ABOUT US:
Howard & Over are a long established legal practice with three locations in Devonport, Plymstock and lvybridge. Our offices are sensibly placed out of the centre of Plymouth meaning that there is no difficulty with car parking.
We are aware and conscious of the legal requirements of your business. We are able to offer a full range of legal services for your business needs.
At Howard & Over we understand it can be a worry having to deal with staff issues and ensure compliance with employment laws. Failure to do so can result in many wasted hours and costly claims at an Employment Tribunal.
Having to face an Employment Tribunal claim can be very damaging for businesses not only financially in respect of costs, wasted cost orders, and compensation but as these are public hearings it can also affect a business’s reputation and affect morale amongst staff.
At Howard and Over we are all too aware of pitfalls that employers can make such as failing to follow your own policies or procedures, failing to follow statutory procedures, suspending an employee inappropriately, not having fair and impartial proceedings to name but a few. We have therefore developed DISCIPLINARY DIRECT to help you avoid the negative aspects of an Employment Tribunal claim.
STATISTICS:
Did you know that in 2008/09 the Employment Tribunal Service heard over 52,711 unfair dismissal cases? Although 42% were resolved by mediation by ACAS, 24% still continued to a full hearing where the maximum award was £84,000 and an average award of compensation was around £8-£10,000 plus all legal costs and expenses in defending such a claim. In Discrimination cases the damages can be much higher.
OUR SERVICE:
As Solicitors with experience in handling employment matters we can assist you with: * Ensuring a Fair and Impartial investigation is undertaken * That statements are collated correctly and accurately * Checking your policies and procedures are followed fairly and impartially. * Ensuring that your procedure is compliant with all the necessary statutory requirements. * Advising you the on legal principles surrounding disciplinary actions. * Guidance on ensuring that your reason is fair and can be seen to be fair * Ensuring that hearings are conducted correctly
COSTS:
We can provide this service on a fixed fee basis of £600 + vat a day or £345 +vat for a half day, for as long as you require our assistance during a professional rnisconductJdisciplinary procedure.
This compares favourably to hourly rates which can range from £140 + vat per hour to £230 + vat depending on the firm and experience of the lawyer involved in your matter. Therefore our new product will protect your business, its reputation, its staff morale and of course time and money!
Both Donna Peters and Jan Millar have considerable experience in dealing with employment matters. They will be happy to talk to you further.
