Successful organisations recognise that human resources are the cornerstone of their business and so place great importance on successfully managing and motivating their staff. The challenge for employers is to achieve this at a time when the burden of complicated employment legislation is greater than ever before and the risk of getting it wrong can prove so costly.
Initial telephone discussion
For an initial discussion on a no-obligation basis, speak to Richard today by calling 01473 327401 or emailing him at richard@richardstace.com.
Our proactive approach encourages our employer clients to use the regulatory framework to help achieve their objectives and to effectively manage the risks associated with the employment of staff.
Our products and services are designed to achieve this.
Why choose us?
As a specialist employment solicitor, Richard Stace is ideally positioned to explain your legal rights and obligations, potential solutions to your employment issues and the expected outcome based on your specific circumstances. He is used to dealing with complex matters and can defend or advance your position to help achieve your desired outcome on a range of employment law issues.
Richard has helped employers in a diverse range of sectors through the sensitive process of employment related issues. His aim is always to help clients avoid formal litigation, wherever possible. However, when required, he is very experienced in successfully representing clients in Employment Tribunal claims.
How to get in contact
For an initial discussion on a no-obligation basis, speak to Richard today by calling 01473 327401 or emailing him at richard@richardstace.com.
We specialise in employment law and are based in Suffolk and we advise and assist clients remotely across the country.
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Advice and guidance
To enable our employer clients to manage their day-to-day employment issues.
Our approach is to identify your desired outcomes and to ensure that you have all the tools and support you require in order to achieve them smoothly and effectively.
Advice and guidance is delivered by email, telephone and in face-to-face meetings.
Our A-Z of day-to-day issues that we advise on includes:
- Discrimination, including sex, race, age and disability
- Dismissals
- Employee pay and benefits
- Exit negotiations and termination payments
- Formulation of employment policies
- Flexible and part-time working
- Grievances
- Managing redundancy and workforce re-organisation
- Maternity and parental rights
- Misconduct and disciplinary proceedings
- National Minimum Wage issues
- Performance issues, including sickness absence and ill-health management
- Recruitment – search and selection issues and offers of employment
- References
- Resignations
- Restrictive covenants and competition
- Settlements and settlement agreements
- Transfer of undertakings (TUPE)
- Whistleblowing
- Worker and employee status
- Working Time Regulations
- Workplace bullying and harassment
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Employment documents
Individual or packaged bespoke employment documents. Our approach is to identify our employer clients’ individual needs and circumstances and to tailor their documents to meet them.
The A-Z of documents that we prepare and supply includes:
- Anti-corruption and bribery policies
- Anti-harassment and bullying policies
- Apprenticeship agreements
- Capability procedures
- Consultancy and sub-contractor agreements
- Contracts of employment
- Data protection policies
- Director and senior manager service agreements
- Disciplinary rules and procedures
- Dress and appearance codes
- Equal opportunities policies
- Electronic information and communications systems policies
- Flexible working policies
- Grievance procedures
- Maternity, paternity and parental leave policies
- Restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements
- Service agreements
- Settlement agreements
- Sickness absence policies
- Social media policies
- Staff handbooks
- Time off for training policies
- Whistleblowing policies
Our service may include an audit of existing documents and a report on areas where improvements are desirable.
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Training
We devise and deliver seminars and classes to meet our employer clients’ training and development needs. They are designed to suit their audience, which may be at director, senior or line management level, and are delivered on a one-to-one or group-by-group basis.
- Carrying out a successful redundancy programme
- Carrying out a workplace investigation
- Changing terms and conditions
- Conducting grievance hearings
- Disciplinary issues and dismissals
- Employment law and HR for small business
- Employment law updates
- Equal opportunities and discrimination awareness
- Managing poor performance
- Working time issues
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Employment tribunal representation
From time to time employers face claims from employees or former employees. We are experienced in acting for employer clients in defending claims and, when it proves necessary, we provide representation in employment tribunal hearings.
We will identify your objectives at the outset and we will recommend the strategy and tactics that are designed to achieve them.
Our recent defence work has involved claims for alleged breaches of many and varied employee rights, including breach of contract, unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.
Richard Stace has nearly 30 years’ experience in dealing with employment tribunal claims, having specialised exclusively in employment law throughout his career.
Fee guidance for employment tribunal claims
The cost of pursuing or defending an employment tribunal claim will depend on a number of factors. Not all of these can be predicted at the outset of a matter. These factors will include: the complexity of the claim; the manner in which the claim is pursued or defended by the other party; the volume of documents and number of witnesses; the number and length of hearings that are required to dispose of the claim; if the claim settles, whether it settles early or late in the process. There are other factors which cannot so readily be anticipated.
Our costs are generally based on an hourly rate, which may be between £210 and £235 an hour. You will be advised of the applicable rate when we begin work for you.
As a guideline, our costs for pursuing or defending a straightforward claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal, where the claim is disposed of in a day with up to three witnesses, are likely to be in the range of £5,000 to £7,500 plus VAT, in addition to the barrister’s fees for presenting your case on the day of the hearing and any out of pocket expenses. The barrister’s fees are likely to be between £1,500 and £2,500 plus VAT depending on their seniority and the complexity of the claim.
There are a number of factors that can make a claim more complex than this. They include:
- If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
- Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
- Making or defending a costs application
- Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
- The number of witnesses and documents
- If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if the claimant alleges that they were dismissed after blowing the whistle on their employer
- Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
Key stages
The fees set out above cover the following work:
- taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and is subject to change)
- entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
- preparing your claim or response
- reviewing and advising on your claim or response from other party
- exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- preparing or considering a schedule of loss
- 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
- reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
- agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
- preparation for the final hearing, including instructions to your barrister
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be at the lower end of the range. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged according to your individual needs.
How long will an employment tribunal claim take?
The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of the claim depends on a number of factors, including the stage at which the case is resolved and how busy the tribunal centre dealing with the claim is at any particular point in time. Currently, a simple one-day claim which proceeds to a contested hearing might be heard within six to twelve months after the claim is presented to the employment tribunal. A settlement can take place at any time from pre-claim conciliation onwards. Sometimes claims settle at the hearing itself.
Of course we will keep you informed about costs and timescales throughout any claim in which you are involved.
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