A baggage handler from Southall whose agency stopped offering shifts, a care worker in Greenford who was never paid for travel time between clients, a nurse at Ealing Hospital whose grievance about a manager went nowhere: the people who walk into an employment solicitor's office in Ealing tend to work hard, often at night, and often for an employer whose head office is somewhere else. Many of the borough's residents are employed at Heathrow by airlines, ground handlers and security contractors, and the rest of the local economy runs on warehouses and food manufacturers in Park Royal and Greenford, on the hospital and the council, and on the shops and restaurants of Southall Broadway and Ealing Broadway.
That mix produces particular problems. Agency and zero-hours arrangements are everywhere, and the first job for a solicitor is often to establish whether the client is an employee, a worker or genuinely self-employed, because the answer decides which rights exist. Unpaid holiday pay, deductions from wages and the national minimum wage come up constantly in the care and hospitality sectors. Discrimination claims in Ealing frequently involve race, religion or language, and a solicitor who can take instructions in Punjabi, Polish or Somali makes a real difference to how well a case is prepared.
Deadlines are tight. Acas early conciliation must begin within three months less one day of the dismissal or the act complained of, and the claim is then listed at the tribunal office covering the postcode. Settlement agreements need a signature from an independent adviser, and the employer normally pays a contribution towards that advice.
Local employers use the same firms for contracts, handbooks, disciplinary hearings and tribunal defence.
The firms listed below advise on employment matters in Ealing, with verified firms first. Read what employment law covers and the guide to employment law solicitors; employers may also want the business law solicitors in Ealing page, and the London-wide employment page covers the capital.
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