Employment

Brief synopsis of who carries out the work and their experience

Stephen Mackie is a solicitor with nearly 40 years’ experience of dealing with cases at Employment Tribunals. He conducts the cases to a final hearing and appears as advocate for simple and some medium complexity cases. He has access to a range of local specialist barristers who can be the advocate for the more complex claims, and advise beforehand where necessary.

Contact details for Stephen Mackie

Part 1: For Employers

We can draft employment contracts which can be especially useful in protecting your business from the misuse of information and contacts gained by senior staff during their employment with you when they leave.

We can draft Settlement Agreements to prevent severance packages being used to fund a claim by former employees against you.

We can assist in getting right any review of an employee’s performance or fitness for work that might lead to dismissal as well as any disciplinary proceedings against them or grievance procedure initiated by them. Although any error of procedure might seem a technicality it can lead to a finding of Unfair Dismissal against you by an Employment Tribunal.

We can assist when moving employees to a new employer to ensure they have no claim against you under the Transfer of Undertaking (“TUPE”) Regulations and we can assist our Commercial lawyers during any sale or purchase of a business or other movement of employees by you.

We can act for you in defence of a Claim against you in the Employment Tribunal or the Courts.

Part 2: For Employees

We can advise on any “Settlement Agreement” for a severance package and that advice is normally paid for by your employer if you sign. We can also help negotiate a better deal. We do not charge for the advice if, on that advice, you do not sign.

We can advise on any contract of employment which can be especially important if it has terms against working for competitors or making contact with customers or key staff when you leave.

We can act for you in any claim against your employer for unpaid notice pay and perks, (or up to 2 years unpaid pay and perks whilst still employed), unfair dismissal, discrimination, victimisation and claims against your employer for bullying by work colleagues or your line manager. If you have not been consulted or have detrimental changes to your contract of employment following a sale or merger of the business that employed you or they outsourcing the work you do or where you have had customers take the work you do in house, then we could also be able to help.

We also advise on holiday, working hours, location of work or whistleblowing disputes and those on long term sick leave or garden leave.

• Our charges

  Berry Redmond Gordon & Penney charge at an hourly rate, which is influenced by the following:

  • The particular expertise and experience of the person dealing with the case
  • The complexity of the transaction
  • Whether the matter requires unusually urgent and swift action
  • The time spent on the matter

  Price and likely disbursement costs

  The Employment Tribunal currently charges no fees, but this is currently under review.

  Stephen Mackie's hourly charge rate is £272 + VAT.

  His fees for advising on settlement agreements is usually £500 + VAT. This is the figure an Appeal Tribunal Judge regarded as the minimum needed for advice in 2019. Advice for complex cases is likely to cost more.

  The majority of cases settle, and the earlier the settlement the less our fees will be. However, as a very broad guide, simple cases usually cost between £1,000 and £10,000 + VAT; medium complexity cases between £5,000 and £20,000 + VAT; and high complexity cases between £10,000 and £70,000 + VAT. The higher end of the range is for cases that go to a final hearing. Home insurance often has legal expenses cover for Claimants' legal fees, but there is no general rule that the loser pays the winner's costs. Cases that go to Appeal cost more.

  We always give an estimate of the likely costs at the beginning of the matter, with regular updates as the matter progresses, so that you can always be certain of the costs involved in your particular case at any given time.

  To find out more, call us now or fill out our Enquiries Form.

  Legal fees are subject to VAT.