An employee in Hendon asks to leave early on winter Fridays so as to be home before sunset; an employer in Finchley wonders whether a rota that ignores the Sabbath amounts to indirect discrimination. Questions like these reach employment law solicitors in Barnet more often than in most boroughs, because of the size of its Jewish community, and the answers lie in the Equality Act's rules on religion or belief, which protect the borough's Muslim, Hindu and Christian employees just as much.
The ordinary run of cases is as varied as Barnet's employers. Barnet Hospital and the wider Royal Free trust, Middlesex University, the council and the schools generate grievances, whistleblowing claims, long-term sickness dismissals and disputes about grading and pay. The shops and restaurants of Brent Cross, the care homes, the charities and hundreds of small family businesses bring redundancy, unpaid wages, holiday pay and unfair dismissal claims, and the solicitors who act for employers draft the contracts, handbooks and settlement agreements meant to head them off.
Time limits are unforgiving. Acas early conciliation must be started within three months less one day of a dismissal or discriminatory act, and the tribunal claim follows soon after; Barnet claims are then managed by the London Central or Watford tribunal offices, often with hearings by video. A settlement agreement binds an employee only once they have had independent advice on it, and employers normally pay a contribution towards that advice, so taking the document to a solicitor costs the employee little or nothing.
Most Barnet employment solicitors offer a free first conversation, fixed fees for settlement agreements and contract reviews, and hourly rates or damages-based agreements for claims that go the distance.
The employment firms serving Barnet appear below, verified firms first and the rest by distance. Read what employment law covers and the general employment law solicitors guide; employers may also want business law solicitors in Barnet, and the London employment page covers firms closer to the centre.
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