Josiah Hincks Employment Law Solicitors for Businesses can help your business with all employment matters, from drafting of contracts and handbooks, to defending Employment Tribunal claims. Our specialist employment lawyers will robustly fight your corner while providing you with the best advice for you and your business.
Our Employment Team
Zoe Davis
Trainee Solicitor -Litigation / Dispute ResolutionZoe is a Trainee Solicitor based in our Leicester office.
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How we can help
Our business employment lawyers can help you with:
- drafting employment contracts and employee/staff handbooks
- creating employment law policies (eg maternity and paternity policy, social media policy)
- advising and drafting restrictive covenants
- unfair dismissal claims including constructive dismissal
- discrimination claims including race, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion etc
- all employment tribunal claims in Leicester, or elsewhere
- redundancy law
- compromise agreements
- plus more
We are known for our practical approach to seeking the sensible and realistic solution to problem. As a result we can help guide you to the most satisfactory and realistic outcome taking into account your commercial objectives.
As a business ourselves we understand the seriousness of personnel and employment related legal problems. This gives us the insight into the wider commercial implications of seeking a constructive outcome as soon as possible. Knowing the law is not enough, we know how to be sympathetic and understanding, to listen to what you want. We can also be tough however when we need to be.
Our employment solicitors in Leicester can help you and your business with a wide range of employment law related matters.
Why choose our Employment Law Solicitors?
Why choose us?
We recognise that a large proportion of our work comes from recommendations and satisfied clients therefore for our aim is to give the maximum level of added value service at competitive rates. We accept we may not be the cheapest but we pride ourselves on the quality of service.
We provide clear and concise advice and ensure you are kept fully appraised throughout the transaction. 98% of our clients would recommend Josiah Hincks to friends, family and contacts.
In 2018 Josiah Hincks was recognised by the Leicestershire Law Society as Small Law Firm of the year 2018. This award reflects the excellent service our staff offer its clients and brings assurance to those clients working with us that we strive for excellence in all we do.
Client Feedback
“I can’t really thank Emma Sharp enough for her support in our recent house sale and purchase. She was always helpful on the phone and quick to respond to emails. We had some issues in the chain with solicitors who weren’t particularly responsive or helpful, but Emma battled through and got everything exchanged in the nick of time for our fixed move date. She is fantastic and I would recommend her to anyone.” – 13/07/2020
“Very satisfactory – Excellent service especially in view of the current Pandamic Covid 19. Always available to answer any questions.” – 09/07/2020
“Friendly and professional.” – 08/07/2020
The fees set out below cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a typical unfair dismissal/wrongful dismissal 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 through ACAS where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached
- Preparing the ET3 response to the Claim
- Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
- Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
- Preparing or considering a schedule of loss
- Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
- Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
- Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
- Preparing 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 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 fees you need to pay may be reduced. 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 on your individual needs.
How long with the 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 up to 4 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take as long as 12-18 months, although many simple unfair dismissal cases will be dealt with within a period of 4-5 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.
Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal is typically based on the Solicitors relevant hourly rate, which range from £195-300 plus VAT per hour.
In our experience, the following range of costs may be typical in defending a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal. These estimates are to take a matter from start to conclusion, taking into regard the steps of an unfair dismissal claim mentioned above.
Simple case: £1,000-3,000 (excluding VAT)
Medium complexity case: £3,000-£6,000 (excluding VAT)
High complexity case: £6,000-£10,000 (excluding VAT)
Factors that could make a case more complex:
- 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 you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
- Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing based upon the hourly rate of the solicitor. Generally, we would allow 1-5 days depending on the complexity of your case. For most matters, we would likely instruct a Barrister to represent you at the Tribunal Hearing, likely costs are
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Tribunal fees and barristers costs. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Barrister’s fees estimated between £750 to £2500 per day plus VAT (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).