Employment Law

Clear thinking and sensible advice for every size of organisation

Keeping abreast of employment legislation can be a full-time job and ensuring your business complies with every new rule and regulation can take up your precious time. Whether it’s employment contracts, equality and anti-discrimination policies or procedures for dealing with complaints and grievances, the law rarely stands still. So you need legal advice that’s robust and clear-headed – which is precisely what Scott-Moncrieff’s highly experienced team offers its many clients. 

Our specialist employment solicitors are members of the Employment Lawyers Association. The team also has close links with the CIPD, delivering lectures and training to senior managers and HR specialists. You’ll find we’re no-nonsense and straight-talking, with a keen eye for the most pragmatic and cost-effective solution. Our specialist employment lawyers offer services throughout England including London, Oxford, Birmingham, Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton, Sussex, Surrey, Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff and Swansea.

Our employment lawyers have the expertise and experience to advise employers of all shapes and sizes – from large PLCs and multi-nationals to SMEs and companies with only one or two members of staff. We believe that no business is too small to gain benefit from the very best legal advice.

We also advise professionals such as doctors, social workers and architects who are facing disciplinary action by their professional body.

We’ve been instructed by companies across a huge spectrum of industry sectors, including:

• banking
• manufacturing
• defence
• pharmaceutical
• medical (including GPs and dentists)
• retail
• IT
• high-tech media
• hospitality and leisure.

Legal Advice when there’s an employment dispute

Every business will have to deal with a dispute at some point – whether with a supplier, a customer, a bank or an employee. 

When a dispute arises, you’ll need expert legal advice that’s pragmatic and focused. 

Our employment lawyers regularly advise employers on a whole range of contentious matters, including:

• disciplinary and grievance proceedings
• unfair and wrongful dismissal
• Equality Act claims for discrimination
• defending Employment Tribunal claims
• Restrictive Covenants
• breach of contract
• settlement agreements.

Keeping it out of court – ADR for employers

Of course, being in dispute doesn’t have to mean going to court. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) offers a cost-effective alternative and one that judges now expect businesses to have considered before undertaking formal litigation. Scott-Moncrieff’s top-flight team includes specialist lawyers who have been trained in ADR techniques and who have first-hand experience of the other side of the fence – of working for blue-chip companies and dealing with workplace disputes.

ADR is increasingly popular with businesses seeking to avoid the high cost and potential negative publicity that litigation can bring. In fact, many commercial agreements will contain a clause setting out how disputes should be resolved and arbitration is frequently specified.

Disciplinary Tribunals

Our employment law solicitors also provide pragmatic and straight-talking advice to professionals such as doctors and nurses, teachers, social workers, lawyers and architects who are facing disciplinary action by their regulatory organisations. We’ve represented clients in hearings brought by bodies such as the General Medical Council (GMC), the Bar Standards Board (BSB) or the Architects Registration Board (ARB). 

We understand the impact of disciplinary action in terms of your professional reputation and your livelihood. Our highly-experienced professional discipline solicitors will act as your advocate, fielding enquiries from the investigating body, accompanying you to interviews and submitting written responses on your behalf. Our aim is to keep your stress to a minimum so that any long-term impact on your well-being is no greater than necessary.

Our employment lawyers will accompany you at every stage of the disciplinary process, keeping you informed about what is likely to happen next and representing you at interim hearings as necessary. We’ll be pro-active throughout, keeping one step ahead of the process so you’re always 100% prepared for every development.

We also know all about challenging the decisions made by regulatory bodies. If necessary, we can help you seek Judicial Review if a body’s decision appears to be unfair or unlawful or to breach human rights legislation.

You’ll find we’re clear-thinking, practical and empathetic in our approach. Our specialist employment lawyers understand what’s at stake and will work tirelessly and with creativity and flair to protect your interests and secure a positive outcome.

We’ll also explore the best way of funding your defence, for example through professional legal expenses insurance.

Our Employment Solicitors will ensure your business obeys the law

Of course, complying with the law doesn’t only mean doing the right thing when there’s a dispute. Every organisation must adopt legal working practices, which can mean anything from providing the right training to paying the correct minimum wage. Our employment lawyers pride themselves on our pro-active approach: helping businesses take the correct legal steps from the outset so that disputes are kept to a minimum and staff at all levels benefit from a positive working environment.

Scott-Moncrieff employment lawyers have extensive experience of dealing with the whole range of non-contentious employment issues and have been called in to advise organisations introducing family-friendly policies such as flexible working and paternity rights. 

We regularly provide our clients with legal input about:

• employment contracts and staff handbooks
• directors’ service contracts
• redundancy and restructuring
• maternity and paternity rights
• flexible working arrangements
• working time
• investigations
• domestic and European Works Councils
• restrictive covenants and non-compete issues
• Transfers of Undertakings (TUPE).

What about funding?

We’ll advise on the best way of covering your legal costs so that it’s as affordable as possible. We know it’s vital to keep you 100% informed about what you’re spending as your case progresses and we’ll provide regular fee updates so that you’re never in the dark.

Contact our Employment Solicitors in London

For more information get in touch via our online contact form or call our team now on 020 3972 9011 .