Our Services

At York Solicitors we provide key employment services and advice in following areas.

• Allegations of discrimination and harassment
• Requesting reasonable adjustments in the workplace
• Whistleblowing
• Health and Safety concerns
• Contractual disputes
• Restricted covenants
• Redundancy
• Performance and capability issues
• Unfair dismissal
• Settlement agreements
• Employment contracts, consultancy and service agreements
• Drafting handbooks, policies and procedures
• Disputes or clarification over employment status
• Grievance and disciplinary procedures
• Guiding you through a fair termination procedure
• Advice on settlement agreements for employers

We thrive to provide the best outcome, pursuing the preservation of employment, compensation, an agreed exit or litigation where appropriate.

Our Fees and Costs

Our pricing for representing you in bringing and defending claims before the Employment Tribunal.

• Simple case: £4,000-£5,000 (plus VAT at 20%)
• Medium complexity case: £5,000-£7,000 (plus VAT at 20%)
• High complexity case: £7000 – £15000 (plus VAT at 20%)

The above is not a cap on fees and cases can exceed these costs due to the complexity of the case.

On some occasions we cannot agree a fixed fee and the fee will depend on experience of the solicitor or case worker who will charge on hourly basis . Following chart shows hourly basis details. A typical employment would require 30 hours of work before submission the matter to tribunal. Please note all the fees are excluding vat which is charges at the rate of 20%.

Please feel free to contact us should you have any concerns with our fee.

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
• Making or defending a costs application
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
• Any appeal to court decisions
• Whether our advice is followed

Disbursements

Where your matter proceeds to an Employment Tribunal or Court, Counsel’s fees will also be incurred for preparation and attendance at the hearing. These depend on the experience of the advocate.

Counsel’s fees estimated between £1,000 – £2,500 plus VAT at 20% per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing. There is likely to be a ‘brief fee’ in addition to the above attendance fees, the level of which would depend upon the complexity of your matter and the numbers of days listed. However this could be in the range of £500 plus VAT at 20% for a simple case to £5,000 plus VAT at 20% for a high complexity case. Generally we would allow 1-3 days for a low complexity case, 4-7 days for a medium complexity case and 8-10 days for a High complexity case.

Key Stages and Time Scale

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this will be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change);

• Entering into pre-claim conciliation as this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Preparing claim or response;
• Reviewing and advising on a claim or response from another party;
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process;
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss;
• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing;
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents;
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses;
• Preparing bundle of documents;
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements;
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list; and
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the particular details of your case and the stage at which your case is resolved. There are some matters outside of our control which may impact the time that your case takes to be resolved, such as how long it takes for your case to be listed by the court or Tribunal.