Employment
We advise and represent the Prison Governors Association, the Police Superintendents' Association and their members in disputes with the Secretary of State for Justice, the Police and Crime Commissioners, and their Chief Constables. Many of our cases concern discrimination.
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Several police staff associations have instructed us in a number of cases concerning the Government's reform of public service pensions, including judicial review proceedings arising out of its unlawful consultation on pension reform following the Court of Appeal's decision in McCloud and Sargeant.
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Corporate executives come to us on recommendations from colleagues for advice on how to instigate and progress exit negotiations. Hedge funds, banks in the City and a multinational group of companies refer their executives to us for independent advice on redundancy situations, and to negotiate settlement agreements and exit packages.​
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Breach of contract
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Constructive dismissal
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Corporate manslaughter
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Data protection
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Discrimination
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Equal pay
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Harassment and bullying
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Human rights
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Judicial review
Our hourly rate when acting for claimants in this area is £200 to £250 plus VAT of 20%. The sole principal generally carries out this work. Most cases settle and disbursements are not generally incurred.
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Negotiation
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Pay and grading
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Redundancy
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RIPA
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Settlement agreements
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Stress at work
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Terms and conditions
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TUPE
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Unfair dismissal
Case Summaries
Whistleblowing
When a prison governor reported racist behaviour (a disclosure protected by the whistleblowing legislation) by a fellow governor towards an inmate, he was following his employer’s policy on Reporting Wrongdoing. In reply, he was threatened with disciplinary action for bullying the governor whom he had reported. His colleagues began to ignore him: whenever he came into a room they stopped speaking. The governor felt he had no choice but to obtain a transfer to a different prison. It was only a few months later his employer conceded that the threatened disciplinary action against him was “fundamentally wrong” and in breach of policy. The governor instructed Mariel to issue proceeding in the Employment Tribunal claiming compensation for injury to feelings and the psychiatric injury he had suffered as a result of the way he had been treated following the protected disclosure. The employer maintained that the behaviour had been misunderstood as racist, and denied that the governor had suffered any detriment as a result of any protected disclosure. Within a few weeks, Mariel negotiated a substantial settlement
Exit package
A director in the banking sector was passed over for promotion, although she had accepted the position four years earlier on the understanding she would be considered when the opportunity arose. Instead she had been side-lined, ignored and offered redundancy as part of a corporate restructure. She came to Mariel for advice on the legal merits of any claim and how she might improve her negotiating position in order to secure a better exit package. She was also very clear she wanted to ensure that others were not treated in the same way as she had been. Following Mariel’s advice, she bravely lodged a formal grievance, while Mariel advised on the meaning and effect of a draft settlement agreement and negotiated with the bank’s lawyers. An increase in the settlement package of 30% was achieved.