Employment Contract Advice & Disputes

Your contract of employment includes the terms and conditions that form the basis of your role, fusing the relationship between you and the company you work for. Unfortunately contracts can be complex, meaning disputes can arise. If your employer has breached the terms of your contract, or you feel they could have but you’re unsure, you might want to seek legal advice.

Types of employment contract disputes

Your contract of employment includes the terms and conditions that form the basis of your role, fusing the relationship between you and the company you work for. Unfortunately contracts can be complex, meaning disputes can arise.

Below are some typical employment contract disputes:

Employment discrimination

Employees suffering unfair treatment at work could be eligible to bring a claim. Sadly there are many different ways people can be discriminated against, which is why the law includes protected characteristics.

Find out more about the different types of employment discrimination and what to do next >>

Senior executive disputes

Disputes among senior personnel may occur. These can relate to salary and bonuses, director and shareholder agreements, executive terminations, severance, unlawful competition and confidentiality provisions. The nature of such disputes can be complex, especially if external investors are involved.

Restrictive covenants and post-termination restrictions

Many businesses hold information that they might consider to be their ‘trade secrets’. This is usually information regarding internal processes, procedures, and other data or terms that contribute to BAU and success rates. When an employee leaves a business, they may be an attractive talent to a competitor due to being privy to such information.

In this instance, the employer may have added a restrictive covenant (which is essentially a clause) to all employee contracts forbidding them from passing this information on.

Flexible working claims

Employees are entitled to request flexible working arrangements. These may differ from person to person, and should include details of how each individual plans to carry out their role with flexibility in place.

Employers may refuse the application. For example, your employer may worry that standards could suffer, or that the organisation might fail to meet customer demand with flexible working in place. There would be options available if you wanted to take this further.

Find out more about bringing a flexible working claim >>

Holiday pay disputes

When taking holiday, it’s mandatory that you receive the same pay as you would if you were at work. This includes regular overtime and other additional payments, such as commission. Bank Holidays and emergency holiday requests can also be the subject of holiday pay disputes.

But holiday pay disputes can also relate to payments post-termination of employment. If an employee leaves an organisation without using their accrued holiday, their employer should include this in their final pay packet.

Learn more about holiday pay disputes and if you could be eligible to bring a claim >>

International employment

Having a contract of employment in the UK while living abroad can sometimes pose difficulties, which can amount to international employment disputes. There’s also the issue of laws differing by country.

An employee may find they are trying to negotiate a bonus, or go through the procedures of achieving a severance package, under two different jurisdictions that could contradict each other. As with all employment claims, it’s important to act quickly and seek professional advice.

The technicalities involved with each of the above can differ greatly, and depend on every individual’s unique situation. The best action to take at first is to speak with your employer about your issue. You may be able to resolve it, meaning no further legal action is required. However, not all conversations can go this way, so you might have to seek further advice if you can’t reach a solution.