• Have you received a grievance from your employee?
• Have you received an employment tribunal claim from an employee?
• Do you have an employee that you need to discipline?

It is important that employers deal with grievances raised by their employees and any disciplinary action correctly. If you fail to deal with these in the right way, it could lead to a finding that the dismissal is automatically unfair, and the employment tribunal may increase the compensation awarded to the employee by up to 50%.

Backhouse Solicitors can guide you through this area to limit your liability and properly manage your employees.

If you have already received an employment tribunal application, we can provide you with good practical advice and expert representation.


Can you honestly answer ‘yes’ to all the questions below?

• Have you issued all employees with a contract of employment or a statement of their basic terms and conditions?
• Have you put in place a disciplinary and grievance policy?
• Have you put in place an equal opportunities statement dealing with discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation and age?
• Do you have an employee handbook?

If you have more than five employees:

• Do you have, or have you made an offer of a stakeholder pension to them?
• Do you have a written health and safety statement?

These documents are either a legal requirement (regardless of the size of your organisation) or will enable you to limit your liability against claims from your employees. As of 2007, employment tribunals may now award employees up to £69,900 in unfair dismissal cases (compensatory award limited to £60,600). There is no limit on the awards for discrimination cases.

Every business must keep up to date with incoming legislation – it can be expensive to ignore this area of law!


We understand that as an employer, you have many demands on your time and resources. At Backhouse Solicitors, we have identified a need in the market for a specialist service helping our business clients manage their employment issues. We take a practical and proactive approach, looking to identify and resolve problems before they occur, including (where appropriate) considering alternatives to litigation. We work closely with our clients, providing personal attention and looking to develop long-term relationships where possible.


Our specialist advice covers all of the following areas:

• Review of existing employment law policies and procedures
• Drafting/updating contracts of employment
• Drafting/updating employment law policies
• Advising on day-to-day employment law issues
• Dealing with day-to-day personnel issues such as sending appointment letters and contracts
• Setting up/maintaining a database of your employee details
• Providing HR services
• Providing training for staff in employment law matters
• Dealing with disputes
• Negotiating settlements
• Dealing with tribunal and court claims
• Dealing with compromise agreements and settlements
• Unfair/wrongful/constructive dismissal and all types of discrimination
• Liability of employers
• Rights of employees
• Writing references
• Redundancy
• Fee structure

Our time is charged at a competitive hourly rate, and fixed fee arrangements or monthly retainers may be available to suit your circumstances.

Contact us today for a free initial consultation.