Employment

Employment Tribunal Claims (unfair/wrongful dismissal) 

Our legal fees for employment cases may be charged either on a fixed fee basis or at an hourly rate. If hourly rates apply, these currently range from £250.00 to £450.00 (excluding VAT).

For any employment matters, you should prepare all relevant documents so that we can advise fully, such as:

• Contracts of employment and related documents (such as relevant policies)
• Any documents/notes about what happened
• Any e-mails, letters, messages and social media posts relevant to what happened
• A list of potential witnesses
• Evidence of mitigation if you are an employee and intend to claim for loss of earnings (to show you have been applying for other jobs)      
• If you have a new job, details of your salary

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal:

• Simple case: £1,000 to £10,000.00 (excluding VAT)
• Medium complexity case: £10,000.00 to £30,000.00 (excluding VAT)
• High complexity case: over £30,000.00 (excluding VAT)

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• Allegations of discrimination that are linked to the dismissal
• Defending claims brought by litigants in person (without legal representation)
• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• If there are complex preliminary issues (for example, arguments over whether a party is disabled or who the employer is)
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim
• Making or defending a costs application
• If there are complex and/or new points of law

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing. The cost of attendance can vary depending on each case but is generally around £1,000 to £2,000 per day (excluding VAT).

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties on your behalf, such as court fees or counsel fees, which will be charged in addition to our professional fees.

Counsel’s fees estimated between £1,000 to £20,000 per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).

Key Stages

The fees set out above cover all usual work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Obtaining your initial instructions, reviewing the documents and advising you on merits and likely compensation (likely to be updated as the case progresses and is subject to change)
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation (where mandatory)
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
• Considering settlement and negotiation throughout the process
• Preparing and/or considering on a schedule of loss
• Preparing for, and, if required, attending, a Preliminary Hearing
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
• Preparing and drafting witness statements and agreeing content with witnesses
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
• Preparing a bundle of documents
• Preparing/agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or a cast list
• Preparing instructions to counsel
• Preparing and, if required, attending, a Final Hearing

The key stages above are an indication of an average claim. Your case may require additional stages or fewer, and we would adjust our fees accordingly.

You may want to obtain our advice in relation to some of the stages, and handle others yourself. We can discuss and arrange this to suit your preferences.

How long will my matter take?

As an indicative guide, Employment Tribunal proceedings for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal last between 6 to 18 months between the issuing of the initial claim and the parties receiving the Tribunal’s judgment. This will vary depending on the complexity of your case, if/when it settles, and, the Employment Tribunal’s own timetable. The Employment Tribunal will determine the precise case management timetable at the first preliminary hearing.