Leicester's garment trade made the national news for the wrong reasons, when reports found workers in the city's small clothing factories paid below the minimum wage. The claims that followed, for unpaid wages, holiday pay and unlawful deductions, are still a staple of employment law in Leicester, alongside the problems of every other working city: dismissal, redundancy, discrimination, whistleblowing and the settlement agreement offered on a Friday afternoon.
The city's employers are a mixture that few places match. Next runs its head office at Enderby, Walkers makes crisps at Beaumont Leys, Samworth Brothers and Pukka Pies feed the country from the county, and the warehouses along the M1 and M69 employ thousands on shifts and agency contracts. The University Hospitals of Leicester, the city and county councils, De Montfort University and the University of Leicester are large public employers whose disputes tend to involve grievances, sickness absence and whistleblowing. Then there are the thousands of small businesses on Belgrave Road, Narborough Road and the industrial estates, where there may be no HR department at all.
Claims from all of them go to the Leicester employment tribunal, which has its own hearing centre in the city, and the deadline is unforgiving: Acas early conciliation must begin within three months less one day of the dismissal or discriminatory act. An employment solicitor in Leicester will tell you within a first call whether the claim is in time, what it might be worth and how it could be funded, whether through a free initial assessment, a no-win, no-fee agreement, legal expenses insurance or the employer's contribution to settlement agreement advice.
Employers use the same firms to draft contracts and handbooks, run redundancy consultations properly, deal with TUPE when a contract moves between logistics providers, and defend claims.
The firms listed below act in employment matters across Leicester and Leicestershire, with verified firms shown first and the rest ordered by distance from the city centre. See our guide to employment law, read what employment law covers and what an employment contract costs, or visit business law solicitors in Leicester.
