Here, Philippa Roberts, employment Solicitor at Newtons in Darlington, explains how we help employers and employees at each stage of the employment process
Transcript:
I’m Philipa Roberts. I do Employment Law at Newtons, which involves helping employers and employees at each stage of the employment process. So, that starts out with the contract of employment and any other employment-related documents. We assist with tribunal claims from the point of view of the employer and the employee, all aspects of that litigation, discrimination, unfair dismissal, and everything in between.
Why should you contact an employment lawyer?
So we tend to try and advise employers that if we get involved at an early stage, our role is to help prevent things from going wrong in the first place.
So, if you have your contracts in place, if you’ve got all your employment documents sorted, and all of your managers are familiar with them, then it really is so helpful in preventing problems from arising.
Having said that, if you do find that a problem arises later on and you want to bring us in, there are always things that can be done to improve a situation.
Can employment contract templates be useful?
Well, you probably expect me to say no, but I would absolutely say no because a template just doesn’t provide all the nuanced information you need. You don’t know who has prepared that template; you don’t know how up-to-date it is; it could be providing out-of-date information that’s no longer compliant with the law, and that in itself can potentially give rise to employment tribunal claims and other issues. It’s not just simply a matter of having a document there; it’s knowing what that document means, how it helps you, and what the potential risks are if you get that wrong.
Why use Newtons for employment issues?
I’ve found that it’s one of the most friendly places I’ve ever worked, and there’s such a wide range of expertise here.
There’s always somebody I can pick up the phone to if we have a query. That’s something that I’ve never come across before; there will be somebody at Newtons who knows the answer. That’s one of the reasons I like it here, but we have a really family atmosphere in our office, and everybody seems to be really friendly.