Employment Law Solicitor for Business and Employers

An Employment Tribunal claim can absorb months of management time even when you win it, and the cost of getting a dismissal or redundancy wrong rarely stops at the compensation you end up paying. 

Employment law issues rarely arrive at a convenient time. Whether you’re dealing with a disciplinary process, redundancy programme, senior executive exit, or Employment Tribunal claims, early advice often prevents a manageable issue becoming a costly dispute. If you’re looking for an employment law solicitor for business matters, WHN Solicitors advises employers across Lancashire, Greater Manchester and throughout England and Wales on the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment law issues.

Need urgent advice? Contact our employment law team on 0161 761 4611.

Employers usually come to us at one of the following points:

• An employee has brought, or is threatening, an Employment Tribunal claim.
• You need to end someone’s employment cleanly, often through a settlement agreement.
• You are managing a disciplinary process, grievance or workplace dispute. 
• An employee has raised allegations of discrimination, harassment or whistleblowing. 
• You are dealing with long-term sickness absence or capability concerns. 
• You are planning a redundancy process, restructure or business reorganisation.
• A director or shareholder dispute has broken out and the individual is also an employee.
• Someone is leaving and you’re concerned about restrictive covenants or confidential information.
• You don’t have an in-house HR team and want ongoing employment law support.

This page is for employers and business owners. If you require advice as an employee, please see our dedicated page. 

Business employment law solicitors in Lancashire and Greater Manchester

WHN Solicitors advises employers from nine offices across Lancashire and Greater Manchester: Accrington, Bacup, Blackburn, Bury, Clitheroe, Great Harwood, Haslingden, Rawtenstall and Salford.

While many of our clients are based locally, businesses throughout England and Wales also instruct us for our specialist employment law expertise and personal service. As employment law solicitors for companies and businesses of every size, we act for SMEs, owner-managed businesses, family-run companies, professional practices, manufacturers, retailers and charities.

Many of our clients are small and medium-sized businesses without an in-house HR function. Our small business employment law advice is built around that: practical, direct, and pitched at the level of detail an owner actually needs rather than at a large corporate legal team. Employment law for small business owners often comes down to getting the basics right early, and we work with businesses to do exactly that.

Whichever office is closest to you, you’ll deal directly with an experienced employment lawyer who knows your business and your sector, not a call centre or a rotating case handler. Where a matter needs specialist input, such as a tribunal hearing or a complex covenant dispute, we’ll bring in the right person from our skilled team rather than passing you between departments.

What can our employment solicitors help your business with?

Our specialist team provides employment law advice for business at every stage, placing a strong emphasis on managing risk and preventing workplace issues from becoming formal disputes, whilst protecting business interests and providing robust representation where employment tribunal proceedings cannot be avoided. Areas we regularly advise on include:

How much does an employment solicitor cost for a business?

The cost of defending an employment tribunal claim, and legal costs in employment law matters generally, vary depending on the nature of the advice required, the complexity of the issues involved and the stage at which we are instructed. Some matters may be resolved for around £1,000 to £2,000, whereas the most complex and time-consuming Employment Tribunal cases can cost £10,000 or more. Obtaining legal advice from us at an early stage can often help mitigate the situation and keep legal costs to a minimum.

If you would like an indication of the likely costs of your matter, please contact our team on 0161 761 4611 or at rudy.fendlen@whnsolicitors.co.uk to discuss your requirements. Further details of our pricing structure can be found by following this link.

Defending an Employment Tribunal claim

If an employee brings a tribunal claim against your business, you will have 28 days from the date the tribunal sends the ET1 claim form to submit your response via the ET3 form. Missing that deadline risks a default judgment against your business, so early advice is often important.

Before it reaches that stage, ACAS early conciliation gives both sides a structured opportunity to settle. This is often the point at which a solicitor’s involvement saves the most in the long run, as terms agreed at this stage can’t easily be reopened later.

If a claim does proceed, the case typically moves through a preliminary hearing to agree on the issues and timetable, disclosure and exchange of witness statements, and a final hearing.

We will give a realistic assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your position at an early stage and advise whether defending, negotiating, or settling the claim is likely to achieve the best commercial outcome.

