Employment Law

Advice on Contracts

Our Employment contract solicitors at Boeing & Wise have a huge amount of experience in contract advice for employers – both writing contracts and advising on breach of employment contract issues.

We provide well-written contracts that are suitable for your organisation and clearly set out your employee’s terms and conditions. We will also ensure your contracts comply with changes in Employment Law that continue to change on a regular basis. We can also advise on special provisions for your business.

Finally, we can help you protect your business by advising on suitable post-termination restrictive covenants which are legally enforceable.

 

Defence & Representation

Should your employment law issue have reached the stage where an employee has sought legal advice and brought a claim against your business, our expert team can offer effective legal advice, guidance and representation, and if necessary legal defence in the employment tribunals or courts.

Our aim is to minimise the cost to your business both in terms of financial cost and in terms of exposure. Therefore, our expert team is trained and experienced in negotiating and obtaining favourable outcomes, without the need of going to trial, as our clients desire. Contact one of our expert legal advisers today to find out more.

 

OUR FEES FOR EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Fixed Fee Consultation

At Boeing and Wise we understand that access legal help and advice can be daunting and costly for some businesses and that is why we always try and offer you a clear and transparent cost implication at the very outset. We always suggest that you first book a consultation with one of our expert employment advisors so that we can begin assisting you immediately. We offer a Fixed Fee Consultation.  

To explain, a Fixed Fee Consultation is your choice of a telephone, video or face to face appointment of unlimited duration, where a full assessment of your circumstances is undertaken by specialist Employment Solicitor. What is commonly covered at the consultation meeting is:-

1. Go through the full background of your situation and review relevant documentation;
2. Discuss and identify your objectives, what is your preferred outcome?
3. Discuss any Employment Tribunal claims you may have so you know the strength of your position;
4. Provide an estimate of the value of your claims so you can make informed choices moving forward;
5. Discuss any relevant time limits you need to be aware of;
6. Identify and advise on the next steps you should take to put you in the best possible position;
7. Discuss the funding options available to you if you require our assistance going forward (this is where we would discuss the possibility of using any legal expenses insurance or one of the funding options below); and,
8. After the Fixed Fee Consultation we will confirm our advice in writing so you have a comprehensive record of our discussions and can refer back to our advice if needed when dealing with your matter. 

 

You are under no obligation to instruct us to undertake any further work following the Fixed Fee Consultation. If the information provided in your assessment is all the help you need, that is no problem. If further assistance is required, funding options will be discussed with you at that stage.

The cost of your Fixed Fee Consultation depends upon which of our solicitors you would like to instruct. Our fees are set out in the table below. Please remember, these fees are fixed no matter how long the consultation takes.

Employment Law Specialist	Experience	Fixed Fee Consultation
Director,Partner Employment Law Solicitor	15 years plus post qualification experience	£450 (£375 plus VAT)
Associate, Senior Employment Law Solicitor	5 years plus post qualification experience	£360 (£300 plus VAT)

 

 

Fixed Fees

At your Fixed Fee Consultation or immediately after, your Employment Solicitor will have discussed with you the next steps you need to take. The type of funding option available to you will depend upon what work is necessary; what stage you are at in any process; and, what you want to achieve.

Depending on your circumstances, you might be offered a Fixed Fee for a specific piece of work. For example, you might instruct your Employment Solicitor to draft your Employment Tribunal Claim Form. Your Employment Solicitor will agree a Fixed Fee with you before you make any commitment.

Many clients like the certainty of a Fixed Fee to help them budget for legal advice and assistance.

Hourly Rate Fees

At your Fixed Fee Consultation or immediately after your Employment Solicitor will have discussed with you the next steps you need to take. The type of funding option available to you will depend on what work is necessary; what stage you are at in any process; and, what you want to achieve.

Depending on your circumstances, you might be offered hourly rate funding. This might be for full representation all the way up to an Employment Tribunal hearing or might be for specific assistance, for example, advising and assisting through a disciplinary process. Whatever you have instructed your Employment Solicitor to do, they will provide an estimate of their fees before you make any commitment.

If you decide to instruct your Employment Solicitor using this arrangement, you will only pay for the work actually done on your matter. Often, your Employment Solicitor will be able to offer a capped fee arrangement which means you know the absolute maximum you will pay. Capped fees offer greater security as you might well pay less than the cap, but you will never pay more.

