The largest employer in Portsmouth has, in the legal sense, no employees at all: sailors serve the Crown under a commission or engagement, cannot claim unfair dismissal and must take a discrimination complaint through the service complaints system before the employment tribunal will look at it. Everyone else who works in and around the naval base, from BAE Systems' shipbuilders and the dockyard's contractors to the civil servants and civilian staff of the Ministry of Defence, has the ordinary rights, and their redundancies, TUPE transfers and security-vetting dismissals keep Portsmouth's employment solicitors in steady work.
The ferry port is a second world of its own. Crews on the cross-Channel and Channel Islands services may be employed under foreign law, and a Portsmouth solicitor's first task is often to establish which rules apply before advising on an unpaid wages or dismissal claim.
The University of Portsmouth, Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, Portsmouth City Council and the offices at Lakeside North Harbour produce the public-sector and corporate caseload: whistleblowing, disability discrimination, long-term sickness capability, redundancy selection and settlement agreements. The hospitality trade in Southsea and Gunwharf Quays adds holiday pay, tips and zero-hours disputes, many of them from students.
Claims from Portsmouth workplaces are listed at the employment tribunal's Southampton hearing centre or heard by video, and the clock runs from the day of the dismissal or act complained of: Acas early conciliation must be started within three months less one day.
Most Portsmouth employment firms offer a free first call, fixed fees for settlement agreements and contract reviews, and hourly or no-win, no-fee terms for claims; employers can retain a firm for handbooks and disciplinary support.
The employment firms covering Portsmouth appear below, verified ones first, then by distance from the Guildhall. See the general employment law solicitors guide, what employment law covers, the business law solicitors in Portsmouth page for employers, and employment law solicitors in Southampton, where the tribunal sits.
