Two very different workforces share Tower Hamlets. In Canary Wharf, employment problems arrive wrapped in deferred bonuses, share awards, garden leave and restrictive covenants, and the argument is usually about how much a settlement agreement is worth rather than whether there will be one. In Whitechapel, Shadwell and Bethnal Green, the same solicitors see unpaid wages in restaurants and takeaways, holiday pay for the cleaners and security guards who work the towers at night, dismissals during pregnancy, and the agency and zero-hours arrangements that run much of the borough's care and hospitality work.
The London East employment tribunal sits in the borough itself, at East India Dock in Poplar, so a Tower Hamlets claim is heard close to home. The deadline is unforgiving: Acas early conciliation has to be started before three months less one day have passed since the dismissal or the act complained of. A solicitor will also check whether an outsourced contract for cleaning or security has changed hands, because TUPE may have carried the job, and its terms, to a new employer.
The big employers set much of the agenda: Barts Health at the Royal London Hospital, Queen Mary University of London at Mile End, the council, and the banks and professional firms of Canary Wharf. Discrimination claims from the borough's large Muslim workforce, over prayer breaks, Ramadan working hours and dress codes, are a recognised specialism of several local firms.
A first assessment is often free, an employer normally pays towards advice on a settlement agreement, and strong discrimination claims may be taken on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Employment firms in and around Tower Hamlets are listed below, verified firms first. See the general guide to employment law solicitors, the explainer on what employment law covers, the capital-wide employment law solicitors in London page, and for employers the business law solicitors in Tower Hamlets page.
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