Employment Law Solicitors for Business

Yes, but they need to be well drafted before a court will enforce them.  The restrictions have to be justified – it’s not one size fits all.  The use of covenants to protect business connections and information can be very effective but also expensive if you have to refer issues to the Courts.  There are other ways of preventing unlawful competition, such as prudent use of garden leave and ensuring contractual terms adequately cover company confidential information.

Good communication is key and should happen as part of a specific plan or strategy relative to the task at hand. Ad Hoc representatives can be appointed or ‘group consultation’ is possible and often very effective.  Controlling the message and the way it is communicated is a key feature in effective change management.

Carefully, but with confidence.  Information is key whether it be around medical information, knowing the expectations and limitations of the employee or communicating to the employee the needs and expectations of the business.  Disabled employees create additional obligations on employers and claims for ‘discrimination arising from a disability’ can be difficult to defend in many cases.  Ultimately one does not have to compromise commerciality in decision making but sensible risk assessments should be factored in.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.  This law creates obligations for parties to a commercial transaction in which part of a business is sold or transferred.  The seller has to provide information about affected staff to the buyer and, in return, provide information about what will happen to the employees post-transfer.  The seller must consult with affected staff about the transfer, usually before it takes place, and the buyer must employ the transferring employees on the same terms and conditions.  Dismissing staff in connection with a transfer is prohibited and certain conditions have to be met to justify dismissal (usually on the grounds of redundancy) post-transfer.

Yes, if the employee agrees to the changes. Unilateral changes to contracts come with risks; the employee could resign and claim to have been constructively dismissed or the employee could continue in employment but reserve their right to enforce the old contract.  Only if the contract is ‘affirmed’ will the new contract override the old one.

Yes, but it is contentious. This is when employers cannot get the agreement of their staff to make fundamental changes to the employees’ terms and conditions of employment so the original contract is terminated with notice and the employees are offered new contracts on new terms. The dismissals are likely to be defined as redundancies for the purposes of the relevant rules and, depending on the numbers involved, collective consultation obligations might arise.

In January 2023 the Government issued guidance on how such delicate arrangements should be handled.

There are many advantages to settling cases ‘out of court’, not least for getting certainty over the timing and cost of the outcome.  Settlement can often be achieved for sums that are less than the cost of seeing the matter through to a contested hearing.  On the other hand, problems can arise for employers if it is seen to have created a culture of ‘paying out’ or not defending the well-meant actions of colleagues.  Any settlement should be confidential and the employer should ensure that it gets what it needs from the settlement; return of property, indemnities for future losses arising from past or future breaches of contract etc.  Settlement will almost always be formalised in a ‘Settlement Agreement’ in respect of which the employee will take independent legal advice.