Employment & HR

Recognised by Legal Directories as a top tier employment law team, Geldards has an excellent reputation for providing support and training on all aspects of employment law for public sector and charity clients .

Grievances & Disputes

Workplace disputes can be a major distraction for employers and employees alike. Our specialist employment lawyers understand the value of dealing with grievances and settling disputes in a timely manner to resolve them before they become employment tribunal claims.

We support clients in a variety of ways, including:

• Independent disciplinary and grievance investigations
• Disciplinary, grievance and appeals procedures
• Managing subject access requests by employees
• Guiding you through the ‘protected conversation’ process; and
• Drafting Settlement Agreements

We help clients deal with employment tribunal claims with minimal disruption. Our experience includes unfair dismissal and breach of contract claims along with complex litigation including discrimination, whistleblowing and TUPE. We can help with all aspects of employment tribunal work, including drafting responses to tribunal claims, managing litigation strategy, preparing witnesses, dealing with ACAS, negotiating settlements and tribunal representation.

Employment Contracts & Rights

Our extensive expertise in employment rights includes pay and grading, bonuses, and the National Minimum Wage. We advise on pregnancy, maternity and other family leave rights and on obligations in relation to working time and holiday We are also one of the UK’s leading specialists in the field of equal pay claims having represented numerous Authorities in defence of multiple claims brought by trade unions and the workforce alike.

We help guide clients between ‘traditional’ employment contracts and agile and flexible working – based on what’s right for their circumstances. We can also advice on executive and director service agreements, consultancy agreements, fixed term and part time working.

We work with clients to develop Staff Handbooks and bespoke employment policies that are appropriate and relevant to their own situation.

When contractual changes are needed, we support clients in making those changes and have worked with public sector employers to effect changes to contractual terms.

Redundancy & Business Transformation

We regularly guide clients through the legal requirements associated with a redundancy exercise or outsourcing services, ensuring the process works successfully for everyone involved.

Our extensive experience includes redundancy planning and collective consultation. We can guide you through the redundancy process to ensure you meet your legal obligations, managing timeframes and costs, assisting you with staff communications and ensuring that risks and liabilities are minimised.

We also advise on the intricacies of TUPE, providing guidance on all aspects of your legal obligations including information and consultation, staff communications, electing employee representatives, dealing with Trade Unions and making changes post-transfer.