Employment is now one of the most heavily regulated aspects of the economy. Recent regulations dealing with discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or religous belief have opened up whole new areas of risk for employers.
The penalties for breach of the regulations are severe, and for small businesses, potentially ruinous. A simple case of unfair dismissal may attract compensation of up to £60,000, while in many cases of discrimination, there is no limit to the compensation which can be awarded.
The safest approach for the employer is to manage these problems in advance, both by anticipating and providing secure documentation and policies to deal with them, and by strict adherence to the comlex statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures where they apply. We have for many years preferred this pro-active approach to managing risk. We have considerable experience, both of the necessary preventative measures, and of the strategies for dealing with problems which cannot be avoided.
We apply the same approach to constructing employment and compensation packages for senior employees, and to provide enforceable provisions for protecting against breaches of confidentiality and unfair competition.
Needless to say this experience is equally valuable to employees who need to assert their own rights, or to know what their rights are.
