“Physician, heal thyself” is a lesson that some employment lawyers still seem to be struggling with it. Further to my earlier blog on employment solicitors losing unfair tribunal claims, comes the latest case. Solicitor Kate Welch has just begun an employment tribunal claim for both sex discrimination and unfair dismissal compensation. Ms. Welch has claimed that her law firm employer made sexist remarks both about her and other female employees – allegedly including a statement that “women should not be allowed to drive big cars”. In addition she claims she never received a contract of employment.
Whatever the truth of the allegations, it is a salutary lesson that extreme caution must be made when dealing with staff and employment law related matters. If solicitors are making such elementary mistakes – the rest of us should beware even more. But you can bet your bottom dollar, employers are making these kind of mistakes each and every day. Most are getting away with it – but for how long? The number of claims for employment tribunal compensation made annually continues to increase – if you employ staff, it is probably only a matter of time before someone has a pop at you.
If you wish to avoid an expensive employment tribunal claim, the advice from our employment lawyers is simple –
- make sure you and your HR team are well aware of employment law and procedure
- if you are ever unsure about how to deal with your staff make sure you take specialist employment law or HR advice
- train senior managers in the basics – so they can ensure that they and their staff avoid making elementary mistakes