The new age of employment solicitors in London.

Getting indulged into the complexity of employment law is not an easy job as there are hundreds of elements that get into deriving the desired results. In UK, the employment law is quite complex and understanding it for a general person is not possible. Though there are experienced employment solicitors in London who strive to provide full-fledged help to the needy people, there is a strong demand for professional and updated approach to any underlying case.

In recent times, the scenario has changed for a number of employment law firms and many contracted during the hard financial times. This is combined with latest changes to the employment tribunal system affecting dramatically on the number of claims made by people. While request for employment law experience inside surges, it is important to examine whether these changes refer there are fewer opportunities for trainees and NQs within this domain.

The evolving landscape

More than ten years ago, a place in the employment department was a sound strategic decision for any trainee. The Labour government was in change and was providing really effective safeguard for employees, referring to augmented EU employment legislation. As an outcome there were several cases going to the tribunals and detailed rules to deal with. The domain was quite novice to businesses. Human Resources (HR) teams were starting to update and search for external assistance; thus large numbers of lawyers were required to finish the job.

Employment law is always on the change and that is what makes it so thrilling and attractive. However the major and debatably most histrionic change in recent years was the bringing of tribunal charges. In July 2013 employment tribunal fees of up to £1,250 were brought by the coalition government in order to bring down the number of "frivolous" claims raised by employees against their employers. A recent Trade Union Congress study reveals that there has been a 79% reduction in general claims presented to employment tribunals from July 2013 to July 2014. A Citizens Advice Bureau survey also shows that 7 in 10 possibly successful cases are now not being followed by employees.

Some employment solicitors in London have raised their voices against the fees by claiming that they are affecting access to justice, especially for minority groups. One of the Business Secretaries has asked his officials to check whether the fees are appearing as a barrier to justice after numbers discovered that sex discrimination cases were below down to 90%. The number of claims may get back to pre-fees levels after the general election, but, at least for now, the fees stay and will look to leave a major impact on the capacity of litigation emerging through the employment tribunal system and landing on the tables of employment lawyers.

Employment law is still very worthy as it was earlier. There are more than 30 million working professionals in the United Kingdom and most of them are in a legal relationship with their employer. These employers have a number of concern to think upon, such as: what happens if an employee falls ill; how to get rid of an employee; how to manage the holiday pay; overtime pointers; what to do if dismissals need to be carried out; and how to embrace HR practices to align with the employer’s corporate brand.