Acting for Employees

Our Charges

Our charges for acting for you on a claim for unfair and/or wrongful dismissal will be at the rate of £225 per hour plus VAT which will be added to our charges at the rate of 20%. We have a minimum charge of £100 plus VAT (if applicable) at 20%.  The total amount of our charges will depend upon the work involved, whether your case proceeds to a Hearing and, if so, how many Hearings there are and how long they take and whether we represent you at a Hearing or arrange for a Barrister to represent you.

Disbursements

As at March 2024 no fees are payable to the Employment Tribunal to commence an application, but Government policy may change.

We would normally arrange for a specialist Barrister to represent you at all Hearings before a Tribunal.  The amount of the Barrister’s fees will depend upon the time that the Hearing is likely to take, the amount of preparation involved, the amount of travelling involved and the seniority of the Barrister and could range from £500 to £1,000 for a short Hearing to several thousands of pounds for a Hearing lasting one or more days.  VAT may be added to the Barrister’s fees at the rate of 20%, but it depends upon whether the Barrister is registered for VAT.

It is possible in some cases that other disbursements will be incurred, such as obtaining a report from an expert, for example an Employment Consultant as to the prospects of your obtaining alternative employment or undertaking searches against your employer.  It is impossible to give an accurate estimate as to the disbursements that will be incurred as it depends upon what the disbursement relates to and the work undertaken by the third party.  The cost of an employment report might range from £2,000 to £5,000 plus VAT at 20%.  Undertaking searches against your employer might range from a few pounds to many hundreds of pounds plus VAT at 20%.  To see whether VAT is likely to be added to the disbursement, please click here.

Key Stages and Timescale

Following your supplying us with the information that we would need to be able to start your case, we would normally write a letter to your employer giving details of your claim. Such a letter may be sufficient to persuade your employers to attempt to negotiate a settlement.   If a settlement is not agreed then the next step would be for the case to be referred to ACAS for early conciliation in the hope that ACAS could assist in bringing about a settlement.   If that is not possible or if your employer does not respond to attempts by ACAS to contact them, we would issue an application to a Tribunal. The Tribunal would require your employer to file a response to your claim and it would then give directions for the hearing of your claim, including the filing of witness statements and documents.   The Tribunal process is not fast and an average time would be in the region of six months from the lodging of the application until you receive a final decision but depending upon the facts involved, it could take more than a year.   If a decision is made in your favour and your employer fails to comply with the decision then we would have to take steps to enforce the decision. That would result in additional work and your possibly having to pay Court fees, though depending upon your income and capital you may be able to obtain help with regard to these.   The Court fee would depend upon the particular steps being taken to enforce the Order, such as arranging for a bailiff to seize your employer’s goods or obtain a charging order against premises they own. Typical Court fees are in the region of £100 to £130. The time that it would take to recover the amount due to you would depend upon the means of enforcement used.   There is no certainty that attempts to enforce the order will be successful.

Fee Earner undertaking the work

Generally applications to an Employment Tribunal are dealt with by Mr. Jeffrey Lee, a Solicitor with over 40 years’ experience in employment law.  If the work was undertaken by another fee earner it would be undertaken under the direct supervision of Mr. Jeffrey Lee.

Acting for Employers

Our Charges

Our charges for acting for an employer in defending a claim to an Employment Tribunal for unfair or wrongful dismissal or a redundancy payment would be charged at the rate of £225 per hour plus VAT at 20%.  We have a minimum charge of £100 plus VAT at 20%.

Disbursements

Please refer to the above section relating to employees.

Key Stages and Timescale

Please refer to the section under ‘Acting for Employees’ in relation to the key stages and timescale.

Fee Earner undertaking the work

Generally applications to an Employment Tribunal are dealt with by Mr. Jeffrey Lee, a Solicitor with over 40 years’ experience in employment law.  If the work was undertaken by another fee earner it would be undertaken under the direct supervision of Mr. Jeffrey Lee.’

---

VAT: To find out whether VAT at the rate of 20% will be added to our charges and as to whether it will be payable on disbursements, please click here.

Note: Prices correct as at 31st March 2024.