EMPLOYMENT LAW

Whether you are an employee or an employer we can provide advice in the following areas:

Unfair Dismissal
Wrongful Dismissal
Redundancy
Discrimination
Harassment
Contractual Disputes
Compromise Agreements

The time it takes to settle an employment matter can vary greatly and can depend on variety of factors. Typically, these cases can take anywhere between six months and 2 years to reach a settlement if the matter were to proceed towards a Tribunal.

If you need a little more than just advice and need to take action our solicitors can help resolve your issue amicably through negotiation, of if negotiation is not possible, take your claim to court or an employment tribunal.

Employment law can be quite complicated, and it takes a solicitor that understands your problems and issues in order to properly act in your best interests. Rest assured, our Employment Solicitors, will spend time with you to ensure we fully understand what you need from us. We will then research and analyse your situation, looking at past case law to ensure we have all bases covered when we start the action against the other side.

If you have an employment matter to discuss, then please call or send us an email and we will be happy to arrange a consultation for you with one of our specialist solicitors. Initial consultations are charged at £50 for up to one hour and should we proceed to act for you, this sum will be deducted from our final bill of costs.

Contact us today to see how we can help

Costs

Funding Your Employment Law Matter

There is no legal aid for employment law, so we are only able to act for clients who are able and willing to pay for advice. We may require a payment on account from you before commencing work.

There are, however, a number of potential funding options available and we will help you to investigate the most suitable option for you.

Average range of costs £2,000 – £10,000 plus VAT and disbursements for litigated claims for conducting pre-action steps, issuing proceedings, complying with court deadlines, and preparing for and attending the final hearing.

£400 – £500 plus VAT for Settlement Agreements

Legal Expenses Insurance

You may have legal expenses insurance attached to another insurance policy, such as your household insurance. If you have the benefit of legal expenses insurance this may cover your legal fees for you in pursuing your employment claim

If you did have legal expenses cover, we would charge your insurers our usual hourly rate (please see “hourly rate” below).

How Does A No-Win, No Fee Arrangement Work?

Employment law is one of the few areas of law where contingency fees are allowed but please do note however that this is not possible in every employment case.

As your solicitor we will have to first assess your case before deciding whether we will take it on “on a no-win, no-fee basis” meaning that you either do not pay, or you pay a limited amount, if you do not settle or win your claim. Of course, our initial assessment can take some time.

In some cases, in order to assess there is a ‘risk assessment’ fee. The amount of this fee will vary depending upon the type of case and the degree of complexity.

Essentially, we can use either contingency fee agreements or conditional fee agreements to fund your claim. Contingency fees allow us to take a percentage of your damages awarded in the case at its culmination. Conditional fee arrangements differ in that they allow us to charge a percentage uplift on our usual fees if the claim is won. The percentage used in the agreement would be carefully assessed according to the risks involved in your case.

Hourly Rate

Silverdale Solicitors, like many other law firms, can help you with your employment claim on the usual hourly rate basis. Our Employment Lawyers charge a range of hourly rates depending on their experience and which location they are based. Time is carefully recorded by our lawyers to ensure that you only pay for the time spent on your matter.

Your claim would be dealt with by our Partner and senior solicitor, Alexa Gorse. Alexa’s hourly rate is £201 per hour plus VAT at 20%. Alexa will be assisted by our paralegal, Lugia Price, for less complex tasks such as filing, photocopying, and collating documents. Lugia’s hourly rate is £111 per hour plus VAT at 20%.

There are no Tribunal fees to pay in Employment Tribunal claims at present. If the matter must be heard in the County Court, there will be fees to pay. County Court fees will be dependent upon the value of your claim and must be paid in addition to our hourly rate.

In addition to the costs detailed above, it may be necessary to instruct a barrister to represent at the trial or final hearing. The barrister’s fees will be dependent upon the value of your claim, the complexity of the matter and the length of trial or final hearing. We will obtain a quote for you and ask for payment in advance of the trial or final hearing.

Alexa Gorse is the Partner and Solicitor, admitted to the role in 2004, dealing with Employment Law and can be contacted at [email protected]

Alternatively, call us on 0161 740 0333 to discuss your employment matter or email us on [email protected]