Providing HR law advice for the employment needs of a business to ensure operational efficiency

  • As an employer you need to ensure operational efficiency.
  • As your business evolves you may need to move office, or change the nature of employee contracts, all of which requires specialist advice from HR and employment law solicitors.
  • Day to day you may be faced with an employee or a team that are not working to the level required or you are having problems with absence management, you need to ensure that the appropriate and correct HR policies are in place.
  • Our specialist HR law and employment law solicitors will advise you on best practice, ensure that you are compliant and help ensure that your business can operate efficiently.

It is often said that employees are a company’s greatest asset. But not all employees are the same, not all will share your ambitions and not all will always cooperate. Managing the employment relationship is an important part of working life.

When you have an issue or if your business evolves, having knowledgeable, up to date legal advice is essential as employment law changes fast. Failing to comply with the latest legislation can be costly, both in terms of penalties and harming your reputation. That is why the support of specialist HR and employment solicitors is invaluable.

What is managing the employment relationship?

Managing the employment relationship includes processes and practices that are used to maintain a positive and productive relationship between an employer and an employee. This can include regular performance reviews, open communication, and the implementation of effective HR policies and procedures. A strong employment relationship is key to the success of any organisation.

Changing employees’ terms and conditions

All businesses sometimes need to change contracts of employment, and the reasons can be many and varied, from the need for new working patterns or to change the compensation or benefits policies.  However, you cannot change employees’ contracts unilaterally and you will need to follow a proper process or else you could be in breach of contract.  We can guide you through that process.

Managing workplace moves

Whether the purpose is to reduce costs, seek out better business opportunities, find better premises or merge with another business, there are a variety of reasons why you may need to change location. Managing your employee relations will be dictated by many things, including how far the move is, and includes practical issues such as the availability of transport for employees. If it involves a merger there may be duplication of resources. You may want to retain certain staff for a set period even if they do not want to move permanently. Our HR and employment law solicitors can guide you through all the issues, from practical issues through to contract law and staff incentives and relocation.

Disciplinary & grievance process

Addressing disciplinary and grievance issues is inevitably time consuming and often a significant drain on resources. Ensuring that you have the right procedures in place is essential. There are strict guidelines that you must follow including: establishing the principles, setting the rules, handling disciplinary issues, the ACAS Code of Practice and managing the disciplinary hearing. Our support will minimise the resources that you need to divert and help you achieve an optimum outcome.

Managing poor performance

Poor performance in individuals or groups of employees can have a significant impact on your business, both in its ability to deliver and often its impact on other members of staff. It can range from under performance to misconduct and even gross misconduct. And often the way in which you handle it can be essential should it reach an employment tribunal. Our HR law expertise can help identify the root cause and find a solution before it becomes a problem or help address an existing issue that persists.

Managing sickness absence

Your ability to manage sickness absence is underpinned by practical steps, including having policies and procedures and correct recording of absence. By its very nature sickness absence needs careful handling as while it can be just an excuse for days off, it could equally be indicative of a more serious underlying and undisclosed mental health or medical condition. Whatever the reason, you need to handle sickness absence in a structured manner with employee consent.

Trade unions, collective disputes and industrial action

Collective disputes, industrial action and dealing with trade unions is an area which often causes employers a great deal of stress. They can be stressful for you and your colleagues at all levels and also severely impact on the ability of a business to deliver its service. We can assist you by providing practical and logical HR law advice to help resolve the issues and reduce the impact on the business.

How Moore Barlow can help

At Moore Barlow, we advise businesses on all the legal aspects of the day to day operational employment issues that they face. We will help you with the often complex procedures that you must follow when faced with employment issues of all kinds. We will also provide expert advice on managing employment procedures if your business needs to change.

We have offices in Southampton, London, Richmond, Woking, Guildford and Lymington. Contact us for specialist legal advice and support.