Employment Law

We are dedicated to providing prompt, practical and authoritative legal advice on employment law issues to both employers and employees.

Whether you are dealing with unfair dismissal, a performance improvement plan, redundancy, discrimination, issues relating to your restrictive covenants, bonuses, contract of employment, bullying and harassment or any other employment law issue, it is all familiar territory for us.

Settlement agreements

The termination of employment can be difficult for the people on both sides of the table. However, a settlement agreement provides a waiver of any potential claims an employee could bring, helping you manage the risks early on and avoid litigation.

Settlement agreements often allow employers to have more control over the situation, particularly as they often include confidentiality clauses, so you avoid any negative publicity. Kingsley is experienced in drawing up settlement agreements and protecting businesses’ interests.

Disciplinary & grievance issues

Disciplinary procedures are never pleasant to deal with, regardless of which side you are on. For the employee, it is a stressful time as it could lead to anything from a first warning to dismissal. It is your right to seek legal advice at this time and with our support, we can analyse whether the process is fair.

For employers, it is important to start with your policies and procedures as mishandling the situation can lead to claims in the tribunal. Disciplinary and grievance cases are usually quite complicated, but our expertise in this area will minimise the risk of such claims.

Contracts

In our experience, employment disputes could often have been avoided if employers had sought legal advice on their contracts before taking on a significant new hire. Relying on standard documentation is unlikely to provide adequate protection fr your business in the future.

We also assist employees negotiate terms, particularly when it comes to restrictive covenants, bonuses, and termination clauses. Seeking legal advice when offered a new contract can help achieve the best possible outcome.

Policies & procedures

We cannot underestimate the importance of well drafted and comprehensive employment policies as they can help avoid running into problems in difficult workplace situations.

These policies are usually contained within the Employee Handbook and may contain policies on sickness and absence, annual leave, equal opportunities, performance management, whistleblowing, and much more.

Kingsley can assist employers in ensuring you are fully compliant with employment law requirements and get documentation in order.

Unfair dismissal

Employment law is designed to protect employees who have been employed for more than two years from unfair dismissal. The fair reasons for dismissal are capability, conduct, redundancy, illegality, or another substantial reason justifying this outcome.

Whether you think you have been unfairly dismissed or you are responsible for dismissing an employee, we can support you. We always seek the best possible outcome for our clients.

Discrimination

Having acted for both employers and employees is discrimination cases, we have a wealth of experience with discrimination cases.  

For employers, we can provide legal advice on how employment policies and the recruitment process can prevent discrimination claims, as well as seeking to achieve the best outcome as and when these claims as they arise.

We also assist employees when they have been discriminated against, this is most often with regards to pay, bonuses, and incentives; selection for redundancy; or bullying and harassment, but can include a wide range of issues.