Employment
We provide solutions driven advice on HR and employment law issues within the UK and internationally. We differentiate ourselves by offering clients an integrated service working in collaboration with our immigration, pensions, employee benefits, data protection and tax specialists to handle all of your people related legal needs.
Our primary focus is achieving your commercial objective in the most efficient manner possible. We work closely with you to understand your business and to use our experience to recommend clear solutions to complex and/or sensitive problems.
Our clients include industry leaders, stock market listed companies, global brands and owner managed businesses. We have specialisms in the technology, real estate, recruitment, hospitality, financial services and commercial outsourcing sectors.
We advise on all aspects of the employment relationship cycle starting with recruitment and on boarding (drafting contractual documentation, establishing competitive remuneration and benefit structures and securing rights to work in the UK); covering all issues during the relationship (managing conduct and capability issues, resolving disputes, talent management and assisting with changes to employment terms and workforce restructures); and all aspects of ending the relationship (devising exit strategies to minimise the risk of legal claims, ensuring the effective protection of business interests including from the loss of clients and staff and acting in litigation disputes in the Employment Tribunal and higher Courts). We also advise on the employment aspects of commercial transactions and outsourcing projects.
We also differentiate ourselves from our competitors through our international reach via our team’s specialised iGlobal Law business which enables us to provide advice within the UK and to manage on our clients’ behalf cross-border and country-specific employment law, data and privacy, whistleblowing, UK Bribery Act, FCPA and compliance advice in over 60 jurisdictions.
Matthew Perry's podcast on Whistleblowing with Xpert HR. Please click here to listen
Experience
- Acting for a medical research and development company, the team has advised on a range of matters, including (i) harmonisation of employment terms and TUPE issues arising from company acquisitions; (ii) a complete revision of the employment contract and company handbook; (iii) assisting with exit management strategies for senior employees; and (vi) tax issues arising from employee benefits.
- Advising several global hospitality businesses on (i) restructuring of the workforce including changes to shift patterns; (ii) drafting and implementing new restrictive covenants; (iii) a large-scale redundancy/office closure exercise, including collective and individual consultation and guidance upon the strategic approach to be undertaken and a large number of issues arising from the exercise, including dealing with press enquiries; and (iv) defending a number of Tribunal claims concerning various allegations, including unfair dismissal and discrimination.
- Acting for a national care provider advising on the employment aspects of multiple business and site acquisitions and negotiating the outsourcing of key back office functions.
- Acting for a national facilities management business including (i) the departure of several board level employees; (ii) managing formal requests for Trade Union recognition; (iii) complex TUPE issues on the entry into and exit from public sector contracts; and (iv) several multi-party litigation disputes involving discrimination, whistleblowing and trade union issues.
- Advising a national resource management business on (i) the retendering for a large government contract. This included both the contractual documentation and then the consequential reorganisation of the business, including a large-scale restructure/redundancy exercise which was completed without any claims; (ii) a substantial change in the location of offices, leading again to a restructuring exercise, which the team assisted upon at all stages including, unfortunately, consequential redundancies; and (iii) the sale of one of its subsidiaries and the transfer of employees.
Bulletins
Navigating a flexible future
As we transition out of the pandemic, employers should expect to see a greater number of flexible working requests from employees. EY’s Work Reimagined Employee Survey published earlier this year… Read more →
News
Coronavirus and sickness absence – key planning considerations
Sick pay If an employer pays Company Sick Pay (CSP) (i.e. pay above Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)), the first step would be to consider whether (and how) any contractual terms… Read more →
News
Home Is Where the Workplace Is
On 19 July 2021, the government removed guidance that recommended that workers based in England should continue to work from home where they can. For some, a return to the… Read more →
News
Jabs and jobs; a legal analysis
Outlining the risk The number of people in the UK that have received the Covid-19 vaccine is now over 12 million. As the number rises, employers may wish to keep… Read more →
Bulletins
Employment law – changes and trends for the start of 2021
Despite the COVID-19 crisis significantly impacting the ability of many businesses to plan with certainty, there remain a number of key employment changes and challenges which need to be addressed… Read more →
News
Home And Away: Working From Home, Abroad – Tax, Legal Implications- WealthBriefing
Partner Matthew Braithwaite and solicitor Jack Martin in the Private Client team have co-written an article with trainee solicitor Olivia Ufland in the Employment team for WealthBriefing. Together, they discuss… Read more →
News
COVID-19 UPDATE
Extension of Furlough Scheme and postponement of Job Support Scheme Following the government’s announcement of a second nationwide lockdown (5 November 2020 to 2 December 2020), the Coronavirus Job Retention… Read more →
News
Immigration to the UK from Hong Kong: Preparatory Legal and Tax Steps
Julia Jackson and Matthew Braithwaite discuss issues related to immigration with Hong Kong lawyer, Alfred Ip a founding partner of Hong Kong law firm Hugill & Ip . The preparatory… Read more →
News
Cleaning up construction sites. How to avoid the hangover when implementing testing for alcohol and drugs Drug testing your employees
The construction industry is a sector in which research suggests that the use of drugs and alcohol is prevalent and this creates a high risk environment because employees acting under… Read more →
News
Employment contracts: changes coming into force on Monday 6 April 2020
The impact of COVID-19 on business means that the thought of new hires is the furthest thing from most employers’ minds. However, changes are coming into force that will impact… Read more →
News
Coronavirus and UK Visas -Part 2
The Home Office have now announced further developments to their coronavirus policy ( see https://wedlakebell.com/coronavirus-and-uk-visas-part-1/) . The new policy announcement widens the previous arrangements to all nationalities caught in the… Read more →
News
Coronavirus – How can our People Services team help your business with the challenges it is facing?
