Employment claims pricing

Our approach to charging

We charge on a time basis and our current hourly rates (which is reviewed annually) are between £355 and £375 plus VAT (currently charged at 20%). This reflects the level of experience and seniority of our solicitors who deal with employment matters, who together have over 45 years’ specialist experience. The level of experience of each of our solicitors is detailed in their profiles on Our Team page.

Our charges are based on the time we spend dealing with the matter. This will include all meetings; travel time to and from meetings (unless agreed otherwise); time spent considering, preparing and working on papers in relation to the matter; correspondence, including emails; and making and receiving telephone calls.

You will never be charged for work done by anyone other than one of our qualified solicitors or for the supervision of our qualified solicitors.

We pride ourselves on providing a service that is both value for money and highly responsive. Given the experience of our employment solicitors we are able to work with our clients efficiently and effectively. We will always seek to agree fees with you in advance once we are clear about your instructions and the level of support you require.

Employment tribunal claims

Where Employment Tribunal claims are concerned, the amount of time and cost will depend on many different factors. However, what we set out below is based on our experience of the many employment tribunal claims we have brought or defended on behalf of our clients.

An unfair dismissal claim is a statutory claim which relates to the fairness of the dismissal.

A wrongful dismissal claim is a contractual claim for compensation for failure to pay some or all of an employee’s notice pay. Only wrongful dismissal claims worth up to £25,000 can be brought in the Employment Tribunal. Any wrongful dismissal claims worth in excess of this must be brought in the County or High Court (such claims are outside the scope of the SRA Transparency Rules).

The following estimates for time are the same for both unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims in the Employment Tribunal only. Where a wrongful dismissal claim is brought in the County or High Court and a different pricing will apply.

Currently, there are no fees payable to bring an Employment Tribunal claim, although as a Claimant you can be asked to pay a deposit and, in exceptional cases, either party can be ordered to pay the costs of the other.

Before a claim can be lodged, it is necessary to go through the Acas Early Conciliation process. This can be done by the parties themselves without the need for legal representation.

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal

The following fees are an indication only and may vary according to the particular matter as we outline below. These fees do not apply to whistleblowing claims, claims purely for discrimination/other types of automatic unfair dismissal cases.

Simple case: £15,000 – £20,000 (excluding VAT)
Medium complexity case: £18,000 – £25,000 (excluding VAT)
High complexity case: £20,000 – £35,000 and above (excluding VAT)

Factors that could make a case more complex include:

If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
Making or defending a costs application
Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
The number of witnesses and documents
If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal

There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing. Generally, we would instruct a barrister to represent you at your hearing. Please refer to Disbursements below for an indication of the barrister’s fees.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees and barristers fees.

We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

No fees are currently payable to bring an employment tribunal claim, although a claimant can be asked to pay a deposit and, in exceptional cases, either party can be ordered to pay the costs of the other.

If we instruct a barrister to represent you at your hearing his/her fees will depend on his/her level of experience and seniority, the complexity of the case, the number of witnesses in the case and the volume of documents involved. The fee can range from £750 to £2,500 per day, excluding VAT. We would always agree this fee with you in advance.

The stages of a claim

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
Preparing claim or response
Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
Preparing or considering a schedule of loss
Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
Preparing bundle of documents
Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

Funding

You may have other funding options available, such as cover under an insurance policy or through your membership of a trade union and this should be checked by you as it could reduce your costs.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved.

If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take a few weeks.

If your claim proceeds to a final hearing, your case could take several months depending on a number of factors including how busy the relevant Employment Tribunal is, the length of hearing required and the complexity of the case.

We will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.