If this happens to you, see a solicitor

I’ve been dismissed, made redundant, accused of misconduct at work, been bullied/harassed/discriminated against.  I need help: what do I do?

Your first step should be to get some legal advice from someone who knows what they’re talking about.  There are numerous sources of legal advice around – just look on Google for instance.  You may have access to a legal helpline via an insurance policy, or you could go to your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Law Centre.  Failing all that you could go and see a solicitor.  The best option is to ask friends, family or colleagues for a personal recommendation but make sure that the solicitor they recommend specialises in the type of law you’re concerned with.  A solicitor who specialises in property work may not know that much about employment law (and vice-versa).

I’ve never been to see a solicitor before.  I’m a bit worried about it.

Don’t be! You’re the client and the solicitor is there to help you.   Most solicitors don’t bite.  These days you should expect to get a courteous and friendly welcome and not be treated as an inferior being.

He probably would bite you, most lawyers wouldn't

Will it be expensive?

It needn’t be. You need to check out how much the solicitor charges before you go along.  Many firms will offer free initial interviews, others will offer an introductory rate.  All solicitors are required to give costs estimates to their clients as soon as practicable.  Don’t hesitate to ask when making contact for the first time.

There are many different funding arrangements out there these days, from no win no fee, to third party funding to legal  expense insurance.  Many solicitors will work on a fixed fee basis in appropriate cases.  In others legal aid may be available (although not usually for employment disputes).

What do I need to take with me?

For employment disputes we always need to see the following;

Your contract of employment (and any variations)

The compromise agreement (if you’ve been given one)

Any relevant correspondence/emails/statements etc relating to the dispute

Any relevant company policies e.g  disciplinary/grievances, diversity issues, whistleblowing etc.

Identification – solicitors have to conduct “know your client” enquiries as well as banks and other professionals, so always take your passport/photocard driving licence and a recent utility bill with you to the first meeting

I always find it really helpful if new clients provide a brief synopsis of the problem/dispute, giving important dates, persons involved and central issues so that the first meeting can be spent not just on fact finding but also on giving some preliminary advice.  Do remember that solicitors are human beings too; if you present the facts and issues of your case to him/her clearly and concisely that will enable the lawyer to get on top of it all much quicker.  In the end that will speed the whole process up and be more cost effective for you.

Please click here for more about the firm and some of the areas of law we can help you with.

Someone's got to read this lot

What happens next?

The solicitor should be able to advise you on your situation and what your options are.  If more information is needed, or enquiries need to be made, you should be told.  Make sure that you raise any queries that you want dealt with (don’t be afraid to make a list of questions to take with you) and don’t be afraid to telephone or email later if you think of something that you forgot to mention or something wasn’t clear.

If I can assist you at all please do call me on 0207 464 8433 or email me at michaelscutt@dalelangley.co.uk.

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5 steps to getting the employment law advice you need originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 11/05/2010.

Yesterday I spoke at a workshop arranged by Gateway Media on the theme of “Combating Tesco Law: Preparing your Brand Presence”.  I tried to explain what the LSA does in about an hour – it was a bit of a rush but no one fell asleep and I hope I got the main points across.  As promised I have loaded my Powerpoint presentation onto Slideshare and you can view it here;

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2. Combating Tesco Law: Prepare your Brand Presence
3. Contracts of Employment – what you need to know

The Legal Services Act 2007 originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 03/03/2010.

Wot, no snowman?

I’m not referring to the five inches of snow outside as I write this, and the inevitable disruption caused to roads and railways for the next week,  but instead I am considering what the main statutory changes affecting employment law issues in 2010 will be.

January  

Not much will happen this month while everyone looks in astonishment at their credit card bills, but just a reminder that the Vento guidelines on awards to be made in cases of injury to feelings in discrimination cases look to have been increased late last year in the case of Da’Bell v NSPCC. The Court of Appeal case in Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police in 2002 set three main bands for ETs to consider when making awards for injury to feelings; 

Lower – £500 – 5,000                       – for one-off or isolated incidents 

Mid     - £5,000 – 15,000 – for more serious incidents but not of the most serious nature 

Upper -£15,000 – 25,000               – for the worst examples of discriminatory behaviour, such as where there has been a campaign of bullying and harassment.  Only exceptionally should awards be made in excess of the upper figure. 

Since 2002 these bands have not changed.  It is now anticipated that the new bands will be 

Lower:  £? – 6,000 

Mid – £6,000 – 18,000 

Upper – £18,000 – 30,000 

For a fuller and very helpful discussion see Usefully Employed’s post on the subject.  

February 

This month will see something that hasn’t occurred before.  The maximum compensatory award that can be made by an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal will actually decrease. The Employment Rights (Revision of Limits) Order 2009 states that the maximum award will decrease from its current £66,200 to £65,300 for all claims where the event giving rise to the claim  occurred on or after 1^st February 2010.  This is because the maximum amount is linked to the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and that fell by 1.4% in the year from 1^st September 2008. 

The MINIMUM AWARD that can be made to an employee excluded/expelled from a Union and not re-admitted by the time the case reaches an ET falls from £7,300 to £7,200 

The maximum guarantee payment to an employee under s.31(1) ERA 1996 decreases to £21.20 per day. 