The hourly rate depends on the Employment Solicitor you instruct to help you.  Whoever you instruct will provide you with a monthly itemised invoice setting out what work has been undertaken on your matter. We are completely transparent about fees and set out our charges below:

Employment Law Specialist	Experience	Hourly Rate Fees
Director, Employment Law Solicitor	15 years plus post qualification experience	£300 (£250 plus VAT)
Associate, Employment Law Solicitor	5 years plus post qualification experience	£240 (£200 plus VAT)

 

Conditional Fee Agreement

At your Fixed Fee Consultation, your Employment Solicitor will have discussed with you the next steps you need to take. The type of funding option available to you will depend on what work is necessary; what stage you are at in any process; and, what you want to achieve.

Depending on your circumstances, you might be offered a Conditional Fee Agreement. This might be for full representation all the way up to an Employment Tribunal hearing or might be for specific assistance; for example, advising, assisting and negotiating through the ACAS Early Conciliation process.

A Conditional Fee Agreement works in a similar way to Hourly Rate Fees above. Whatever you have instructed your Employment Solicitor to do, they will provide an estimate of their fees before you make any commitment. Also, if you decide to instruct your Employment Solicitor using this arrangement, you will only pay their hourly rate for the work actually done on your matter. Hourly rates under a Conditional Fee Agreement are significantly lower than the standard hourly rates quoted for each of our Specialist Employment Solicitors (see below).

The main difference between Hourly Rate Fees and a Conditional Fee Agreement is that if your Employment Solicitor is successful in achieving the outcome you want; you will then pay a Success Fee. What constitutes success and triggers payment of the Success Fee will be agreed between you and your Employment Solicitor at the outset. As will the amount of the Success Fee. As ever, you will have the full terms of the funding option available for you to consider before you make any commitment.

The Conditional Fee Hourly Rate depends on the Employment Solicitor you instruct to help you. Whoever you instruct will provide you with a monthly itemised invoice setting out what work has been undertaken on your matter.  We are completely transparent about fees and set out our charges below:

Employment Law Specialist	Experience	Conditional Fee Hourly Rate
Director, Employment Law Solicitor	15 years plus post qualification experience	£210 (£175 plus VAT)
Associate, Employment Law Solicitor	5 years plus post qualification experience	£150 (£125 plus VAT)

 

Damages Based Agreements (No Win, No Fee)

At your Fixed Fee Consultation, your Employment Solicitor may suggest your matter is suitable for a Damages Based Agreement (or “No win, No fee”). This option is not available to every client. For example, we do not offer these types of funding arrangements for general employment law advice or representation outside of Employment Tribunal litigation.

Damages Based Agreements (No Win, No Fee) are only offered to clients for representation at their final hearing and who meet the following criteria:

• they have submitted a claim to the Employment Tribunal; and,
• their Employers have submitted a Response; and,
• all Preliminary Hearings have been attended; and,
• all Employment Tribunal orders (bundle, witness statements, schedule of loss etc) have been complied with; and,
• the matter has been assessed as having good prospects of success at a Fixed Fee Consultation by one of our Employment Solicitors.

Essentially, the way such arrangements work is that you are not required to pay us for our work unless or until we win a settlement for you or win your EmploymentTribunal hearing. If we do win a settlement or the hearing for you, we retain up to 35% of all and any monies you receive to cover our fees.

Legal Expenses Insurance Funding

At your Fixed Fee Consultation, your Employment Solicitor will have discussed with you the next steps you need to take. If you are at the stage of starting an Employment Tribunal Claim, you may be able to utilise any Legal Expenses Insurance you may have.

Clients are sometimes unaware that they have legal expenses insurance as it is often an “add on” to other financial products such as home and contents insurance or fee-paying bank accounts.  For those clients who do have Legal Expenses Insurance, this insurance can used to fund your claim from submission all the way up to a final hearing.  We assist our clients to obtain funding from their insurer in order to pursue their Employment Tribunal claim.

Employment Tribunal – Funding Your Claim

The cost to you of funding your Employment Tribunal claim will depend upon the options available and the complexity of your matter. Your Employment Solicitor will discuss those options with you at your Fixed Fee Consultation.

It is important to note that at the Employment Tribunal you will usually be responsible for your own costs and it is only in very rare circumstances that your opponent will be ordered to pay your legal fees. Therefore, you should expect to be responsible for your own legal fees and ensure you make informed choices when considering your funding options.

Most Employment Tribunals follow a structured process to completion and/or a final hearing. Below is a summary of the work which is likely to be required in an Employment Tribunal claim:-

• Drafting and submission of your Employment Tribunal Claim Form;
• Review and consideration of any defence submitted by the Respondent (your employer the claim is against) in their Employment Tribunal Response Form;
• Completion of a statement of the compensation you are seeking (Schedule of Loss);
• Review, consideration and disclosure to the Respondent of all relevant documentation;
• Completion of a bundle of documents for the final hearing;
• Drafting and submission of witness statements;
• Review and consideration of any witness statements received from the Respondent;
• Preparation for the final hearing of your matter (including preparation of List of Issues, Chronology and/or Cast List if required);
• Representation at the final hearing;
• Representation at any remedy hearing (if required); and,
• Ongoing advice and assistance regarding settlement (if required)

The timescales for the above will depend on the complexity of your matter and Employment Tribunal Case Management Orders.  However, we would expect most claims to take 6 to 18 months from issue of Employment Tribunal Claim Form to Final Hearing.

