Contracts

Our solicitors can assist with Contracts and all matters relating to employment and directors' service agreements.

The following list illustrates the range of contractual matters that commonly form the basis of disputes.

 Bonus schemes
 Notice periods
 Tax treatment of notice pay
 Confidentiality clauses
 Restrictive covenants
 Garden leave
 Changes to contractual terms, such as role or place of work
 Contractual entitlements following a TUPE transfer
 Employment status and self-employment

From an employer's point of view, it is important to know the law when considering changing an employee's contract. An employee's terms will usually alter during their employment - for example their pay may increase. Most changes will be uncontroversial, but sometimes employers want to do something that the employee is less willing to accept. In such cases, the employer must know how to make the change legally binding while minimising any possible disruption.

Employment law has developed the concept of a constructive dismissal, as distinct from an express dismissal, of an employee by their employer. A constructive dismissal occurs where the employer does not dismiss the employee, but the employee resigns and can show that they were entitled to do so by virtue of the employer's conduct.  It is important to note that the employee may resign with or without notice; what matters is that he should be entitled to terminate the contract without notice.

The following elements are needed to establish constructive dismissal:-

Repudiatory breach on the part of the employer. This must be sufficiently serious to justify the employee resigning.

An election by the employee to accept the breach and treat the contract as at an end. The employee must resign in response to the breach.

The employee must not delay too long in accepting the breach, as it is always open to an innocent party to "waive" the breach and treat the contract as continuing.
 

As specialist employment solicitors we advise both employers and employees on all contractual matters, including the difficult area of constructive dismissal. 

To discuss matters in further detail please either call us on 0845 603 0708 or complete the form on the right and we'll call you back.

National Solicitors

Employment Solicitors

Tunbridge Wells