Employment matters

We provide legal advice and assist our clients in matters related to employment for both employees and businesses.

Fee for legal advice for duration of 1 hour – £195

Fee includes:

• Reviewing and considering documents
• Taking client’s instructions
• Providing legal advice by telephone or Skype
• Providing legal advice at our London or Manchester office

Please note:

• any additional time required to be spent with client is charged at £50 for each additional 15 minutes

Our fees for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal are set out below:

Pre action letter – fixed fee £595

It is not a legal requirement to send a letter before action in employment matters, however this may promote early settlement of the dispute.

Our fees include:

• Taking your instructions and reviewing available evidence
• Sending a letter before action
• Advice upon receipt of an employer’s response

The fees do not include:

• Contacting ACAS and obtaining ACAS Early Conciliation Certificate

ACAS – fixed fee £595 reduced to £495 if we were previously instructed to send a pre-action letter

Before an employment tribunal claim can be accepted, you must have an Early Conciliation Certificate Reference Number.  It is therefore necessary to obtain one by contacting ACAS and telling them of an intention to make a tribunal claim.  Although it is not obligatory to use their Early Conciliation service, we generally advise to do so as this may promote early settlement and may help to understand if and why employer resists the claim.

Our fees include:

• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Setting out your claim and negotiating with an employer up to three hours
• Advice upon an employer’s response
• If a matter is not resolved, obtaining ACAS Early Conciliation Certificate required to proceed with a tribunal claim

Please note:

If you do not wish to participate in ACAS Early Conciliation, a reduced fixed fee of £295 applies for contacting ACAS and obtaining ACAS Early Conciliation Certificate without setting out your claim or negotiating on your behalf

The fees do not include:

• Drafting and issuing a claim in an employment tribunal

Issuing a claim in an Employment Tribunal – £995

The fee includes:

• Drafting and issuing a claim in an employment tribunal
• Submitting a claim to an employment tribunal
• Legal advice

The fees do not include:

• Application for default judgement if no response is received by an employer
• Response to a request for further and better particulars
• Any additional applications
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party

Representation throughout employment tribunal proceedings – £1995

The fee includes:

• Legal advice
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss
• Preparing for a Preliminary Hearing, there is no additional fee if a Preliminary Hearing is listed for a telephone hearing, however if a hearing in person is listed Counsel’s Fees are payable
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
• Preparing a bundle of documents  up to 150 pages
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements for up to 2 witnessess
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The fees do not include:

• Amending the claim
• Dealing with additional claims like discrimination or constructive dismissal

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £500 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow 1-3 days depending on the complexity of your case.

If you claim is is complex work is carried out at an hourly rate of £195/h and an estimate for the whole claim may range from around £2,500 – £5,000 depending on the complexity of the claim, volume of evidence including the number of witnesses and due to other related claims such as discrimination or constructive dismissal.

Application for default judgement – Fixed fee £495

• When Judgement in default is received, writing to the other side and requesting payment

• Application for a default judgment if the defendant fails to file a response to the claim form in time and enforcing the judgment – fixed fee of £695 includes applying for a default judgment and enforcing judgment via HCEO, plus:
• • £60 court fee
  • £90 deposit per address that HCEO is required to attend to cover HCEO fees
  • Success fee – 10% from the debt recovered.

Timescales

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 4-12 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 26-52 weeks. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

Our prices do not include VAT