Each February also sees various other rates and limits amended – usually upward.  This time though the maximum weekly award, used for Statutory Redundancy Pay purposes and calculating the Basic Award in Unfair Dismissal cases will remain at £380, but only because it was increased to that figure last October.   

April – other notable increases, will be 

Statutory Adoption         } 

Paternity                            }                          all increase from £123.06 to £124.88 per week 

Maternity Pay                   } 

Maternity Allowance      } 

But, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will remain unchanged at £79.15 p.w 

This month will also see employees at employers with at least 250 employees acquire the right to request time off for studying or training relevant to the business.  The right is simply to request time off NOT for the employer to fund the training. 

Income Tax will rise to 50% for those earning more than £150,000 p.a 

October 

Legislative developments tend to occur in April and October now.  In October it is expected that the Equality Bill will come into force to hopefully bring some order to the convoluted and confusing plethora of anti-discrimination laws currently on the statute book. It won’t just tackle discrimination in the employment arena, but will be wider ranging. Contractual provisions that prevent employees discussing their pay with workers are expected to be made illegal and the government will acquire the power to force privatre companies to disclose gender-pay details.  More on all this in due course, assuming that it survives a change of government 

Throughout the year there will be new cases being decided that will make the headlines, or appeals considering cases that caused a stir in 2009.  I will cover these as they come up so please subscribe to the RSS feed or to the email updates for “breaking news”. 

If you need advice on any employment law issues please call me on 0207 464 8433 or email me at michaelscutt@dalelangley.co.uk.

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1. There may be trouble ahead …
2. Will SRP be increased?
3. Case Round Up 25th January 2010

What lies ahead in 2010? originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 06/01/2010.

A couple of weeks ago I was “twitterviewed” * by Lance Godard of 22Twts fame. It covered both professional and personal stuff and,  if you haven’t got any paint drying and don’t feel the need for root canal surgery, why not read the interview by clicking here?

* A Twitterview is a live interview on Twitter in 22 questions.  It’s a great thing to do – thanks for inviting me Lance.

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1. Twitterview tonight

Read my Twitterview originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 22/11/2009.

For those of you on Twitter I am being twitterviewed tonight by 22Twts. If you haven’t come across one yet, a Twitterview is a series of (22) questions posed by Lance Godard and my responses, in real time, on Twitter.  Lance asks some really interesting and high-profile people to do his Twitterviews so I’m delighted to be asked to take part and be in such august company.

It starts at 20.00 GMT and please take a look when I will be revealing my deepest darkest secrets, or something, as well as talking about Dale Langley & Co and employment law.  I don’t think Hello or Ok magazines will be terribly interested though.

 You can follow me  = @michaelscutt  and the  twitterview can be found at @22twts and #22twts 

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1. Read my Twitterview

Twitterview tonight originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 05/11/2009.

The “subscribe by email” feature hasn’t been working since the redesign, but it should now do so.  I do apologise if anyone has been trying to subscribe and getting very frustrated as a result.  Please try again!

One of the side-effects of blogging that isn’t often mentioned is the effect it has on one’s IT knowledge.  I think I’m beginning to understand what’s going on “under the bonnet”, as it were.

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1. Please re-subscribe to the RSS feed

Subscribe by Email originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 27/10/2009.

Because of the recent revamp of the blog and relocation to a new website, the old RSS feed has been broken.  Please re-subscribe using the button at the top right-hand corner of the page. 

Sorry about that!

Kind regards

Mike

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1. Subscribe by Email

Please re-subscribe to the RSS feed originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 02/10/2009.

The excellent employment law website Emplaw informed me that the House of Lords was only around as the final court of appeal for a mere 610 years.  Labour’s Constitutional Reform Act 2005 did away with the House of Lords as a Court, with the intent of trying to ensure there was a proper separation of powers between legislature and judiciary.  Apparently the last Law Lord to meddle in politics was one William Le Scroope, who was beheaded for his trouble.  I don’t suppose there is any chance of a similar fate befalling those politicians who try and interfere in legal matters for a cheap headline: I’m particularly thinking of Harriet Harman who weighed into the dispute over Sir Fred Goodwin’s enormous pension by threatening to “take action”.  No such luck I suppose.

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2. Subscribe by Email
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Goodbye House of Lords, Hello Supreme Court originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 01/10/2009.

Statutory redundancy pay (SRP) increases by the rate of inflation every February and this year’s increase saw it rise to £350 per year of service. However, unusually, in the last budget the Chancellor increased it again to £380 per week, although he did not specify a date for the implementation. He has now done so and, from 1st October next, the increase will take effect. The measure was introduced to provide greater support to those people made redundant;  whether it will do that seems unlikely in most cases, whilst increasing the burden on employers.

This  is also the figure that is used for the “Basic Award” in Employment Tribunal cases.  It will not increase again in February 2010.  

The government now tends to introduce a raft of new measures twice a year – in April and October.  I will post again shortly on some of the other measures being brought in.

In the meantime, if you have any queries on any aspect of employment law please contact me at michaelscutt@dalelangley.co.uk or on 0207 464 8433

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2. Will Court decision lead to an increase in dismissals?

SRP to increase on Thursday originally appeared on Jobsworth by Michael Scutt on 26/09/2009.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

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