Your Employment Law Questions and Answers
/Our Employment practice varies widely, but we often find that there are some questions that come up quite frequently, especially when a client is instructing a lawyer for the first time. This can be a daunting experience and so the Ergo team has taken the time to tackle some of our most commonly asked questions.
I want to instruct a solicitor, where do I begin?
Though instructing a solicitor may seem an intimidating prospect, we are here to guide you through the process. We recommend taking note of the events relevant to your legal matter so that we can get a better idea of the type of advice you require. We welcome any and all the questions you may have, as it helps us get a full picture of the issue at hand. At Ergo, we focus on getting to know our client’s story so as to best advise and make complicated legal issues feel simple.
Why do I need to complete a new client ID check?
As a Scottish law firm, we are legally required to follow rules on anti-money laundering, which includes conducting ‘know your customer identification checks on all clients. With this, we record your full name, date of birth and residential address, and verify this information according to strict industry standards and government-approved guidelines. All clients must take part in these checks no matter how long your solicitor has done business with you, how large or small the piece of work is or what the nature of their relationship with you may be.
We perform our checks online, via a recommended third party, Amiqus Resolution Limited. If you’d like to know more about Amiqus, you can see here.
How much will legal advice cost?
We understand that clients are keen to have certainty on legal costs. We think it is important to be realistic about the cost of advice from the outset as this is an important part of planning how to run any tribunal claim or other course of action in relation to your employment. Like most law firms we are able to do work on a standard hourly rate, but to help with planning, we try and provide fixed fees where this is preferred. If it is not possible (in tribunal claims or negotiations it can be difficult to predict exactly what work will be involved as that will depend on the other party’s approach) we will try to split the work into different steps with an indication of the cost, sometimes in combination with hourly rate work. If the work is to be charged on an hourly rate basis we can set up reminders to check in with our clients when the work in progress reaches a particular level. We’ll always have a discussion, at our initial meeting, about the potential costs for you depending on your circumstances and help you reach the right financial decision on taking legal advice.
I don’t want to work my notice, can I be paid in lieu of my notice period?
You may have a ‘payment in lieu of notice’ clause in your contract. This is a contractual right for your employer to pay notice to you as a lump sum rather than require you to work your statutory or contractual notice period. A PILON clause is usually drafted so that a payment in lieu of notice is at the employer’s sole discretion and an employee has no ability to insist on it.
My employer is offering me a settlement agreement, can I keep my phone and laptop?
While you are normally required to return all employer property by the date of termination of your employment, you may be able to agree otherwise with your employer. There are two possible routes:
Ask to keep item(s) of property and your employer may agree (subject to you deleting all relevant business contacts and confidential information); or
You can also make arrangements to purchase the property from your employer.
My settlement agreement includes restrictive covenants, what does this mean?
“Restrictive Covenants” or “Post Termination Restrictions” in settlement agreements are restrictions on an employee's conduct after the termination of their employment. Typically, the covenants prevent an employee from ‘soliciting’ and ‘dealing’ with customers/clients and prospective customers/clients and from poaching other employees. Sometimes, there is a blanket restriction preventing the employee from ‘competing’ with their former employer, though these are the most difficult type of covenants to enforce.
I’ve had an issue with my employer, should I raise a Grievance or make a Tribunal Claim?
A grievance is an internal procedure where you can raise concerns directly with an employer about an aspect of your working life. The grievance process could also be used if you have any issues with your terms and conditions of employment. There is usually a procedure set by your employer to try and resolve grievances, and you may wish to try and resolve a grievance informally before raising a formal grievance.
Bringing a Tribunal claim means that you want both sides of the dispute to be heard by an independent Tribunal before they make a decision. You may decide to bring a claim against your employer if all other ways of resolving a dispute have failed. A solicitor can help advise you with your Tribunal claim, and parties generally bear their own costs.
To find out more about dealing with grievances, we recommend the citizens’ advice website.
ACAS provides guidance on making a tribunal claim.
Want to know more?
If you have further employment law questions, we would be happy to guide you through the process. We explain grievances and tribunal claims in more detail here and you can read more about settlement agreements in our series on simplifying settlement agreements – see blog 1 here.
Our team of employment solicitors is highly experienced in advising and negotiating on each of these issues, providing specific expert advice tailored to your particular circumstances. Get in touch to ensure that you are well informed and achieve the best possible advice in your circumstances.
