Employment Law

Step 1: We have a meeting or telephone consultation with you to take the details of your claim. We review all the relevant documentation and then advise you if we believe you have grounds to go ahead with your claim.  

Stage 2: Before a claim can be brought in an Employment Tribunal, in most cases you have to initiate pre-claim conciliation through ACAS via a claim form. This is to see if matters can be resolved without a tribunal claim being lodged.  We can help, advising you on commencing conciliation and on any negotiations conducted through ACAS with your employer.

Step 3: If your claim is not successfully resolved during pre-claim conciliation, the next stage is to draft and lodge a claim in the Employment Tribunal. We will:

• Take a detailed statement (if that has not been taken already)
• Draft your claim form and your particulars of claim
• Revise your claim, if necessary, and check you approve it
• Lodge your claim form with the Employment Tribunal

Step 4: Once your claim has been accepted by the Employment Tribunal, it is sent to your employer and they have 28 days to lodge a response.  We will:

• Review your employer’s response with you
• Advise you on the strengths and weaknesses of both parties’ cases
• Determine whether any Tribunal orders may be required, for example for your employer to provide more details of their response

Step 5: Unless further orders are required, the Tribunal will normally issue a timetable for when the case is likely to be heard and issue standard orders which will include:

• The preparation of a Schedule of Loss, setting out what your claim is worth
• Details of steps you have taken to mitigate your loss, by seeking other work, or details of any benefits you have applied for

Step 6: In preparation for the final hearing of the case, we will:

• Collate the documents to be included with the documents the Employment Tribunal will see at the final hearing
• Take statements from yourself and any witnesses you intend calling to support your claim
• Prepare questions for witnesses
• Prepare legal submissions to support your case

Step 7: If your case has not been settled before the final hearing then we will represent you at the hearing, where both parties’ case will be heard. In some cases, there will be a separate hearing on quantification of loss, although in most cases in Scotland it is dealt with at the same time as the hearing on the merits of the claim.

Step 8: We will review and report to you on the Employment Tribunal decision.

This depends on the complexity of the case and tribunal availability, but typically an unfair dismissal case will be between 6 to 9 months from the start to the hearing conclusion.

Where possible, we can provide an estimate based on our assessment of the case. We base our costs on the time spent on a case. This will vary depending on a variety of factors including:

• Number of documents to review
• Complexity of claim
• Number of preliminary hearings required
• Likely length of hearing on the merits
• What approach your employer takes
• Your approach

Fee indication

Simple unfair dismissal claim: Our fees for a simple unfair dismissal claim typically range from £8,500 to £17,000 based on no more than 2 days in Employment Tribunal.

Medium complexity case: Our fees for a simple unfair dismissal claim typically range from £17,000 to £28,500 based on no more than 3 or 4 days in Employment Tribunal.

Hourly rates

We charge for these services on a time spent basis. The hourly rates of our specialist Employment Law team are as follows:

Additional third-party costs 
The work is always carried out by a team member at a level appropriate for the complexity of the matter.

• In Employment Tribunals there are no costs for bringing a claim, and the only likely costs are if medical evidence is required, or costs of witnesses need to be reimbursed, or expert reports are necessary.
• In some instances, we may advise you that it is appropriate to instruct an Advocate to undertake the representation at the hearing.  Their rates vary depending on seniority but are typically between £1000 - £2,500 per day.

Our team of specialist Employment lawyers give clear advice and help on all aspects of employment law and employee rights. If you feel you have been unfairly treated by an employer or potential employer, we are here to help you achieve the right outcomes, quickly getting to the heart of matter and robustly representing your interests if you need to take your case to tribunal.