Employment Fees and Price transparency for Employees

Fixed fee: £250 plus VAT

This is a meeting with a qualified solicitor for one hour. A summary of the advice provided during the meeting will be followed up in writing.

Where appropriate, we may waive this fee where further work is instructed. We do so at our complete discretion.

When the fixed fee case assessment has been concluded, you have the option to instruct us on an hourly rate basis.

Solicitors charge at the rate of £270 plus VAT per hour.

Timescale: 1 week

£500 – £1,000 (plus VAT)

This is a consultation, strategy advice only and confirmation of advice in writing. If further work is required, a quote will be provided by the solicitor.

Our fees may vary depending on the complexity of the contract, policies or law involved. Costs can increase if a Barrister’s opinion is required although this should be reserved for complex, high value dispute.

Disbursement:  Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Counsel’s fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

We estimate the cost of obtaining a barrister opinion to be between £500 – £1,000 plus VAT and will only be required for a very complex or serious matter

Timescale: 2 weeks (subject to a barrister’s timescale where an opinion is required.)

£500 – £2,500 plus VAT

Our solicitors will review your documentation and advise on what you want or need to move forward. We will help to put in place a strategy designed to protect you and give you the confidence to tackle and, hopefully, resolve your workplace problems.

The fees and timescales vary depending on: your health; any sick leave needed facilitate your recover before tackling the issues head on; the complexity of the problem; and how proactive or effective your employer is at dealing with requests and internal disputes. The fees will also be measurable to the outcome achieved.

If at the end of the internal process, an Employment Tribunal claim is required the employment tribunal claim fee scale shall apply.

Timescale: 1-3 months

£1,000 – £5,000 plus VAT 

We can assist with a strategy for you to protect your income and encourage you to face the future. At the appropriate time, we will endeavour to secure terms to a settlement agreement so avoiding an Employment Tribunal and facilitating a clean break for both parties.

The fees and timescales can vary depending on your health, need for sick leave to facilitate your recover before tackling the issues head on, the complexity of the problem we are dealing with and how proactive or effective your employer is at dealing with your internal dispute.

For exit strategy work, the fees are outcome-dependant and measurable largely on the financial achievement. In many cases, the fees will be paid tax efficiently and in part by the employer.

Timescale: 1-6 months

£250 – £500 plus VAT

This service is on the assumption that all terms in the settlement agreement are agreed and do not need further work. We advise on the suitability of the settlement offered whilst ensuring you understand what each clause of the settlement agreement means.

An employer should contribute towards this work. Employer contribution often ranges from £250 – £500 plus VAT.

For this work, we will cap our fees at the sum of money your employer is contributing towards the cost of the settlement agreement. If there is no contribution, we will charge you £350 plus VAT.

Timescale: 1 week

£250 – £1,500 plus VAT

Sometimes, an employer may offer a settlement which is too low for acceptance. We can come up with a strategy and negotiate improved terms on your behalf.

Once terms are agreed, we will ensure you understand what each and every clause of the settlement agreement means whilst renegotiating on unreasonable or overly restrictive clauses.

Like the exit strategy service, the fees are largely dependent on the outcome and what we are able to achieve on your behalf. Whilst negotiating, we will also seek improvement to the employer’s contribution towards the legal fees.

Timescale: 1-2 months

£350 – £1,000 plus VAT

This service will include initial consultation, review of timeline and documentation with a view to identifying prospective employment tribunal claims, initial view on prospects and available funding options.

The cost of the assessment will depend on the complexity of the matter; the volume of paperwork for review, whether any research or other work is required to complete the assessment.

Barrister’s advice will only be necessary for the highly complex or unusual claims or where circumstance justifies it.

Disbursement: Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Counsel’s fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

We estimate the cost of obtaining a barrister opinion to be between £500 – £1,000 plus VAT and will only be required for a very complex or serious matter

Timescale: 1-2 weeks (subject to a barrister’s timescale where an opinion is necessary.)

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair dismissal:

• Simple case: £3,500-£9,000 (plus VAT)
• Medium complexity case: £9,000-£15,000 (plus VAT)
• High complexity case: £15,000-£30,000 (plus VAT)

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
• Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
• If a preliminary hearing is required.
• Making an application for a provisional decision given during the course of a legal action (a preliminary
• application).
• The number of witnesses and documents
• If there are complex allegations about the Claimant’s conduct.
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
• If there is more than one potential Respondent e.g. in the case of a dismissal resulting from a transfer of the business or a part of it.

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1,000 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow 1-7 days depending on the complexity of your case.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Counsel’s fees estimated between £750 to £3,500 per day (plus VAT) (depending on experience of counsel) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation). If a hearing lasts for more than one day, the fee for preparation and the first day is usually higher than the fee for subsequent days.

Tribunal Fees

There are currently no tribunal fees for pursuing an Employment Tribunal claim.

Key stages 

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change). You may have other options available to you for funding a Tribunal claim, e.g. cover under an insurance policy. We will discuss these options at our first meeting to check whether any apply to you.
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Preparing claim or response
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other 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
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. They do not cover the costs of enforcing any judgement if this is not received. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

Timescale

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 1-3 months. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 6-18 months. This is the average time provided by ACAS; however, much depends on the listing availability at the Employment Tribunal. We will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

In some circumstances, we may consider entering into a Damages-Based Agreement with you. A Damages-Based Agreement is a type of Conditional Fee Arrangement. This is only applicable to those bringing the claim and not those defending a claim.

If we enter into this type of arrangement with you, our fees are determined as a percentage of the amount that you achieve if you win. A “win” would include any settlement reached or following any Employment Tribunal award. This percentage is usually 35% inclusive of VAT, although it is assessed on the circumstances of each matter.

The main advantages of entering into a damages based agreement are that together, we (solicitor and client) share the risk as well as the costs of a commercial claim. If the case is unsuccessful, you will only have to pay a small amount, if any, of solicitors’ fees. There are exceptions to this which are set out below.

You will always be required to pay any disbursements and expenses incurred (whether you are successful or not) and these will usually be required on account prior to the costs being incurred. The agreement is limited to pursuit of your claims. It does not cover:

1. any claims or counterclaims brought against you;
2. any appeal that either you or your employer may make including any appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal; or
3. any reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Counsel’s fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Counsel’s fees estimated between £750 to £3,500 per day (plus VAT) (depending on experience of counsel) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation). If a hearing lasts for more than one day, the fee for preparation and the first day is usually higher than the fee for subsequent days.

Tribunal Fees

There are currently no tribunal fees for pursuing an Employment Tribunal claim.

Breach of the Agreement

If you breach the agreement, you would be required to pay our fees calculated on the basis of the relevant hourly rate.

Breaching the agreement can include not acting in accordance with our advice, being untruthful in your representation of your claim to us or failing to provide in advance any payment required in respect of any disbursements which may be incurred. This is not exhaustive and we would provide further information prior to entering into this type of agreement. If you terminate the agreement prior to conclusion of the matter or become incapable of continuing with the matter, you would be required to pay our fees calculated on the basis of the relevant hourly rate.

If you believe you have a strong case and want us to provide you with legal assistance under a damages based agreement, please contact us for more information.