Protect your business
How to stay compliant with employment laws
No UK business is exempt from employment law, or immune to employee issues. With new regulations emerging all the time, a knowledge of employment law and HR best practices is vital. As is keeping up with legal developments that may impact the way your organisation.
If you’re not sure of the best course of action when faced with difficult employee dilemmas, or conscious your policies and procedures aren’t UK compliant, then we’re here to help with dedicated support.
Helping you with
Employment law compliance that protects your business
Our experienced employment law and HR support team is available now to help you manage your workforce. We can help you work in total compliance with UK laws, helping you to work confidently, reducing the risks of legal problems, and ensuring peace of mind.
- Strengthen your position in any scenario with bespoke contracts that are robust, legally compliant and offer maximum flexibility for your organisation
- Ensure consistency, reduce guesswork and avoid procedural missteps with an Employee Handbook of best-practice HR policies
- Get unlimited, jargon-free advice and step-by-step guidance from your own dedicated team of Employment Law and HR experts
- Improve management competence with training in essential HR topics delivered directly to you by seasoned professionals
- Not sure where to start, or where you fall short? Recognise strengths and identify areas for improvement with a full HR audit
Find peace of mind with employment law compliance audits
When it comes to managing people, it can be frustratingly easy to fall short of legal requirements or unintentionally mishandle a situation, leaving you exposed to claims. With high-profile cases meaning employees are now more aware of their rights, an outdated practice, procedural oversight or perceived unfair treatment could conceivably land you in a damaging employment tribunal claim.
With employment law compliance audits, and ongoing advice from legally-qualified experts, you can stay one step ahead of employment law developments, manage issues quickly and compliantly, and minimise financial and reputational risk. And, should the worst happen, you’re eight times more likely to defend a claim with our team of experts by your side.
How to establish an employment law compliance checklist
Keeping on top of changes in UK workplace laws is vital, which is where a checklist will help. It’s a straightforward way for your HR team to meet compliance criteria. With the right steps, you can effectively benchmark for industry best practices. Including:
- Contracts and documentation
- Wages and hours worked
- Equality and discrimination against the Equality Act 2010
- Following the ACAS code of practice aligned with disciplinary and grievance procedures
- Understanding the Right to Work
- Ensuring a fair recruitment process
- Maintaining risk assessments for workplace health and safety
Explore our fixed fee employment compliance services
Advice Line
Fast, pragmatic, commercial. Our Employment Law & HR advice line gives you and your managers access to truly unlimited advice on all of your people-related challenges, from the seemingly straightforward to the most complex.
What sorts of things can you advise on?
HR matters come with the territory when you run a business or manage an organisation and we’re here to help you through it all. Whether you’re battling absenteeism, struggling to manage an underperforming employee or need help navigating a complicated exercise like redundancy, we can walk you through the steps required to handle the situation appropriately.
Is everything dealt with through one team?
Yes. All of our advisers are qualified legal professionals or on the road to formal qualification, which means a full range of employee issues can be dealt with within your dedicated three-person team. In the event that you’re presented with an Employment Tribunal claim, we will conduct a full handover to our Litigation Team so that they are well equipped to defend you.
Contracts and Handbooks
Whether you have nothing in place or just need an expert review, our Employment Law specialists can carefully craft your employment contracts and employee handbooks to guarantee compliance and provide the flexibility you need as an employer.
What are the risks of not having the right contracts in place?
Failing to provide an employee with a contract could lead to additional compensation being awarded to an employee who successfully makes another sort of claim against their employer. In addition, a number of practical problems could be caused by having incorrect contracts, such as paying too little (or too much) notice, getting holiday entitlement wrong and failing to protect legitimate business interests in the face of an employee leaving for a competitor.
How often do HR policies need to be reviewed?
Whenever there are changes to UK employment legislation, such as the recent changes to bereavement leave or the Good Work Plan, it’s important to make sure your contracts, handbooks and policies are updated accordingly. We can take the pressure off by alerting you to any such changes and helping you to implement them in your documentation and practices.
Drafting Letters and Documents
From the most straightforward warning for poor attendance to complex grievance outcome letters and everything in between, our Employment Law solicitors can draft all your employment documents to save you valuable time and stress.
What sorts of documents can you draft?
Just about anything and everything you might need during the employment relationship. All of our advisers are qualified legal professionals or on the road to formal qualification, which means we can support you with a full spectrum of advice and documentation, from first written warnings to new contractual clauses, to a policy you might not have in your handbook, plus more complex legal documents like settlement agreements and redundancy outcome letters.
I’ve got a HR team and just want templates we can use. Do you have a resources bank?
Yes, our fixed-fee Employment Law and HR support includes full access to our Knowledge Hub, available through MyEW, which contains most of the templates we work from. If you have an internal HR team, you may prefer to access these and tailor them yourselves. However, for more complex cases, we would always suggest engaging with our legal advisers as it can be all too easy to word something in a way that leaves you exposed.
eLearning
Tired of classroom training, or unable to take time out? Raise awareness of best-practice around workplace issues and prevent HR headaches with our flexible, cost-effective eLearning courses.
What types of courses are available?
