EMPLOYMENT CLAIMS FOR UNFAIR OR WRONGFUL DISMISSAL – IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This is a basic guide but you would need to contact us so that particular matters can be clarified.
WRONGFUL DISMISSAL
If you have been given insufficient notice or no notice as required by your contract or by statute, you would be wrongfully dismissed.
UNFAIR DISMISSAL
This is a statutory “animal” where your employer has dismissed you for no lawful reason and/or has failed to follow a fair dismissal procedure.
Constructive dismissal is when you resign in circumstances where you can justify such resignation by the way in which your employer has treated you – that is by being in serious breach of the terms of your employment.
We set out below an indication of our charges for acting in cases of unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal. If you work for less than two years for an employee, you may only have a wrongful dismissal claim because you will usually need to have worked for an employer for at least two years to be able to claim unfair dismissal or to receive a redundancy payment.
A wrongful dismissal case may involve unfair dismissal as well.
There are other types of claims but, within this short note, these are the details that we are obligated to give you under the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
All you have to do is to contact us and we can see if we can assist you.
Our charges assume that your employment has already ended at the time you consult us.
The advantage of pre-resignation and pre-final disciplinary cases eventuating. It is always sensible to consult your solicitor early rather than too late when certain advantages and tacticals can be obtained by good advice.
For example, we can reach what is called a settlement agreement with your employer which is always the best because both sides have come to a comprise without rancour.
You should normally expect to pay a fee in the region of £500 to £1,200 plus VAT for advising on such an agreement in a simple case and, where the case is more complex, a higher fee should be anticipated.
(Either one of our fees earners will deal with the case throughout or we will instruct a barrister which will add to these fees).
Advice on such matters should be charged at the fee earners hourly rate shown in the departments’ indicative charging rates.
Advice prior to termination of employment is generally not covered by any legal expenses insurance policy they may have.
Employers may often contribute part if not all of your legal costs of a settlement agreement.
Our Pricing For Bringing Claims For Unfair Or Wrongful Dismissal
We stress that the figures below are an indication only.
You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the charges.
This can also be arranged on your individual needs and will result in lower fees.
These figures after taking a case from the start of a claim until a full hearing and a lower fee may be appropriate if a case is resolved and not all the key stages set out below are necessary.
Simple case: £7,500 to £20,000 plus VAT and disbursements – estimated 20 – 50 hours of work;
Medium complexity case – £20,000 to £40,000 plus VAT and disbursements – estimated 50 – 90 hours work;
Higher complexity case – £40,000 to £55,000 plus VAT and disbursements- estimated 90 to 120 hours work.
You should note that many cases do settle and the impetus from Courts and Tribunals are for parties to meet and for there to be mediation and, in employment cases, judicial mediation.
Please note that all fees indicated above assume a claim will be heard in a London venue.
Outside of London, travelling time expenses will be greater than those assumed in the above figures and we should discuss with you at the time of instruction albeit that now, in the time of Covid, generally all employment cases are held remotely by one of the platforms, to include Microsoft teams.
Generally we would allow for a simple cases for 1-2 days, a medium case 2-3 days and a highly complex case 4 days.
Cases not covered by these figures in a very complex case such as whistle blowing allegations or cases in solving discrimination or equal play are likely to take 5 days or more in an Employment Tribunal.
DISBURSEMENTS
There are no longer fees payable to bring an Employment Tribunal claim unlike a County Court claim.
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as a specialist Barrister or the Court. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
Barrister`s fees vary from about £2,500 to £5,000 per day plus VAT (depending on the seniority of the Advocate) for representing you at a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).
TIMING
I would normally say, at the most, if a case goes to a hearing (final) as opposed to an interim one, this would take up to a year but, with Covid, unfortunately cases are taking much longer.
We will, of course, be able to give you a more accurate time scale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
