Employment

Employment is a central focus of our business, with over 150 lawyers in our team. Our practice is the most highly nominated European firm in research conducted by Who’s Who Legal. We have also received global recognition from Who's Who Legal who this year have named us "Law Firm of the Year for Labour, Employment & Pensions".

Consistently top-ranked amongst our peers for over a decade, we advise UK and multinational clients of all sizes, and many of our partners are independently rated as leaders in the field. Not only do we have one of the UK’s largest employment law practices, we have truly global reach as members of Ius Laboris, the world’s leading employment law alliance, and with our Asia Pacific base in Hong Kong and our Dublin office.

Underpinning the success of any business is its people. Meeting the competitive challenges of today’s rapidly changing world can require a radical re-think of the employer/employee relationship, and co-ordinating globally mobile talent can present significant challenges. Nurturing diversity, incentivising key staff and protecting against team defections are all essential to business success.

With so many issues to contend with, our award-winning specialist employment team covers the full range of work – from day-to-day HR support through to advising on the most complex or contentious of disputes. Going far beyond just legal advice, we also support clients with a range of innovative, value-adding services including consultancy, training and flexible legal resourcing.

Accolades

Chambers and Legal 500 have rated us as a Tier 1 practice for over a decade and this year name 21 of our partners as “leaders in their field”. Legal 500 named us “HR Law Firm of the Year” in their 2020 awards.
Who’s Who Legal named us “Global Law Firm of the Year for Labour, Employment & Pensions” for two years running. 15 of our lawyers are currently ranked in Who’s Who - substantially more than any other firm in the UK.
“Lewis Silkin operate at the highest level of employment law expertise and undertake many cutting-edge cases. There are few solicitors’ firms which attain such high analytical standards and show such in-depth legal knowledge.” (Legal 500 2021)
“An employment practice in terms of strength and depth of quality of team they are just unrivalled; for any issue they have an expert who’s dealt with it already, and the finished product is always very good.” (Chambers 2021)
“The team is exceptionally efficient, always keen to meet deadlines and really tailors the advice they offer to the individual needs of the client.” (Legal 500 2021 - Wales)
“Great commercial advice in employment matters. Very customer focused and delivery orientated.” (Legal 500 2021 - Thames Valley)
“Their level of expertise is excellent, they have great judgement, market-wide knowledge, and the quality of lawyers is absolutely first-rate.” (Chambers 2020)
“The firm has a deep knowledge of all matters related to employment law and is dedicated to client service.” (Chambers 2020)
“They have a great culture and a great match of skills and personalities. Their work is always of the highest calibre.”(Chambers 2020 - Wales)
“The team is highly responsive, knowledgeable but importantly practical when assessing technical risk vs practical reality” (Legal 500 2019)
“The team at Lewis Silkin are exceptional lawyers, who go above and beyond for a client and always make themselves available. They completely understand the nature of the client’s work and give appropriate tailored advice, taking on board the preferred outcomes and commercial solution to employment issues.” (Legal 500 2019 - Thames Valley)
“They are a very strong team and they are extremely cost-effective.” (Chambers 2019)

Related items

Employment Law Academy - 20, 21, 27 and 28 September 2021

20 September 2021

Our Employment Law Academy enables you to develop your skills and focus on key day-to-day areas of HR and in depth. Our online academy has been adapted to run over four half-days to provide you with the same great content and with an emphasis on the practical application of the topics outlined below.

Managing an international workforce: Human beings are political animals – but should they be at work?

16 June 2021

Recent years have seen a marked increase in political turbulence worldwide. Brexit in the UK and the recent US presidential elections, significant legislative changes including national referendums on same-sex marriage or abortions, and global campaign movements (such as MeToo and BLM) – all have seen their impact felt in the workplace.

Ireland moves one step closer to introducing statutory sick pay

10 June 2021

The Irish government has announced more details of its mandatory sick pay scheme. The new law will give employees in Ireland a right to sick pay for the first time from 2022.

Whistleblowing claims

09 June 2021

Whistleblowing claims are among the most difficult and dangerous types employment litigation that a business may face.

Employment Law Academy - 7, 8, 14 and 15 June 2021

07 June 2021

Reporting Ethnicity Pay Gaps Recommended for UK Employers: Tom Heys comments for SHRM

04 June 2021

The U.K.'s Commission for Racial and Ethnicity Disparity recently recommended that all employers voluntarily report pay gaps among ethnic groups to identify and rectify disparities.

European Court confirms Tesco employees can make equal pay comparison based on EU law

03 June 2021

The European Court of Justice has confirmed that Tesco shop workers can rely directly on European law in order to compare themselves to distribution centre workers for the purposes of an equal pay claim.

HR headaches for the holiday season

27 May 2021

In the second article of our three-part series looking at resourcing over the holiday season, we consider some of the difficult issues that employers will be facing in this area. These range from managing quarantine and staff with built-up annual leave to contemplating new policy approaches to holidays for the longer term.