The 5 Best Employment Solicitors in Manchester

Three firms here publish figures. An initial consultation runs £195 plus VAT at the cheapest and £450 to £600 plus VAT at a larger firm, usually including written advice on your options. Settlement agreement advice is frequently paid for by the employer, commonly £350 to £750 plus VAT, and your solicitor should tell you if the contribution does not cover the work. Tribunal representation is where it gets serious: £2,000 to £4,000 plus VAT is the published range for a straightforward claim, and a multi-day discrimination hearing runs well past that.

Almost always the employer, and it is not generosity. A settlement agreement is not legally binding unless you have taken independent advice from a qualified adviser, so the employer needs you to see a solicitor for their own document to work. They typically contribute a fixed amount. If your case is more complicated than a standard exit, or if you want the terms negotiated rather than explained, the contribution will not cover it and you pay the difference. Establish that before the meeting, not after.

Enormously, and for two separate reasons. The obvious one is conflict: a firm that already acts for your employer cannot act for you, and large firms carry long client lists. The subtler one is instinct. A practice built on employer retainers thinks about risk, process and defensibility. A practice built on individual claims thinks about leverage and what a tribunal will actually do. Ask outright which side the firm mostly acts for. A good one will tell you immediately, and will conflict-check before you say anything.

Short and unforgiving. Most employment tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination, must be started within three months less one day of the act complained of. You must notify ACAS for early conciliation before you can lodge, which pauses the clock, but the underlying deadline is strict and tribunals rarely extend it. Equal pay and redundancy pay claims have different limits. If you think you may have a claim, get advice in the first fortnight rather than the last, because the remedy for missing the deadline is usually nothing at all.

Sometimes, and less often than people expect. Unfair dismissal compensation is capped at the lower of a year's pay or a statutory maximum, so the maths on a modest salary rarely justifies a contested hearing on cost alone. Discrimination claims are uncapped and can include injury to feelings, which changes the calculation. Costs are not usually recoverable in the employment tribunal even if you win, which is the single most misunderstood fact in this area. A good solicitor will tell you the likely range and the likely cost in the first meeting, and sometimes tell you not to bother.

Your contract of employment, the staff handbook if there is one, payslips covering the relevant period, every written communication about the issue including emails and messages, any grievance or disciplinary paperwork, and a dated timeline of what happened written by you. The timeline is the most valuable item and the one people skip. An hour of a solicitor's time spent reconstructing dates from a shoebox is an hour not spent on advice, and at £195 to £600 an hour that is an expensive filing exercise.