Whether you love or hate the European Union, whether you love or hate Mr Blair and his gruff successor Mr Brown, in the last decade it has become harder for employers to dump their workforce without consequences. As well as this, our society has become so conscious of personal identity that it seems to take only a stray thought for there to be a justifiable discrimination claim against an employer.

The law relating to employment has become very complex and very far reaching. So complex that there are relatively few lawyers who have a good grasp of the legal issues.

I know from my own experience running my own business, that if I don’t do right by those who work for me, I run the risk of finding myself on the receiving end of an employment case. Even with people who work for me who are specialists in employment law, it is not easy to navigate around the complexities of employment law.

If I say an inappropriate word about a woman (or a man), I could be done for sexual discrimination. If I write a policy that says noone can wear a crucifix, am I discriminating on grounds of faith, or religion, or perhaps even race? If the door into my office is not wide enough for a wheelchair, am I discriminating against a person who is wheelchair-bound? If I advertise for a job stating that I am looking for a young person to be an office junior, am I discriminating against a not-so-young person?

And the thing about discrimination is that the damages that may be awarded are potentially huge. We’ve all heard the news stories.

Employers hate having to spend time and money on employment disputes. Even if they fight a case to a trial, and win, they will never get the cost back. Perhaps because of this, unlike in the rest of the civil law system, there is an organisation placed at the heart of the employment dispute process whose job is to actively encourage compromise – this is ACAS – the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

You may find yourself one of those many tens of thousands of persons who thought you had a reasonably safe job before the recession, but now your job’s gone.

If your ex-employer hasn’t followed the proper procedure, or has picked you as the person to dismiss or make redundant for improper reasons, or has just picked on you, or humiliated you, you may have a case. And you almost certainly do need legal advice to work out whether you do have a case. Consult a lawyer. In my firm, call either Paul Haddon or Neelam Afzal. They can help navigate you around the numerous regulations, directives and rules. If you have a case, they will fight it for you.

Article posted on Friday, February, 11th, 2011 at 12:33 pm

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