This page provides you with cost information in relation to claims for wrongful dismissal and unfair dismissal claims only.
Compensation for wrongful dismissal claims only are typically limited to the notice pay you would have or should have received from your employer. Compensation for unfair dismissal claims are more extensive and will include future loss of earnings.
Stage 1 costs – these are costs to resolve your employment dispute prior to lodging a claim to an employment tribunal. Our services will generally involve: drafting a lengthy letter or email setting out the factual and legal basis of your claim, and negotiating to resolve your dispute by way of an amicable settlement. The cost of this service for wrongful dismissal is a rough average of £1,200, including VAT at 20%. The cost of this service for unfair dismissal is a rough average of £2,500, including VAT at 20%. A rough timescale for resolution under this stage is 4 weeks for a claim for wrongful dismissal and 6 weeks for a claim for unfair dismissal.
Stage 2 costs – these are costs for lodging a claim at the Tribunal and taking the case to witness statement stage. These costs will apply if resolution has not been successful at stage 1. The work involved within stage 2 usually includes completing a claim form, submitting to the Employment Tribunal with particulars of claim and complying with Tribunal orders such as preparation of a Schedule of Loss and a List of Documents. The cost of this service for wrongful dismissal is a rough average of £1,500, including VAT at 20%. The cost of this service for unfair dismissal is a rough average of £5,500, including VAT at 20%. A rough timescale for completion of this stage is 2 months for a claim for wrongful dismissal and 3 months for a claim for unfair dismissal.
Stage 3 costs – these are costs for preparing and/or agreeing the final hearing bundle, preparing and exchanging witness statements and handling your case up to and including the final hearing. These costs will apply if resolution has not been successful at stage 1 or 2. The work involved within stage 3 usually includes preparing and/or agreeing the final hearing bundle, taking witness statements from you and your witnesses, exchanging witness statements with the other party and instructing a barrister for final hearing. The cost of this service for wrongful dismissal is a rough average of £1,500, including VAT at 20%. The cost of this service for unfair dismissal is a rough average of £5,500, including VAT at 20%. A rough timescale for completion of this stage is 2 months for a claim for wrongful dismissal and 3 months for a claim for unfair dismissal.
The basis for the above charges is estimated by the typical number of hours taken to complete each stage at our respective hourly rates. Our hourly rates are £348, including VAT at 20%, for work carried out by a Director, £282, including VAT at 20%, for work carried out by a Solicitor and £192 , including VAT at 20%, for a Paralegal or Trainee Solicitor.
In addition to our costs, there are disbursements that would typically need to be paid. Disbursements are expenses and these are usually limited to the fees of a barrister to represent you at final hearing. A rough average cost for a barrister to represent you within a claim for wrongful dismissal is £1,800, including VAT at 20%, and a rough average cost for a barrister to represent you within a claim for unfair dismissal is £2,400 , including VAT at 20%.
Based on the above, the rough average cost for a wrongful dismissal (from stage 1 to stage 3) is £4,200 including VAT at 20% plus a barrister’s fee at a rough average of £1,800 including VAT at 20%. And the rough average cost for a unfair dismissal (from stage 1 to stage 3) is £13,500 including VAT at 20% plus a barrister’s fee at a rough average of £2,400, including VAT at 20%.
We occasionally can consider offering agreements to you where our costs are not payable unless and until you are either successful at the Employment Tribunal or you accept a settlement offer. These are sometimes known as “contingency fee agreements”, “conditional fee agreements” or “no-win no-fee agreements”. In order to assess whether this is something we may be able to offer, we would normally require to have a consultation with you at a cost of £348 including VAT at 20%. Disbursements or expenses are excluded from such an agreement. Therefore, you would still be expected to pay for a barrister to represent you. A rough average cost of a barrister is detailed above. You would also be expected to make payment of our costs if you were successful at the Employment Tribunal even if your employer, for whatever reason, did not make payment of the award. Finally, there are circumstances within such agreements which may result in you being liable for our costs. These circumstances are:
- If you failed to follow our advice with regard to the settlement or withdrawal of one or more of your claims.
- If you withdrew your claim or claims without or against our advice.
- If you failed to follow our advice with regard to the progression of your case, or otherwise.
- If you consistently failed to make contact with us when it is necessary to do so or failed to provide us with information that we considered necessary to progress your claim.
- If we discovered that you had provided us with incorrect information about your case which altered our opinion of the prospect of you succeeding.
- If, at any time during the case, you disinstructed us.
- If you instructed us to obtain a severance package for you but you subsequently decided to continue working for your employer.
- If you accepted an offer of re-instatement or re-engagement from your employer or otherwise returned back to work for your employer.
- If there was a breakdown of trust and confidence or conflict of interest caused by your actions which necessitated termination.
There are no services that might reasonably be expected to be included in the rough average costs stated above that are not mentioned.
Costs and disbursements as described above are inclusive of VAT at 20%.
Based on the above, a rough average timescale to conclude a claim for wrongful dismissal (for stages 1 through to 3) is 5 months and a rough average timescale to conclude a claim for unfair dismissal (for stages 1 through to 3) is 7.5 months.
The work for cases for claims of wrongful dismissal and unfair dismissal will typically be carried out by a Solicitor or Director of ELS Solicitors Limited with relevant work being delegated to a Trainee Solicitor or Paralegal. A Director will be a qualified Solicitor with an LLB (Honours) Law Degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law. He or she will have approximately 22 years of post-qualification experience and approximately 21 years of post-qualification experience in Employment Law. A Solicitor will be a qualified Solicitor with an LLB (Honours) Law Degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law. They will have at least two years of experience in Employment Law. A Trainee or Paralegal will have an LLB (Honours) Law Degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law and will work under the supervision of a Solicitor or Director.