Employment Law For Employees

We are expert employment lawyers here to guide employees through contract disputes, restructuring, disciplinaries, and redundancies

Contract Solicitors

As an employee, regardless of the number of hours you work per week, you are entitled to receive a written statement detailing the terms and conditions of your employment. This should be issued before you start work.

Contracts although go far beyond the legal necessity, and provide you and your employer with peace of mind so everyone knows where they stand.

Key Contact

Rebecca Dennis

Head of Employment

Restructuring & Your Rights

If the business you work for is considering reorganisation and restructuring you will understandably have concerns about how your role might fit in.

To restructure, a business must ask themselves what the desired outcome of the restructure is. You may find that having open conversations with your employer enables both you and the business to grow and expand.

However, this will not always be the case and so Goughs will draw on our experience as an employer, as well as a successful and growing business to ensure any advice offered puts you at the heart of the matter.

Get legal advice early on, to protect yourself in the workplace

Your employment experts since 1882

Disciplinaries & Grievances

Raising a grievance within your workplace can be a daunting prospect, but when done in the right way and with a desired outcome in mind, it can make the workplace a much better place to be for everyone involved. A grievance can be any concern, problem or complaint that, as an employee, you wish to raise with your employer.

The ACAS code sets out in detail the process and recommended procedure, but the code is detailed and requires some reading, but of course we have done that for you and can provide advice tailored to you and your situation.

diversity in the workplace - 2 colleagues working together

Redundancies & Your Rights

The thought of being made redundant can be extremely worrisome. Sadly, it is although often necessary to allow a business to grow and adapt to changing circumstances.

The best thing you can do is be prepared for any conversations with your employer and to understand your rights to ensure you receive any payment you might be entitled to.

Your employment law questions answered

Employers can certainly breach your employment contract, and for a number of different reasons. The most common reason will be that they haven’t stuck to a clause within the contract. This can include:

  • Making unauthorised changes to the contract
  • Not following the correct procedures as outlined in the contract
  • Failing to pay monies owed such as salary.

Your employer isn’t permitted to make changes to your working hours, job duties or rate of pay in the employment contract without notifying you, and in many cases reaching an agreement.

Yes. It is a statutory requirement to provide written terms and conditions (know as “particulars”) before you start work.

They should, and we would certainly encourage all employers to have a written grievance policy, albeit we would advise that this should not be contractual. This will ensure that all parties are aware of the procedure.

Disciplinary action may be taken for a variety of reasons. It could be as a result of poor performance or unsatisfactory attendance. Alternatively you may be suspected of committing an act of misconduct, which if sufficiently gross, could result in dismissal.

In each instance, your employer must be able to demonstrate that they followed a fair procedure, and the decision to invoke a disciplinary sanction was reasonable in all the circumstances.

Many factors can be considered when assessing the reasonableness of a decision to discipline.

For example, the seriousness of the matter, whether you have been subject to a previous disciplinary process or have an active disciplinary warning in place, breach of rules or protocols are but a few.

For further advice please contact an employment specialist at the earliest possible stage of the process.

Your employer must follow a fair redundancy process, if you will have been employed by them for 2 years at the end of your employment.

They should arrange at least 1 meeting with you to discuss the potential redundancy.

In terms of a formal process to follow, the are no hard and fast rules as to what your employers process should look like. They should although have a process so do ask about it to ensure they follow it.

Redundancy pay is calculated based on your length of service and age. The length of service is capped at 20 years.

You are entitled to:

  • 1.5 weeks pay for each full year of employment after your 41st birthday
  • a weeks pay for each full year of employment after your 22nd birthday
  • half a weeks pay for each full year of employment up to your 22nd birthday

At Goughs, our employment specialists have unrivalled experience in dealing with both employers and employees. We can help with a broad range of employment disputes, processes and procedures.

We have built up many years of experience and our team not only offer advice to businesses but also advise on broader business planning issues and sit on various advisory boards, ensuring that our advice and expertise ensures all advice really is in your best interests.

Our clients rate us as excellent

Lucy Fleming

Super helpful, always on hand when I need them. I would highly recommend Goughs they are my only go to for any legal assistance. In particular a big thank you to Rebecca Dennis who takes the pinch out of any employment queries. 5 * Service

T H, Chippenham

I could not have wished for a more professional dedicated team, I am so grateful for all their help and support, I would highly recommend Goughs solicitors to family and friends.

Andy Turner

Rebecca is professional, efficient and extremely knowledgeable on all aspects of Construction Law.

J S

I commend Rebecca Dennis and her team on the seamless and painless handling of my recent termination agreement. Professional, efficient, smart!

Legal 500

Goughs provides an equally high level of service regardless of the scale of the job and the fee attached to it. They are a multi-disciplinary practice where the individual specialists communicate well between departments.

Your employment law team

Megan Solomon

Trainee Solicitor

Rebecca Dennis

Head of Employment

Tabitha Stockham

Trainee Solicitor

Tabitha Stockham

Trainee Solicitor

Megan Solomon

Trainee Solicitor

Rebecca Dennis

Head of Employment

Why you should put your trust in Goughs hands

Local since 1882, with an excellent reputation

First-class, effective service

Largest solicitors in Wiltshire

Seven offices throughout the county

Nationally accredited law firm

Recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners

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