Our ever-growing library of eLearning courses currently covers over 100 topics, including HR courses such as Equality & Diversity, Sexual Harassment and Social Media Use; soft skills courses such as Communication, Leadership and Change Management; and compliance courses such GDPR, Anti-Money Laundering and the Bribery Act. We also offer an extensive range of Health & Safety courses, including Accident Reporting, Risk Assessment and First Aid. Download the full course catalogue.
How much do the courses cost?
All of our eLearning courses are free for the first year when you purchase our Employment Law & HR or Health & Safety managed service. This means you’re not paying per head or per course, which not only keeps down but gives you complete cost certainty over your training expenses. This is particularly handy if your workforce is growing, as you won’t need to purchase extra licenses, giving you exceptional value for money.
Legal Expenses Insurance
An optional component of our Employment Law and HR support, by underpinning our advice with Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI), you have maximum reassurance that your business is protected against unfair dismissal and other costly employee claims.
I’ve never had a claim before – why would I need to take LEI?
For the same reason you take out any insurance policy – to guard against the high cost of defending an Employment Tribunal claim. The premium cost is very low compared to the potential payout, especially as it covers the cost of representation as well as any potential compensation. You don’t have to have LEI, but it could significantly impact your bottom line if something goes wrong, given that the cost of even the most basic unfair dismissal claim could be £20-25,000 when legal costs are factored in. Unfortunately, the latest Tribunal statistics suggest that employers now are more vulnerable than ever.
Can you deal with Employment Tribunal claims, or is this triaged outside of EW?
Should you receive a claim, your dedicated Employment Law adviser, who will have dealt with the matter up until that point, will conduct a full handover to our Litigation Team. They will explain the case history, share all the relevant documentation and offer their views on the prospects of the claim. Our Litigation Team will then take over all the prep work, including drafting a defence, producing bundles, dealing with Acas and the other side, and briefing counsel. Rest assured this is a smooth process, with everything kept inside EW, and you will be in safe hands throughout.
Management Information
Discipline, performance, absenteeism. We’ll show you exactly where your dedicated Employment Law advisers are spending their time so that you can target key problem areas for more productive, high-performing teams. Recommended for large organisations with high case volumes.
What detail does the MI provide?
The report will highlight what sorts of issues we are advising on and who/where in your business those questions are coming from. That way, we can easily spot problem areas, bring them to your attention and recommend steps to address the issues.
What sorts of recommendations do you typically provide?
We will provide practical and pragmatic recommendations to address whatever common problems are arising. The exact nature will depend on the sort of issues but could include training of managers in certain areas or the production of additional guidance and documentation to guide them through tricky subjects.
MyWorkNest
From document templates to HR Software, MyWorkNest gives you all the tools you need to manage even the trickiest employee issues, improve efficiencies and get the answers you need, fast.
What sorts of issues can I find guides and templates on?
We have hundreds of guidance notes and accompanying templates covering a full spectrum of employment-related issues, including Maternity, Pay, flexible working arrangements, Holidays, employee performance management and Redundancy. All of these resources are created by our experts, and if you require further support or have any questions, you can contact your dedicated team of advisers for practical advice and guidance.
What does the HR Software do?
There can be a great deal of administration involved in managing employees, and the burden only increases as your business grows. If filing cabinets of employee information is no longer cutting it, our HR Software will help to automate your processes, save valuable time and manage HR tasks at the touch of a button. Use it to store and organise employee data and essential documents; manage and report on holidays, absence, timesheets and rostering; stay on top of employee reviews; maintain a comprehensive employee directory, and keep a record of training and development.
Why choose us?
Your direct line to managing employment compliance laws
At WorkNest, we’re trusted across the UK for our tailored employment law compliance services. Not only is our expertise unmatched, but we take the time to know you so that we can function as a true extension of your team.
- Your own small team of dedicated experts
- Commercial, pragmatic advice tailored to you
- Bespoke contracts, policies and handbooks
- Trusted by over 35,000 organisations
- Recognised as a leading firm by the Legal 500
- Gain crucial employment law and compliance certification
Who you’ll be working with
Angela Carter
Director of Legal Services
Toyah Marshall
Head of Team
Toyah Marshall
Principal Employment Law Adviser
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FAQs
What is employment law compliance?
It’s the process of ensuring all areas of your business’s employment relationships (from hiring and day-to-day management to dismissals) adhere to the UK’s legal frameworks. These include the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010. You must also adhere to regulatory and contractual compliance to match government body expectations and meet employment contract terms.
Why is compliance with employment laws and regulations important?
As it legally safeguards your business from potential legal consequences, while also providing your employees with a fair and safe workplace. If you don’t follow UK laws, you may open yourself to damaging and costly employment tribunals. These may result in significant fines and/or reputational consequences, which means it’s vital you follow regulations.
How can HR ensure compliance with employment laws?
There are several key steps to take that’ll keep you up-to-date with UK regulations:
- Stay informed with all changes at every government level (national, local)
- Have business policies with clear instructions
- Conduct regular audits on your policies
- Provide staff training for employees and managers
- Maintain accurate records
Training for employment law and compliance certification is essential as it will keep your HR team alongside employment law changes.