The tables below set out possible fees for simple, moderately complex and complex claims. The chart assumes your Employment Tribunal matter progresses all the way to final hearing. However, a significant majority of cases settle long before a final hearing is necessary and, in such circumstances, are unlikely to reach the level of costs below.

Also, the following tables assume you have instructed an Associate, Employment Law Solicitor to assist you. If you have chosen one of our Directors, the fees may be higher in line with their rates.

Finally, the estimates below are simply a guide. Your Employment Solicitor will be able to provide a more bespoke and tailored estimate for you following your Fixed Fee Consultation.

Straightforward Case: Unfair and/or Wrongful Dismissal: One day final hearing at the Employment Tribunal.

Funding Option	Free Enquiry	Fixed Fee Consultation	Fees to Final Hearing
Hourly Rate	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	20 hours x £240 (£200 plus VAT) being £4,800 (£4,000 plus VAT).
Conditional Fee Agreement	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	20 hours x £150 (£125 plus VAT) being £3,000 (£2,500 plus VAT) plus agreed Success Fee.
Insurance Funding	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	Your insurance company will pay our fees although there may be an excess to pay on your policy (usually £250 to £500).
Damages Based Agreement (No Win, No Fee)	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	You will not be required to make any payment for representation. However, we will retain up to 35% of any settlement or award.

Moderately Complex Case: Unfair Dismissal with additional element (eg pay issues, redundancy selection etc): Up to two days final hearing at the Employment Tribunal.

Funding Option	Free Enquiry	Fixed Fee Consultation	Fees to Final Hearing
Hourly Rate	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	35 hours x £240 (£200 plus VAT) being £8,400 (£7,000 plus VAT).
Conditional Fee Agreement	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	35 hours x £150 (£125 plus VAT) being £5,250 (£4,375 plus VAT) plus agreed Success Fee.
Insurance Funding	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	Your insurance company will pay our fees although there may be an excess to pay on your policy (usually £250 to £500).
Damages Based Agreement (No Win, No Fee)	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	You will not be required to make any payment for representation. However, we will retain up to 35% of any settlement or award.

Complex Case: Discrimination, Whistleblowing etc: Three to four days final hearing at the Employment Tribunal.

Fixed Fee Consultation	Fixed Fee Consultation	Fixed Fee Consultation	Fees to Final Hearing
Hourly Rate	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	70 hours x £240 (£200 plus VAT) being £16,800 (£14,000 plus VAT). Additionally, with complex claims it is likely disbursements will be payable such as for medical reports and/or fees to instruct a barrister. Those disbursements would be agreed with you in advance and would be in addition to the estimates above.  It is difficult to estimate disbursements as individual cases vary significantly.  Medical reports can be £250 to £1,500 including VAT.  Barristers’ fees for a three day matter typically range between £3,000 to £8,000 including VAT.
Conditional Fee Agreement	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	70 hours x £150 (£125 plus VAT) being £10,500 (£8,750 plus VAT) plus agreed Success Fee. Additionally, with complex claims it is likely disbursements will be payable such as for medical reports and/or fees to instruct a barrister. Those disbursements would be agreed with you in advance and would be in addition to the estimates above.  It is difficult to estimate disbursements as individual cases vary significantly.  Medical reports can be £250 to £1,500 including VAT.  Barristers’ fees for a three day matter typically range between £3,000 to £8,000 including VAT.
Insurance Funding	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	Your insurance company will pay our fees and any disbursement (medical reports, barrister’s fees etc) although there may be an excess to pay on your policy (usually £250 to £500).
Damages Based Agreement (No Win, No Fee)	£0	£360 (£300 plus VAT)	You will not be required to make any payment for our work and representation. However, we will retain up to 35% of any settlement or award. With complex claims it is likely disbursements will be payable such as for medical reports and/or fees to instruct a barrister. Those disbursements would be agreed with you in advance and would not be included within the Damages Based Agreement. It is likely these will need to be paid for separately. It is difficult to estimate disbursements as individual cases vary significantly.  Medical reports can be £250 to £1,500 including VAT.  Barristers’ fees for a three day matter typically range between £3,000 to £8,000 including VAT.