Employment law for employers

We have longstanding relationships advising and representing many national public sector organisations and local authorities across all of Scotland, from the Highlands and Islands, through the central belt and down to Dumfries and Galloway.

Recent work has included equal pay disputes; equalities; tribunal representation; appeal tribunal representation; Court of Session litigation; business transfers; reasonable adjustments; public sector equality duty; disciplinary; grievance; job evaluation; pay grading advice; common law duty of care; harassment; victimisation; whistleblowing; leading investigations; performance management; absence management; appointments; exits; settlement agreements; introducing new policies and procedures; compliance with the public sector finance manual; employment relations including trade union relations; collective bargaining; holiday pay issues; coronavirus issues; effective training; and compliance reviews.

Our portfolio of private sector employers ranges from billion dollar international listed corporations, to multi-national service providers who assist household names, to tech, sports, retail and family-owned business.

Recent work has included advisory on the full employment life cycle; equalities including effective training; whistleblowing; redundancy; TUPE; equal pay; tribunal representation; appeal tribunal representation; Court of Session litigation; business transfers; disability discrimination compliance; reasonable adjustments; disciplinary; grievance; job evaluation; common law duty of care; harassment; victimisation; performance management; absence management; recruitment; exits; settlement agreements; pensions issues; holiday pay; working time; minimum wage compliance; introducing new policies and procedures; health & safety compliance; coronavirus issues; effective training; compliance reviews; confidential information and business protections including restrictive covenants.

We have considerable experience of helping clients with business transfers and TUPE, assisting clients in acquiring or disposing of businesses, advising on more than 60 in the past year alone.

Recent work has included ordinary business transfers on sale, merger and disposal; service provision change TUPE transfers; offshoring TUPE transfers; tri-partite settlement agreements; information and consultation exercises; disputes connected to transfers; warranties, indemnities and guarantees including parent company protections.

We advise the recruitment sector and are an Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) trusted partner. Our clients within the sector include employment agencies, employment businesses and ancillary entities such as umbrella companies. Our recruitment clients vary from small third sector recruiters to large international agencies.

We have extensive experience in advising on and assisting with the wide-ranging legal and compliance challenges faced by the recruitment sector in respect of their own staff, agency workers and contractors. In conjunction with other advisers within the firm, we advise on matters ranging from data protection, Modern Slavery Act, Agency Worker Regulations and IR35 compliance to drafting complex contractual documentation, policies and procedures.

A focus of our work for our recruitment clients is business protection and ensuring that protective steps, including court action where necessary, are taken to preserve confidential information, the stability of their workforce, their candidate database and client connection.

Our work within the housing sector is as extensive as it is varied.  We act for some of the largest landlords in Scotland but also value our relationships with smaller independent landlords, providing vital housing and services in the heart of Scotland’s communities.

Recently we have advised on disputes including tribunal representation; exits including compliance with the Scottish Housing Regulator requirements; investigations; interacting with the Scottish Housing Regulator on whistleblowing issues; introducing new policies and procedures; employment relations including trade union relations; collective bargaining; equalities; business transfers; reasonable adjustments; disciplinary; grievance; job evaluation; pay grading advice; harassment; victimisation; performance management; absence management; appointments; exits; settlement agreements; introducing new policies and procedures; working time regulations; minimum wage compliance; holiday pay issues; coronavirus issues; effective training; and compliance reviews; EVH terms and conditions; exiting EVH; pensions issues including exiting final salary schemes.