EMPLOYMENT LAW

Cocks Lloyd Solicitors represent a number of clients in employment matters including medium sized limited companies, family businesses and individuals and have done so for many years. We enjoy a reputation for providing sound, practical sensible advice.

Experience and skill is critical and few firms locally can match our experience in this complicated area of the law.

Our clients are represented by qualified solicitors, we do not use unqualified “paralegal” staff when dealing with such complicated matters as many as our competitors do.

In some cases we can offer a Contingency Fee Agreement. This means we agree to advise you on the basis that if you are successful we will receive an agreed, fixed sum or percentage of any compensation you recover. Usually there will be a fee for considering the papers initially following which we will discuss fees with you and if this method of funding is appropriate for you.

We are often able to offer a fixed fee to employers and employees for our advice so you are quite clear on the costs involved before we do any work for you.

Cocks Lloyd deal with most areas of employment law including but not limited to the following:

  • Settlement (Compromise) Agreement
  • Contracts (review and preparation)
  • Disciplinary action
  • Discrimination (race, age, sex, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation)
  • Drafting (contracts, agreements, policies, handbooks, procedures)
  • Employment Tribunal Proceedings
  • Grievances
  • Health and safety
  • Holiday pay/entitlement
  • Maternity/Paternity
  • Redundancy
  • Sick pay/absence
  • Transfer of Undertakings
  • Unfair dismissal
  • Wrongful dismissal

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal

For a simple case typical costs are between: £2,500-£5,000 (excluding VAT)

For a medium complexity case: typical costs are £4,000-£8,000 (excluding VAT)

For a high complexity case: typical costs are £7,500 -£12,500 (excluding VAT)

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1250 per day (excluding VAT presently charged at 20%).

Generally, we would allow 1-2 days depending on the complexity of your case.

DISBURSEMENTS

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as barrister’s fees.

We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Counsel’s fees for representing you at a hearing vary depending on their experience but usually will between £1,500 and £2,000 (plus VAT charged at 20%) per day for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including all preparation)

As an approximate guide the following charges apply to each stage of a claim (VAT charged at 20%) :

Initial advice£250 plus VAT
Preparing response to ET claim£750 plus VAT
Dealing with Tribunal Directions£750 plus VAT
Preparing your case for a hearing£1,500 plus VAT
Representation at Tribunal£1,200 plus VAT per day

KEY STAGES

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

  • 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 subject to change)
  • Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
  • Preparing your claim or drafting your response to a claim
  • Reviewing and advising on a claim or the response from another party
  • Exploring settlement and conducting settlement negotiations on your behalf
  • Preparing or considering a schedule of loss in respect of your claim
  • Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing at the Employment Tribunal
  • Dealing with exchanging of documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents for Tribunal proceedings
  • Taking witness statements, including drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
  • Preparing bundles of documents for Tribunal hearings
  • Reviewing and advising you on the other party’s witness statements
  • Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
  • Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced.

You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only take advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged to suit your individual needs.

HOW LONG WILL MY MATTER TAKE?

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 4- 6 months. 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.

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS

For a simple agreement we charge a fixed fee of £350 plus VAT (£420.00 in total VAT charged at 20%) to include reviewing the Agreement together with any other relevant documents (your contract of employment for example) attending on you to explain the contents and the legalities involved in signing such an Agreement and advising you as appropriate.

Usually the employer will agree to meet these fees.

For a more complex matter this fee may be varied; we will discuss this with you beforehand if this is likely.

Again, it is usually possible to obtain payment from your employer towards these fees.

EMPLOYMENT ADVICE

Not all employment advice involves an Employment Tribunal claim.

Whether you are an employer or employee we are happy to advise on any matters that may arise.

We can assist you in reviewing existing or drafting new Employee Handbooks in order to ensure that they are up to date and compliant with relevant legislation

Our usual hourly rate of £225 plus VAT charged at 20% will apply however we are happy to provide a fixed fee for a particular piece of work upon request

All work is supervised by a qualified Solicitor.

Specific experience can be seen looking at the individual profiles of our staff.

We understand the commercial realities and challenges facing employers and employees in an increasingly complex world of work place regulations. Taking early advice often saves a great deal in time and expense. We are also happy to visit you in your workplace or by appointment meet with you outside normal office hours.

We can assist you in various aspects of employment law including preparing and advising you on documents which might need to be revised and updated or amended to suit your business as it evolves or to keep up to date with the most recent changes.

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