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It’s quite likely that at some point in your working career you will have cause to feel that you have been treated unfairly at work by someone in the organisation, or by the organisation itself.

Only you can determine whether you feel this treatment is serious enough to take some action against the party concerned.

In the first instance you should try to discuss the issue with your HR department. Alternatively, if you are a member of a trade union, you will be able to discuss in confidence the details surrounding your particular issue.

In many cases a dispute can be resolved without taking further action. However there may be circumstances when you cannot resolve the dispute satisfactorily and you may be forced into taking further action.

In these instances it is helpful to know that there are legal services organisations you can turn to who will be able to provide you with some guidance on your rights and obligations as an employee, as well as providing you with a clear understanding of the employers’ rights and responsibilities.

When selecting a legal services organisation it is important to ensure that they are specialists in employment law and have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience for dealing with cases such as yours.

Some legal services organisations will offer an initial consultation for free, but be careful to ensure that you know how long this free initial consultation will last and when the solicitor will start to charge you. It is also important to ensure that you understand the charges that will be applied to your case. Although there is a temptation to go with the cheapest option this may not always be the best case as some specialists may be more familiar with your type of claim and be able to handle it more quickly and cost you less money overall.

Clearly making an employment claim could be costly, however there are legal services organisations that can provide help to people with employment claims which don’t generally require payment to be made by the Claimant. Under these circumstances your case would be taken on a “no win – no fee” basis. Under such a scheme if you win then your chosen legal services provider will be paid from the proceeds of the claim. If the case is lost you will not need to pay anything at all.

So it does pay to choose your legal services organisation carefully.

Once you have selected a legal services organisation you should ensure that you have copies of the following to hand so that you can answer any questions that they may ask you:
• your employer’s grievance and disciplinary procedures
• staff handbook (if you have one)
• your contract of employment
• payslips
• any compromise or settlement agreement that you may have been offered
• all of the correspondence between you and your employer

Your chosen legal services provider will then assess your case and determine whether there is a likelihood of a successful outcome. If they feel the case can be won they may take your case on and hopefully progress it to a satisfactory conclusion.

So if you have cause to seek legal advice for an employment claim you should be reassured that there is someone you can turn to for advice and help with what can be difficult circumstances.

There are many legal matters that you may not be sure about so alwaays seek out legal advice for matters such as employment law and probate

Tags: employment law, legal advice, legal support