Employers are facing an unprecedented set of circumstances as Covid-19 sweeps the country. Whilst the primary objective is, and should be, to halt the spread of the virus and to… Read more →
News
Coronavirus and UK Visas – Part 1
The world of international travel has changed in the last month, and it’s clear that many more changes will follow in the coming days. Whilst we are all, quite correctly,… Read more →
News
Immigration costs to increase again
Whilst headlines have focused on COVID – 19 and implications for NHS resources, a couple of almost unnoticed lines in the Rishi Sunak’s budget will increase costs for many overseas… Read more →
News
Coronavirus
Coronavirus – considerations for business The number of reported cases of COVID-19, more commonly known as the ‘coronavirus’ continues to increase. A recent newspaper report stated that in a document… Read more →
Bulletins
Should you use AI to tackle workplace harassment?
Post #MeToo, employers have become increasingly focused on tackling harassment. In fact, it was recently reported that some companies are implementing monitoring software that uses AI to detect online harassment… Read more →
Bulletins
Discrimination Update: Vegetarianism is not a protected characteristic
In Conisbee v Crossley Farms Ltd, the Employment Tribunal held that vegetarianism does not amount to a philosophical belief and therefore does not qualify for protection under the Equality Act… Read more →
Bulletins
Covert recording: is it gross misconduct?
Would you consider an employee making a covert recording of an internal meeting to be an act of gross misconduct? The recent case Phoenix House v Stockman has raised this… Read more →
Bulletins
The Good Work Plan
It has been trailed by the Government as the most important package of employment rights for a generation. Whilst it does contain a number of actual and potential new measures,… Read more →
Wedlake Bell LLP offers employment law assistance to clients both through its flagship department and a subsidiary, iGlobal Law, an independent practice geared towards international employers.
— Legal 500, 2022
Wedlake Bell LLP has an established track record in advising senior individuals in the private equity space.
— Legal 500, 2022
A great team who are always quick to respond and refer me to the right person for the specific question.
— Legal 500, 2022
The employment team at Wedlake Bell make sure that they go the extra mile to help me as a stand alone HR professional.
— Legal 500, 2022
I have found Wedlake Bell to be excellent in their advice and their immediate reactivity to any situation that arises. They are obviously extremely knowledgeable about all employment law matters and can also give advice, or contacts to liaise with, if I have questions relating to our other offices in Europe. Their knowledge of our business is great.
— Legal 500, 2021
Warm, caring people who really stood behind me. Great team.
— Legal 500, 2021
Each person who has worked on my case has been fully up to speed on even the most complex aspects. Clear leadership is shown by the partner in charge, but each member of the team contributes brilliantly and thus they work efficiently and effectively as a team. The working relationships between the partner, associates and trainee solicitors are impressive.
— Legal 500, 2021
Adam Grant is particularly strong in the hospitality and outsourcing sectors.
— Legal 500, 2020
"Wedlake Bell LLP’s ‘extremely knowledgeable’ and ‘commercially savvy’ department excels in handling employment documentation, disciplinary matters and remuneration issues."
— Legal 500, 2017
"Ravinder Mahal and Richard Isham led advice to CDK Global on a wage deduction issue regarding unauthorised expenses incurred by employees across a number of jurisdictions."
— Legal 500, 2017