Practice area
Employment
Contracts, senior hires, restrictive covenants, restructures and exits, for employers and for senior individuals.
Who calls us about this
Employers with up to a few hundred staff, and executives negotiating a hire, a change or a departure.
Employment problems tend to arrive on a deadline: a resignation letter on a Friday, a restructure announced for the first of the month, a draft agreement with a signature date. Our employment team is organised to answer the first call the same day.
We act for employers of up to a few hundred people, and for senior individuals, which gives us both views of the table. We do not act on both sides of the same matter. For employers, the aim is usually to resolve things early and keep working relationships intact where possible. For individuals, it is to understand what the contract really says and what a reasonable outcome looks like.
01What we handle
- Employment contracts, handbooks and policies
- Senior hires and executive packages
- Restrictive covenants and confidentiality
- Restructures, redundancy processes and settlements
- Disciplinary, grievance and performance procedures
- Advice to individuals on exit and negotiation
02Typical matters
Described in general terms. Details are changed and no client is identifiable.
Departure of a senior engineer
A software employer learned that its lead engineer was joining a competitor. Within a week we had reviewed the contract, written a measured letter and agreed a short garden-leave period, without a court application.
Restructure of a regional office
Advised an employer closing one site and reducing headcount at two others. We planned the consultation timetable, wrote the scripts for the first meetings and settled all individual terms by agreement.
Executive exit negotiation
Acted for a finance director whose role was being removed after a change of ownership. We negotiated notice, bonus treatment and a reference, and a clean agreement on what could be said to the market.
A handbook that people read
Replaced a ninety-page handbook with a twelve-page one for a company of two hundred, and trained managers on the three procedures they actually use.
03How we work
A first call that sets the order of work
In twenty minutes we identify the deadline, the document that governs and the step you must not take yet.
Read the paper before the story
We read the contract, policies and correspondence first, because those usually decide the outcome more than recollection does.
Agree a route
You choose between a negotiated outcome, a formal process and a hold, with the costs and risks of each stated plainly.
Document the result
Settlement agreements, letters and policy changes are short, specific and written for the people who must apply them.
04Our approach to fees
Standard documents such as contracts, policies and settlement agreements are priced as fixed fees. Live disputes and restructures are quoted per stage against a written estimate, with a cap we agree with you. We separate advice to the company from advice to individual employees, and we never act for both.
05Questions we hear
Can a restrictive covenant be enforced after someone resigns?
Sometimes. Courts look at whether the restriction protects a genuine business interest and goes no further than needed. Wording, duration and the employee's seniority all matter, so the answer depends on the document and the facts.
Should I sign a settlement agreement straight away?
Almost never. Time to read, take advice and negotiate is normal, and the first offer is seldom the final one. Do not sign anything you have not had explained.
General information only; the answer in your case depends on the documents and the jurisdiction.
06The team
07Related insights
-
Restrictive covenants after a resignation: a practical sequence
A senior employee resigns to join a competitor. What an employer should do in the first week, in what order, and what not to do.
Imogen Tran 5 min read Employment
-
Before you sign a settlement: five questions
A settlement ends a dispute and usually your right to revisit it. Five questions to ask before you sign.
Rohan Vale 4 min read EmploymentCommercial disputes
Talk to the employment team.
Matter, a few lines of detail, how to reach you. We check for conflicts and reply within one business day. The first conversation, up to thirty minutes, is free.
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