Employment Law

Griffin Law is experienced in acting for individual claimants before employment tribunals who have the benefit of legal expenses insurance (often as part of their domestic buildings or contents policies, or even as part of their car insurance), as well as acting for claimants under contingency fee agreements (although we will ordinarily charge a fixed fee at the outset for reviewing a prospective client’s papers).

Time is always of the essence when it comes to employment disputes: you usually only have three months to bring a tribunal claim. Know your rights. And let us help you enforce them.

We are also able to advise you in respect of your rights under the Equality Act 2010. This protects your right not to be discriminated against on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital status, civil partnerships, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Those who discriminate against you – be they employers, service providers or others covered by the Equality Act 2010 – must prove that their conduct was not discriminatory. The burden of proof is reversed in your favour as complainant.

Employers use many reasons for dismissing employees including performance, sickness, absence and gross misconduct. If you feel you have been treated unfairly, getting legal advice as quickly as possible is essential, as there are strict time limits for pursuing unfair dismissal claims.

Our team of experienced lawyers can help:

• explain whether you have an unfair and/or wrongful dismissal claim;
• outline your options and support you through your claim;
• advise whether the best course of action is through the Employment Tribunal or court proceedings;
• ensure you are properly prepared to give evidence;
• negotiate the best financial outcome for you;
• help you to secure the best outcome before any court or tribunal, or a sensible commercial settlement.

How much does an Employment Tribunal cost?

Our typical fees for bringing claims before the Employment Tribunal on behalf of individual employees for unfair and/or wrongful dismissal claims are set out below. These fees are based on cases that proceed to a final hearing and are based on our experience of the average time a matter takes to be dealt with and our hourly rates. If your case concludes earlier, then the fee will be less (e.g. if an out-of-court settlement is agreed or if your employer accepts liability).

There are typically three levels of employment claim depending on the complexity and the fee varies accordingly. We have also set out in more detail how we charge and the factors that will affect what the total fee will be for your claim. All fees are exclusive of VAT charged at 20%.

• Simple claim – fees range from £10,000 – £20,000 (excluding VAT)
• Medium claim– fees range from £20,000 – £40,000 (excluding VAT)
• Complex claim – fees range from £40,000 – £80,000 (excluding VAT).

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of between £1,200 and £2,500 per day (excluding VAT), depending on the hourly rate of the lawyer involved.

The hourly rates charged by our lawyers are as follows:

• Directors, Consultants & specified Senior Associates: £400 per hour (excluding VAT);
• Specified Senior Associates, Associates and legal executives with over 4 years’ equivalent experience: £350 per hour (excluding VAT);
• Associates, Assistants, legal executives and fee-earners with up to 4 years’ equivalent experience: £250 per hour (excluding VAT);
• Trainee Solicitors, Paralegals & Support Staff: £200 per hour (excluding VAT).

Factors affecting the overall fee

While it is impossible to list all the factors that could affect the overall fee, as each case varies, the most common factors to bear in mind are:

• the conduct of the opponent and/or their lawyers;
• how busy the Tribunal might be with other cases (which could mean that it takes longer for your claim to be heard);
• the location of the Tribunal;
• the amount of correspondence and documents for us to review;
• your conduct in working collaboratively with us;
• any preliminary or interim hearings that might be required to determine substantive issues before the final hearing itself;
• postponement of hearings;
• if there is an ongoing disciplinary or grievance appeal process;
• the length of the final hearing itself.

Key stages in the process

The fee ranges set out above will cover all of the work concerning the typical stages of a claim before the Employment Tribunal. These key stages include:

• 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 early conciliation via ACAS where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• preparing your claim;
• reviewing and advising on the response to your claim from your employer;
• exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process;
• preparing for and attending a preliminary hearing to resolve any initial issues in relation to the claim;
• reviewing potentially relevant documents and exchanging documents that need to be disclosed with your employer;
• reviewing the documents disclosed by your employer;
• preparing witness statements and reviewing/advising on the witness statements provided by your employer and any witnesses they have called;
• agreeing the bundle of documents to be used at the final hearing;
• agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list.
• preparing for and attending the final hearing, including instructions to the barrister who will represent you at that hearing.

These stages are an indication only. If some of the stages above are not required, the fees would be lower than the estimated fees above, conversely, if there are additional stages, the fee will be at the higher end. You could also reduce the fees by handling the claim yourself and only having our assistance in relation to some of the stages.

How long does the process take?

The time from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your claim depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during early conciliation, aided by ACAS, your case is likely to take 2 to 6 weeks to conclude.

If your claim proceeds to a final hearing, then typically it will be in the range of 9 to 24 months from when your claim (known as an ET1) was submitted to the Tribunal.

The date for the final hearing is usually set at the case management and/or preliminary hearing if required, which generally takes place 3-6 months after the deadline for the employer’s formal response (known as an ET3) to your claim.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs and expenses related to your case that are payable to third parties, such as barristers’ fees. As we instruct the barrister on your behalf, we handle the payment of their fees, having first obtained money on account from you.

We will usually recommend that we instruct a barrister to represent you at the final hearing and at any case management and/or preliminary or interim hearing to determine substantive legal issues.

Barristers’ fees range from £1,000 to £5,000+ per day (excluding VAT), depending on their level of experience and availability. We will only engage the services of a barrister once you have agreed to their fees and remitted funds on account to us to enable us to pay them for you.

Travel expenses will be charged at cost (without any uplift) to you for attending any hearings on your behalf or with you. We may also incur some postage or courier costs, and in complex cases, we may use an e-discovery platform to handle voluminous electronic documentation.

The amount of these expenses will depend on the location of the hearing and the number of times that travel is incurred.

We are the lawyers you want on your side. Please contact [email protected] or use the form below to get in touch.