HERE TO HELP
Employment law specialists
to guide businesses through
Covid aftershock
BY GRAEME ANDERSON
When you are solicitors so firmly
established you’ve survived two World
Wars, the catastrophic 1918 Spanish
Flu and every crisis in between, well, the current
pandemic is unlikely to faze you.
But long-standing North-East legal firm
Jacksons admits that in terms of employment law,
they expect the next few months to be among the
most testing and busiest in their history.
Employment law advice is a little like a life jacket
on an aeroplane – you don’t notice it until you
really need it.
And then you REALLY need it!
Solicitors Jacksons are ahead of the curve in
knowing how many businesses, big and small, will
be reaching for help with that life jacket as the
events of the next few months unfold.
And Sally Lomas Fletcher, employment law
specialist at Jacksons, is hoping that if this article
does one thing, it will spur businesses in the Wear
region to seek advice – best to be wise before the
event, rather than risk being penalised for actions
taken in necessity but repented at leisure.
After the earthquake, the tsunami – and in the
wake of the historic disruption of Covid-19 is likely
to flow a torrent of redundancies.
“I really wish I was appearing in Wear Business
talking about a more upbeat subject,” admits Sally.
“But the fact is that we can see what is on the
horizon.
“We live in changed times. A few months ago,
we’d never heard of the word ‘furlough’ – it sent us
all scrambling for the dictionaries.
“Since then, we’ve had to cope with a whole host
of other changes – many of them introduced as
emergency measures.
“There’s a clearer outlook now but unfortunately
there is going to be a lot of redundancies and it’s
important from an employer’s point of view and
from an employee’s point of view that they are
carried out correctly and legally.”
Sally has been involved in advising on
employment law for more than two decades but
expects the next six months to be the busiest of her
career as she deals with the inevitable downside
that has been delayed by the government’s financial
rescue measures.
Sally Lomas-Fletcher, associate
solicitor with Jacksons Law Firm.
“Our expectation is that in the months ahead,
our employment law team will be fully engaged
ensuring redundancy procedures are carried out
in a legally correct manner in the wake of furlough
ending,” she said.
“We expect that to be occupying the majority of
our time for months to come but in the New Year,
we expect that the bulk of our work will be dealing
with appeals involving claims of unfair dismissal.
“In that sort of climate, it is so important that
redundancy processes are carried out impeccably
to the satisfaction of both sides.
“It’s so important to seek legal advice at this
time - especially since Covid-19 – because even
if employers think they are doing the right thing,
they can get caught out.
“Just as an example, the law changed in April
this year to insist that new employees have to
have a contract of employment from their first
day at work. That’s an important change to the
Employment Rights Act of 1996 but it’s the easiest
thing in the world for some employers not to
realise that.
“And that’s just one reason for employers
to make sure they have taken the right legal
measures before they make important employment
decisions.”
Jacksons provides a full employment service
dealing with all aspects of employment – from
redundancy to unfair dismissal, TUPE transfers,
discrimination issues contracts, policies and
procedures, and beyond.
They also offer their Jackson’s Shield support
package where for an agreed capped retainer,
advice can be provided as and when required
regarding employment law issues, with an
insurance option so that companies are insured
against claims and legal costs.
Find out more at jacksons-law.com.
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