Your Experts in Employment Law

If a problem arises between you and your employer, you are able to seek conciliation with the Employer with the help of ACAS. In the event that the conciliation proves inconclusive then you can seek recourse from the Employment Tribunal.

We can provide advice, assistance and guidance in the following areas of employment law which we breakdown into two main categories, non-contentious and contentious matters. Some cases by virtue of their nature may come under both categories. In such cases, the applicable costs information will be that which corresponds with the work undertaken.

Our Team

Our team has a wealth of experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to employment law, acting for both employers and employee. The team has particular expertise in complicated and multi-faceted claims against employers. We have three members of the team who may work on your matter. Regardless of who works on your matter, they will be supervised by Manzoor Ahmad Shah, Principal and Head of the Employment department at the firm.

Manzoor Ahmad Shah – Principal Solicitor

• Manzoor is the head of our team and has over 17 years’ experience in employment law, specialising in dismissal and discrimination claims against employers. Manzoor has been working in this area since he qualified and has assisted numerous employers and employees.
• Manzoor completed his BSc from University of Kashmir (J&K, India), LLB (hons) and Sharia’ Law from IIUI (Islamabad, Pakistan).
• Manzoor qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and gained experience in several law firms before opening his own comprehensive practice in 2008. 
• Manzoor has also completed several professional development courses in employment law.
• Manzoor speaks fluent Urdu, Kashmiri, Hindi and Arabic.

Burhan Malik – Senior Caseworker

• Burhan obtained his LLB (Hons) from University of Portsmouth. Burhan joined us whilst studying the Legal Practice Course and Master’s (LLM) at the University of Law. During his period of recognised training, Burhan has undertaken work in our employment, litigation and dispute resolution, corporate and commercial disputes, charity law and personal injury/clinical negligence department.
• Burhan speaks, reads and writes fluent Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Kashmiri

Lubna Sabri – Consultant Solicitor

• Lubna qualified as a solicitor in 2004. She obtained her B.A Honours in Law from De Montfort University (Leicester) and completed her Legal Practice Course from the same University.
• Lubna has been working with us since May 2014.
• Lubna speaks fluent Urdu and Punjabi.

Experience and qualifications of employment department staff

Manzoor Ahmad Shah (Hourly rate: £300.00 + VAT) – Solicitor of the Courts of England and Wales – admitted January 2003 has extensive experience in employment law for 17 years (also, as an employer for 12 years) having undertaken extensive work in both, contentious and non-contentious cases including settlements, conciliation as well as tribunal proceedings, registration of tribunal award in the county court and enforcement.

Burhan Malik – Senior Caseworker  – Extensive experience of 5+ years working in Employment law under the supervision of Mr Manzoor Shah).

Non-contentious work costs & pricing:

Our charges for non-contentious cases tend to be fixed, so long as the work involved is foreseeable routine work involved in any given case.

Cases like these tend to involve routine work including meeting you to advise you of our services and retainer, obtaining your preliminary instructions, advising you about the merits as well as the procedure of your case, determining your legal position, liaison and non-contentious correspondence with any other party, advising and drafting, and accounting to you for any sums received on your behalf etc.

Please be notified that if the work in your cases exceeds the above actions then the prices may change depending on the nature and amount of further work involved.

Contentious work costs & pricing:

Our charges in contentious employment matters are generally based on our hourly rates. Mr Shah’s hourly rate is £300.00 + VAT (= £360.00).  An estimate of likely costs is under the heading ‘Fees’.

Typically, your claim against the Employer will include one or more of the following claim:

• Unfair Dismissal
• Discrimination – race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age
• Breach of Contract
• Unlawful deduction of Wages
• Restrictive Covenants
• Whistleblowing
• Workplace harassment, victimisation or bullying
• Breach of Privacy & Data Protection at Work
• Bonus Disputes
• Employment Tribunal Proceedings (Initiating as well as at any other stage of proceedings)

We cover areas including and in close proximity to Brent, Wembley, Neasden, Watford, Harrow, Hillingdon and Central London (UK).

Employment Tribunal Proceedings: How long will my matter take?

The time limit for bringing the claim to the employment tribunal is (earlier of the) 3 months from the date on which employment ceased or from the date of the action giving rise to your complaint.

The time that it takes from your initial instructions until the conclusion of your case will depend on the stage at which the conclusion takes place. If the case settles prior to issuing court proceedings and during the conciliation phase then it is likely to resolve within 6-12 weeks. However, if the claim is issued at the settles at Judicial Mediation then the case may take up to 6-9 months. In the event that the case proceeds to a final hearing, it is likely that your case may take up to 1 year (or longer depending on when the tribunal can accommodate a hearing date for your case). Of course, the time scale is not rigid and will depend on many factors including the complexity of the case, the nature of complaints, the response from the Employer, the number of witnesses involved.

Employment Tribunal Proceedings: How much will my case cost?

Our charges in employment tribunal proceedings are generally based on our hourly rates. Mr Shah’s hourly rate is £300.00 + VAT (= £360.00).  An estimate of likely costs is as follows:

If your case concludes at conciliation, mediation or otherwise prior to issuing tribunal proceedings then the costs estimate is likely to be £2000.00 – £5000.00 + VAT.

