes a Member or a senior Employee of Blandy & Blandy LLP.