Whilst settlement can often be the right commercial outcome, there are many cases where a robust defence is the appropriate course. Our employment law team has extensive experience defending employers in Employment Tribunal proceedings and is not afraid to challenge weak allegations, scrutinise the evidence, and defend claims vigorously where the circumstances justify it. Where a claim should be fought rather than settled, we are fully prepared to do so.

Settlement remains available at any stage up to the final hearing, and can be the more commercially sensible route.

Redundancy and restructuring

As redundancy solicitors for employers, we advise on getting the process right before it becomes a claim. Most successful unfair dismissal claims following a redundancy turn on process rather than on whether the redundancy itself was genuine: how the selection pool was defined, whether the criteria applied to it were objective and consistently scored, whether consultation was meaningful rather than a formality, and whether alternative employment was properly considered.

Where a redundancy programme is large enough to trigger collective consultation obligations, the timescales and information requirements are prescriptive, and getting them wrong carries a separate financial penalty on top of any individual claims. Advice at the planning stage, before selection criteria are drafted or any announcement is made, is considerably cheaper than defending the decisions afterwards.

Can you stop a former employee taking clients or joining a competitor?

A restrictive covenant is only enforceable if it goes no further than necessary to protect a legitimate business interest, and courts routinely strike down covenants that last longer than they need to (three years, when twelve months would do), cover a wider area than the business operates in (a national non-compete for a firm trading only across Lancashire and Greater Manchester), or block more than the departing employee could realistically damage (the whole client list, rather than the clients they personally worked with).

We advise on drafting covenants that are more likely to be enforced from the outset, and on enforcing existing covenants where a former employee has breached them, including seeking an injunction where damages alone won’t protect the business quickly enough.

What happens when a director or shareholder is also an employee?

Owning shares in a company doesn’t automatically make someone an employee, and the two roles carry different rights that need to be dealt with separately when a relationship breaks down. Under the Companies Act 2006, a simple majority of shareholders can remove a director from office, but if that same person also has an employment contract, removing them as director doesn’t end their employment rights, and can still give rise to an unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal claim. Minority shareholders have separate protection under section 994 of the Act if the company’s affairs are conducted in a way that unfairly prejudices them.

We advise on separating these strands where a director or shareholder dispute involves someone who is also an employee, including reviewing any shareholders’ agreement or articles of association alongside the individual’s contract of employment, and on negotiating an exit where that’s the right outcome for the business.

How do employer settlement agreements work?

A settlement agreement lets you end someone’s employment on agreed terms in exchange for a waiver of their right to bring most employment claims. Resolution by way of a settlement agreement is usually faster, quieter, and more predictable than a contested dismissal or tribunal claim.

Before any agreement is put in writing, there are specific rules around how you can raise and discuss it, including the protection given to certain conversations under section 111A of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

We regularly advise on protected conversations, settlement negotiations, drafting settlement agreements, and managing exits for employees at all levels, from junior staff through to senior executives and directors. 

Why businesses choose WHN Solicitors

Businesses instruct us as their employment law solicitor for business matters because they want practical, commercially focused advice that protects their business and helps avoid unnecessary disputes. We work with businesses of all sizes, providing strategic advice on day-to-day employment issues, workplace disputes, restructures, senior exits, and Employment Tribunal claims.

Our focus as an employment law solicitor for businesses is always on achieving the right commercial outcome, whether that involves preventing a dispute from arising, negotiating a settlement, or defending proceedings where necessary.

Speak to our employment law team

Rudy Fendlen is Director and Head of Employment Law at WHN Solicitors, having joined from Rose Fendlen Law where he was an employment law partner. He advises employers ranging from SMEs to owner-managed businesses and senior executives on day-to-day employment law issues, workplace disputes, settlement agreements, restrictive covenants, and Employment Tribunal litigation.

He works alongside Michael Shroot, WHN Solicitors’ CEO and long-standing employment law specialist, who continues to advise on the most complex matters.

To discuss any aspect of employment law affecting your business, contact Rudy Fendlen or Michael Shroot at our Bury office on 0161 761 4611.

Early advice often prevents a workplace issue becoming a costly dispute.

Other ways we can help

Our Employer Protection Scheme offers a fixed-cost retainer for businesses that want ongoing access to employment law advice without the rigidity of an in-house HR team, including contract and policy reviews and day to day guidance.

