Employment Law
Employment law support for employees and small business employers without solicitor bill shock.
Employment disputes are rarely won by noise. They are won by deadlines, documents, evidence, chronology, pleaded issues and a clear view of risk. We help employees and small business employers bring the paperwork under control, understand the legal position and take the next sensible step without handing the dispute to a solicitor on an open-ended meter.
The real problem
Employment disputes become expensive when the case loses shape.
A workplace dispute can feel personal, urgent and unfair. That is precisely why it must be organised with discipline.
Employees often know something has gone badly wrong, but cannot yet separate the strongest legal point from the understandable anger around it. Small business employers often know they acted for a commercial reason, but have not documented the process carefully enough to prove that the decision was fair, proportionate and lawful.
The tribunal is not impressed by volume. It is impressed by relevance. A focused chronology, the right documents, the correct claim or response, a clear remedy schedule, a properly prepared witness statement and a bundle that can be followed may do more for a case than months of expensive correspondence.
We help turn workplace conflict into a case plan.
We can assist with the practical legal documents and evidence structure needed in employment disputes, including Employment Tribunal claims and responses, grievances, disciplinary issues, redundancy disputes, dismissal problems, discrimination issues, unpaid wages, settlement discussions and hearing preparation.
The aim is not to spend your money proving every point. The aim is to identify the points that matter, prepare them properly and avoid paying solicitor rates for work that can often be done in a more controlled and economical way under our guidance.
Common employment law issues
Where employees and small business employers usually need help.
Employment law is not just about who is right. It is about whether the right issue is pleaded, whether the deadline is protected and whether the evidence proves what the party says it proves.
Unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal
Employees need to show more than disappointment or harsh treatment. Employers need to show a fair reason, a fair process and a decision within the range of reasonable responses.
Discrimination and harassment
These cases often turn on detail: comparators, protected characteristics, dates, words used, documents created at the time and whether the pleaded allegation matches the evidence.
Redundancy and restructure disputes
For employers, the trap is treating redundancy as a label rather than a process. For employees, the trap is missing selection, consultation, pooling and alternative-role issues.
Wages, holiday pay and deductions
Pay disputes can look simple until limitation, series of deductions, contractual terms, rotas, payslips and proof of hours are put under pressure.
Grievance and disciplinary procedures
Many disputes are won or lost before tribunal proceedings begin. A careless grievance, weak investigation or badly worded disciplinary outcome can become exhibit A later.
Settlement, COT3 and commercial exits
Sometimes the best result is not a final hearing. It is a settlement reached with the issues, risk and evidence properly understood before positions harden and costs rise.
Pitfalls many miss
The danger is not always the law. It is the missed procedural point.
Employment disputes have a nasty habit of turning on something no one took seriously at the time.
- Missing or miscalculating the tribunal deadline, especially where ACAS early conciliation is involved.
- Starting a grievance and assuming that this automatically protects the tribunal time limit. It does not.
- Pleading too much in an ET1, but not pleading the legal ingredients of the claim clearly enough.
- Submitting an ET3 response that denies everything but answers very little.
- Failing to preserve emails, WhatsApp messages, rota evidence, payslips, notes, meeting records and internal decision documents.
- Confusing a poor management decision with an unlawful one, or assuming unfairness is enough without the evidence to prove the legal test.
- For employers, treating a disciplinary or redundancy process as a box-ticking exercise rather than a record that may later be tested in public.
- For employees, focusing on the most emotionally painful event while missing the legally stronger claim.
- Turning settlement correspondence into theatre instead of using it to manage risk, cost and leverage.
If there is an urgent deadline, say so immediately. Some employment remedies and procedural steps are extremely time-sensitive.
For employees
You may have one strong claim hidden inside ten complaints.
It is natural to want the tribunal to hear the whole story. The tribunal may need the story, but it decides legal issues. That distinction matters.
We help employees identify the claim that can actually be advanced: unfair dismissal, discrimination, unlawful deduction from wages, breach of contract, whistleblowing issues, redundancy problems, victimisation, harassment or another employment-law route. We help organise the facts, documents and remedy so that the case is not buried under its own history.
We will not tell you every case is wonderful. If the case is weak, late, commercially unwise or missing evidence, you need to know that before you spend money you cannot sensibly recover.
For small business employers
A tribunal claim can be disruptive long before it becomes legally dangerous.
Small employers often face claims after making decisions under pressure: performance management, absence, redundancy, conduct, pay disputes or grievance complaints. The issue is often not whether the business had a reason. It is whether the reason was documented, communicated and tested through a fair process.
We help small business employers prepare ET3 responses, issue lists, chronologies, evidence schedules, witness statements, bundle indexes and settlement-position documents. We can also help identify where the paperwork is exposed so the business does not waste money defending a point that should be settled, conceded or narrowed.
