Employment for Employers
A service provided by Talk Legal Limited
Earlier Employer Problems
Deal with the process before it becomes the claim.
Many Employment Tribunal cases are shaped by what the employer did weeks or months earlier: what was investigated, what the employee was told, whether there was a fair opportunity to respond, which evidence was considered, what reasons were recorded and whether an appeal was offered.
Talk Legal may assist an employer before ACAS or Tribunal proceedings have begun. The objective is to reach and record a practical, defensible decision — not to manufacture a paper trail after the event.
Grievances
We may help identify the complaints, the appropriate investigator or decision-maker, the documents and witnesses required, any overlap with disciplinary or sickness issues, and the structure of the outcome and appeal.
A grievance should not be treated as an inconvenience to be rejected quickly. Nor does every allegation have to be accepted. The employer needs a fair process, findings supported by evidence and clear reasons.
Disciplinary matters and misconduct
Possible work includes reviewing the allegation, investigation material, applicable policy, suspension decision, invitation letter, hearing process, mitigation, consistency and proposed outcome.
Serious allegations still require a fair investigation and procedure. Labels such as "gross misconduct" do not decide the case by themselves.
Performance and capability
Poor performance should normally be addressed through clear standards, evidence, support, reasonable opportunity to improve and review. We may help distinguish performance from misconduct, health or disability issues and consider how warnings or a capability process should be framed.
Sickness absence and disability
Long-term or repeated absence can raise questions about medical evidence, occupational-health advice, contact during absence, contractual sick pay, return to work, capability and reasonable adjustments.
An employer should not assume that absence automatically justifies dismissal or that a condition must have a particular label before disability issues arise. The facts, medical information, role, workplace and proposed adjustments must be examined.
Redundancy and reorganisation
We may help identify the business proposal, affected roles, selection pool and criteria, consultation steps, alternative employment and written reasons. Collective consultation obligations or complex restructures may require specialist regulated advice outside this service.
Settlement discussions
A settlement may sometimes be commercially sensible, but the legal protection applying to a conversation depends on the circumstances. Do not assume that calling a discussion "protected" makes everything said inadmissible.
We may assist with strategy, correspondence and the practical terms of a proposed settlement. Any binding settlement agreement will need to satisfy the applicable statutory conditions, including the employee obtaining independent advice from an appropriate adviser.
What remains the employer's decision
Facing a difficult workplace decision?
Tell us about the problem and we will tell you whether we can help before it becomes a claim.