If the case proceeds to tribunal and settles at the early stages of proceedings by way of Alternative Dispute Resolution (which includes settlement by agreement, negotiations, arbitration, mediation etc) then the costs in the case are likely to reach £6000.00 – £8000.00 + VAT.

If, however, the case concludes at the final hearing then the costs estimate is as follows:

• For a straightforward unfair or wrongful dismissal claim lasting 2 days, the typical period for these claims, in an Employment Tribunal, which would involve many or all of the key stages as mentioned below, we would anticipate our fees (for either employer or employee clients) to total between £10,000-15,000 (plus VAT).

• For more complicated or longer cases (such as those involving an element of unlawful discrimination or whistleblowing), our total fees will be significantly more than stated above and could amount to £40,000 – £50,000 plus VAT

Employment Tribunal Proceedings: Likely Disbursements

In light of the decision of the UK Supreme Court, the issue fee and hearing fee for Employment Tribunal claims have been abolished. As such, there is no fee payable to the Tribunal to start and proceed with a claim.

Usually the only disbursement that would be payable are Counsel’s fees for a barrister to represent you at the Tribunal.  Typically, an employment claim entails 2 hearings. The first hearing is usually a preliminary / case management hearing where the Tribunal considers the preliminary matters between the parties and issues directions as to case management. This hearing usually lasts 3-5 hours and does not usually involve giving evidence. The second hearing is usually a substantive hearing which may last more than 1 day depending upon the complexity of the case, the number of witnesses involved, the nature of the allegations etc. It is usual for a substantive hearing to last 2-3 days but it may exceed more than a week depending on the number of witnesses and complexity of the case.

Counsel fees vary depending on the level of experience of the barrister and the complexity and length of the case but can usually be expected to range, £850 to £1200 (plus VAT) for a preliminary/case management hearing and between – £1,550 to £6,250 (plus VAT) for a substantive hearing lasting 1 to 3 days respectively.  Counsel’s fees cover the barrister’s preparation for the hearing as well as attendance at the Tribunal.

Sometimes it may be necessary to instruct a Counsel at the early stages of the claim to advise and/or draft on the pleadings due to potentially complex nature of the claim, which will incur fee of £600 to £1000 (plus VAT) depending upon the seniority of the Counsel involved.

It may also prove necessary to instruct a medical expert, particularly when ‘injury to feelings’ and other medical health issues are pleaded as a result of the Employer’s actions. The medical expert’s report may cost in excess of £1000.00 + VAT depending upon the nature of the report required and the specialism of the expert.

Employment Tribunal Proceedings: Key Stages

Employment Tribunal proceedings for unfair or wrongful dismissal and/or discrimination typically involve the following stages:

• Taking client’s (whether employer or employee) initial instructions, reviewing documents and advising on merits and likely compensation. This is likely to change as the case proceeds and therefore, we will be advising you on the merits of your case on an ongoing basis.
• Entering into ACAS Early Conciliation process (where mandatory) to see if settlement can be reached.
• Drafting and filing a claim form (known as an ET1) for a claimant (employee) or a response form (known as an ET3) for a respondent (employer).
• Drafting and calculating a schedule of loss.
• Preparing and attending a Case Management Discussion or Preliminary Hearing (either in person or via telephone conference call).
• Complying with document disclosure process and agreeing a bundle of documents for any hearing(s).
• Meeting/discussing evidence and drafting witness statements.
• Liaising with the other party regarding a List of Issues and/or Chronology.
• Preparing for and attending a Final Hearing, including instructing Counsel and attending Counsel in conference.

Factors which may make the case more complicated include (but are not limited to):

• Existence of preliminary issues i.e. whether the claim is presented within time,
• Amending your claim or defence,
• Providing further and better particulars (if you approach us after issuing the claim),
• The number of parties in the case,
• Making and Defending interim applications.
• The level of disclosure involved in the case i.e. documents served by each party
• Element of whistleblowing
• Number of witnesses being proposed by each party
• Special requirements
• Group litigation

Disbursments involved in Enforcement Proceeding

• Enforcement of any monetary award made by the Tribunal (if unpaid within the stipulated timeline) by registering the award as a County Court Judgment Debt and seeking further means of enforcement as may be relevant and necessary. Registering an award with the County Court for enforcement incurs a fees of £44.00.

• Once registered, the enforcement proceedings relating to a court debt, ordinarily pursued in the County Court or High Court are subject to varying court fees, depending on the enforcement method chosen by the client, as illustrated in the following schedule:

• Application to court to order the debtor to attend court to provide information: £55.00
• Application to issue warrant of control: £110.00
• Application to issue warrant of possession: £121.00
• Application for attachment of earnings order: £110.00
• Application for Third party debt order: £110.00
• Application for Charging Order: £110.00

This is purely a guideline and the actual disbursements incurred in each case are usually case specific and will vary case to case. A more precise detail of the costs and disbursements that are likely to be incurred in a particular case are usually listed in our Client Care letter.