A good defence is not a loud defence. It is a disciplined one.
Cost control
Why pay solicitor rates for every email, attachment and six-minute unit?
Employment disputes can become financially irrational very quickly. The bill can become the second dispute.
| Traditional problem | Our practical alternative |
|---|---|
| Open-ended hourly billing where every email and attachment can feel chargeable. | We focus on the legal job that needs doing and quote fixed-scope or proportionate fees where possible. |
| Long correspondence chains that increase cost without improving the case. | We identify the document, step or evidence that is likely to move the matter forward. |
| Solicitor-level overhead for tasks that are often document-preparation and case-organisation work. | We prepare forms, statements, bundles, chronologies, issue lists, schedules and speaking notes under a controlled-cost model. |
| Clients losing control of cost because the matter is being run for them on the meter. | You remain in control. We prepare and guide. You file, serve, correspond and take procedural steps yourself unless another lawful arrangement is agreed. |
This is not about doing things cheaply for the sake of it. It is about not using a sledgehammer where a scalpel is needed.
What we can prepare
Practical documents and case support.
- Merits guidance and legal position in plain English.
- ACAS early conciliation preparation and settlement-position notes.
- ET1 claim drafting support and ET3 response drafting support.
- Grievance, disciplinary, appeal and redundancy correspondence.
- Chronologies, issue lists, remedy schedules and loss summaries.
- Witness statements, evidence schedules and bundle indexes.
- Hearing bundles, trial bundles and speaking notes.
- Practical guidance on filing, service, deadlines and next steps.
What to send us
Better papers produce better advice.
Employment law document checklist
- Employment contract, offer letter, staff handbook and workplace policies.
- Dismissal, resignation, redundancy, grievance, disciplinary or appeal letters.
- ACAS early conciliation details, certificate or correspondence if already started.
- Pay records, payslips, rotas, holiday records, absence records and bonus or commission documents.
- Emails, WhatsApp messages, meeting notes, investigation notes and witness names.
- Any ET1, ET3, tribunal order, case management order, hearing notice or deadline.
Do not send original documents. Scans or clear photographs are usually enough for the first view. If there is a tribunal deadline, put the date in your message.
The working model
We prepare and guide. You stay in control.
This is designed for employees and small business employers who want proper legal preparation without handing the whole dispute to a solicitor on an open-ended basis.
| What we do | What you do |
|---|---|
| Assess the papers and identify the legal position, risks, deadlines and practical options. | Send the key documents, dates, deadlines and the outcome you need. |
| Prepare claims, responses, letters, statements, schedules, chronologies and hearing documents where appropriate. | Check the factual accuracy, approve the final version and keep your own records. |
| Create hearing bundles, trial bundles and speaking notes where needed. | File documents with the tribunal or court and serve the other party yourself. |
| Guide next steps and explain where settlement, narrowing issues or tactical restraint may be sensible. | Attend hearings and take procedural steps unless another lawful arrangement is made. |
If a matter genuinely needs a solicitor to conduct reserved litigation, accept service or go on the court record, we will not dress that up. We will tell you.
Thoughtful case strategy
Not every point deserves to be fought. Some points need to be sharpened. Some need to be dropped.
That is where value is often found.
Merits and legal position
We identify realistic strengths, weaknesses, limitation risks, evidential gaps and settlement pressure points so you do not spend money on the wrong battle.
Documents and evidence
We turn workplace papers, messages, policies, tribunal orders and pay records into a coherent case file the tribunal and the other side can follow.
Hearing preparation
We can prepare bundles, issue lists, cross-reference notes, speaking notes and practical hearing documents so the case is presented with structure rather than panic.
Questions
Employment Law FAQs.
Can Fenton Marsh & Co help employees?
Yes. We can help employees organise the evidence, understand the legal position, prepare tribunal documents, draft correspondence, build chronologies, prepare witness statements and get ready for hearings, depending on the scope agreed.
Can Fenton Marsh & Co help small business employers?
Yes. We can help small employers respond to workplace disputes, prepare ET3 responses, organise documents, draft disciplinary or grievance correspondence, build hearing bundles and assess risk before the dispute becomes more expensive.
Do I file and serve the documents myself?
Yes. Our working model is that we prepare and guide. You file documents with the tribunal or court, serve the other party and take practical procedural steps yourself unless another lawful arrangement is expressly agreed.
Is the initial consultation free?
Yes. Send the key papers, the deadline and what you need to achieve. The initial consultation is free. We will tell you whether we can help and what the sensible next step is.
Free initial consultation
Need help with an employment law problem?
Send the key documents, the deadline and what you need to achieve. We will tell you whether we can help, what the sensible next step is and whether the case needs urgent action.
No obligation. No running meter. No charge just for asking whether we can help.