Employment law radar – Partners Employment Lawyers

Taking on new staff – beware the TUPE Regulations

If you are a firm tendering for legal service contracts, failing to take on the staff that previously carried out the work, on reasonable terms, could cost you a hefty sum in compensation in the Employment Tribunal.  On the other hand you could end up with staff that are surplus to requirements.

A landmark case, in which our firm recently acted (Roydon v Barnetts Solicitors), concerned the issue of a ‘material detriment’ to ‘an organized grouping’ of employees in their working conditions that arose out of the taking over of an important client’s account, constituting a ‘service provision change’.  Owing to the Tribunal’s finding in this regard, the employees were entitled to resign and to regard themselves as having been unfairly dismissed.  This has potentially major implications for the commercial world.

Solicitors and support staff in the conveyancing department of Lees Lloyd Whitley resigned when Barnetts solicitors, of Southport, took over its £1 million account for the Britannia Building Society.  In a case that lasted two years, six former employees brought claims totaling over £250,000.

In the competitive area of the provision of legal services, such situations are common, but employees have now been handed a tool with which to strike back.  The doors have been opened to many similar claims and in these more difficult economic times, the frequency of legal service contracts changing hands is likely to increase, making this a danger area for law firms and other legal service providers.

Gordon Turner of Partners Employment Lawyers advises companies to take the time to assess whether the TUPE Regulations apply, then deal with any potential ‘material detriment’ issues one by one, by engaging transferor, transferee and the employees in the process.

Compromise agreements – redundancy the safe way

The law surrounding redundancy is notoriously complex and can easily be misinterpreted.  However, as long as you watch out for some potential traps along the way, there is a way around it.  We are specialists in this area frequently providing the necessary independent legal advice to the employee.  The concept of a compromise agreement has become increasingly popular and we have been asked by many large employers to act on their employees’ behalves en masse in these situations.

The compromise agreement sets out the terms of an employee’s redundancy.  To the employee the benefit of signing is that the first £30,000 of any compensation offered is usually free of both tax and National Insurance contributions and there is, in the majority of cases, a pay off which exceeds what the employee would get under the law alone.  The benefit to the employer is clearly the protection from future claims as signing it is a full and final settlement against nearly all future claims.  However, in order for it to be legally binding, the employee needs to take advice from an independent legal advisor, which is where we step into the picture.  The advisor should be an expert in employment law who can assist each employee in agreeing the right terms under the agreement and reaching the right decision, based on legal entitlements and commercial reality.

If we can help you with any of the above issues, please contact Hina Belitz by phone on 0780 969 4400 or email hina@partnerslaw.co.uk.

www.partnerslaw.co.uk
www.partnerscompromise.com

Quill Pinpoint have years of experience in developing law accounting software and it has proven more than useful for so many Law Firms across the UK and this case study is a good example.