Who is the employer? In the Vale of Evesham the answer is often unclear. A picker may be recruited abroad by a licensed labour provider, housed on the farm, paid through an agency and supervised by the grower, and when something goes wrong, unpaid hours, a deduction for accommodation, an injury or a dismissal, the first task of an employment solicitor in Worcester is to work out who is responsible and whether the worker was an employee, a worker or self-employed. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority licenses the providers; the tribunal decides the rest.
The city's employers raise more familiar questions. Worcester Bosch and Mazak are large manufacturers with formal procedures, so disputes tend to be about redundancy selection, TUPE on outsourced contracts and long-term sickness. Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the county council and the University of Worcester produce the whistleblowing, discrimination and grievance cases that every public sector employer generates, and the professional firms, schools and care homes across the county supply unfair dismissal, flexible working and settlement agreement work.
Timing comes first in every case: Acas early conciliation has to be started within three months less one day of the dismissal or the treatment complained of, and the claim is then listed by the tribunal's Midlands West region, in Birmingham or by video. A settlement agreement needs an independent adviser's signature, which the employer usually pays towards. Employers in Worcester use the same solicitors for contracts, handbooks, disciplinary processes and defending claims.
A free first discussion, fixed fees for settlement agreements and contract reviews, and hourly or staged fees for a tribunal claim are the usual arrangement, and legal expenses insurance on a home policy sometimes covers the cost.
The employment firms serving Worcester are listed below, verified ones first. Read the general employment law solicitors guide and what employment law covers, see business law solicitors in Worcester for the employer's side, and use the Worcestershire search for firms in Evesham, Kidderminster or Redditch.