If you require advice as an employee, please visit our dedicated page.

Frequently asked questions

Can we dismiss an employee without giving warnings first? Yes, but only in very specific circumstances. Whether warnings are required will depend on the reason for dismissal, the employee’s length of service, and the surrounding facts. While employers will often be expected to follow a formal disciplinary or capability procedure before dismissal, there are situations where dismissal without prior warnings may be justified.

Taking the wrong approach can expose a business to significant legal risk. Equally, following a lengthy formal process is not always the most appropriate or commercially sensible option. We regularly advise employers on when dismissal without warnings, or without a full formal procedure, may be appropriate and how to minimise the risk of subsequent claims.

Can we dismiss an employee with less than two years’ service? In many cases, yes, an employee with under two years service can be dismissed. However, the position should always be reviewed carefully before any decisive action is taken. Whilst employees generally require a qualifying period of service to bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim, there are numerous exceptions and many claims can be brought from day one, including discrimination and whistleblowing claims. Taking advice before dismissal can help identify and reduce risk.

When should we use a settlement agreement rather than a disciplinary process? A settlement agreement can be particularly useful where there has been a breakdown in the working relationship, concerns regarding performance or conduct, or where a negotiated exit is likely to be quicker, less disruptive and more commercially advantageous than a formal disciplinary process.

We regularly advise employers on whether a disciplinary process, settlement agreement or alternative approach is likely to achieve the best outcome while minimising legal and commercial risk.

What happens if we miss the deadline to respond to a tribunal claim? Missing the 28-day deadline for your ET3 response risks a default judgment being entered against your business without the tribunal hearing your side of the case. If you’re close to missing a deadline, get advice immediately rather than waiting for the hearing itself, as options narrow considerably once judgment has been entered.

Does losing at tribunal mean we also pay the employee’s legal costs? No. Employment Tribunals don’t operate like the civil courts, and each side generally pays its own legal costs regardless of the outcome, except in limited circumstances, such as where a claim was clearly unreasonable. This is worth knowing early, since it changes the commercial calculation around whether to defend or settle a claim.

Can we insure against the cost of defending a tribunal claim? Some business insurance policies cover the legal costs of defending an Employment Tribunal claim, and in certain cases the cost of any award made against you. It’s worth checking your existing policy before a dispute arises, and we can advise on how any cover you have interacts with your options.

How much compensation can an employee recover in an unfair dismissal claim? Compensation in an unfair dismissal claim can vary significantly depending on factors such as the employee’s age, length of service, earnings, and how long it takes them to secure alternative employment. A successful claimant may be awarded a basic award and a compensatory award, although the Tribunal will usually expect the employee to take reasonable steps to mitigate their losses.

With a basic overview of the circumstances, our employment law specialists can often provide an initial estimate of potential liability within minutes, allowing employers to make informed commercial decisions from the outset.

Can shareholders remove a director without following a dismissal process? Shareholders can remove a director from that office by ordinary resolution under the Companies Act 2006, which is a separate process from ending their employment. If the director also holds an employment contract, their employment rights are unaffected by removal as director, and a separate, legally compliant process is needed to end the employment itself.

Is a restrictive covenant automatically valid because it’s written into the contract? No. A restrictive covenant is only enforceable if a court considers it reasonable in scope, geography and duration, and goes no further than necessary to protect a genuine business interest. Many standard-form covenants are drafted too broadly to hold up if challenged, which is worth checking before you rely on one.

Do we need an in-house HR team to get ongoing employment law support? No. Our Employer Protection Scheme is built for businesses without in-house HR, giving you fixed-cost access to a solicitor for day to day questions, contract and policy reviews, and early advice before a problem becomes a dispute.

When do we need an employment law solicitor for business matters rather than HR advice? HR support and legal advice do different jobs. HR can usually run a straightforward process well. The point to bring in a solicitor is where the decision carries legal risk rather than procedural risk: dismissing someone who has raised a grievance or a protected disclosure, any dismissal where discrimination could be alleged, senior exits, anything involving a director, and any situation where a claim has been threatened. Advice at that stage shapes the decision. Advice after it can only mitigate the consequences.

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