When a Coventry employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one site, the law requires collective consultation before anyone is dismissed, with a longer period when 100 or more jobs are at stake. Few cities have tested that rule as often as Coventry. From the car plants of the last century to the component suppliers, logistics depots and research centres of this one, restructuring is a fact of working life here, and an employment solicitor in Coventry will have handled it from both sides: advising workers on whether the consultation was genuine and the selection fair, and helping employers run a process that holds up.
The rest of the caseload is broad. Jaguar Land Rover at Whitley, the taxi makers at Ansty, the University Hospital at Walsgrave, Coventry Building Society, Severn Trent and the two universities are among the city's largest employers, and their staff bring unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing and settlement agreement work. The city's students fill bars, warehouses and delivery jobs where unpaid wages, holiday pay and zero-hours disputes are common. Engineers and sales staff leaving one supplier for another meet restrictive covenants and confidentiality clauses that may or may not be enforceable.
Coventry does not have a permanent tribunal hearing centre of its own; claims are usually listed at the Birmingham employment tribunal, with many hearings now held by video. The time limit is the same everywhere: Acas early conciliation must start within three months less one day of the dismissal or the act complained of.
Funding is rarely the obstacle people expect. Settlement agreement advice is normally paid for, at least in part, by the employer; many firms offer a free first assessment; some take strong claims on a no-win, no-fee basis; and legal expenses cover on a home policy is worth checking.
Employment firms serving Coventry are listed below, those we have verified first, then by distance from the city centre. See our guide to employment law solicitors, read what employment law is and what an employment contract costs, or compare employment solicitors in Birmingham.
