Associate - Employment

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This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Associate to join our Employment team. You will work closely and collaboratively with Partners and other colleagues, advising on strategic, contentious, non-contentious and advisory UK employment law matters.

You will work closely with clients across a range of sectors, with a focus on retail, leisure, professional services, financial services, art and culture, and media and technology businesses, including those with international reach.

Main responsibilities

Advising clients on a broad range of strategic, contentious, non-contentious and advisory UK employment law matters, including:

• Advising on worker status and atypical workers' rights
• Advising on disciplinary and grievance processes
• Advising on capability processes and managing employee ill-health and absence
• Advising on pay, bonuses, incentives and remuneration rights
• Securing employee business confidentiality and customer information protection, and enforcement of post-termination restrictions including fiduciary obligations
• Advising on workforce management in redundancy and reorganisation programmes
• Supporting cross-jurisdictional workforce projects
• Advising on discrimination and harassment matters
• Advising on dismissals and employment termination
• Advising on statutory rights and enforcement in Employment Tribunals and appeal courts, including bringing and defending claims
• Advising on whistleblowing matters and related claims
• Handling High Court employment claims and enforcement actions, including injunctions
• Conducting workplace investigations
• Advising on the employment aspects of M&A and commercial property transactions
• Managing the full scope of employment-related transactional work, including due diligence, drafting employment provisions, assessing employment-related liabilities, and advising on benefits, incentives and bonus arrangements
• Negotiating senior-level exits and retention arrangements
• Advising financial services clients on remuneration structures, the scope and application of SMCR, conduct rule breaches, fitness and propriety assessments, and regulatory references
• Drafting and advising on the enforcement of post-termination restrictions, warranties and indemnities
• Advising on board-level matters, including directors' duties and director and shareholder disputes
• Drafting employment contracts, service agreements and workplace policies
• Advising on partnership and LLP matters and related claims

The role will also encompass:

• Working collaboratively with colleagues across the firm, including corporate, tax, dispute resolution, reputation management, business crime and regulatory, and immigration, to provide a seamless client service
• Continuously developing your knowledge and expertise in employment law, including contributing to team and firm training
• Contributing to the team's and firm's marketing and business development initiatives
• Contributing to a respectful, inclusive and supportive team environment

About you

You will ideally be able to demonstrate:

• Experience across non-contentious, contentious and advisory employment matters
• The ability to manage your own matters and client relationships, with appropriate supervision and support
• Experience advising clients at all levels of seniority in a clear and effective manner
• The ability to manage client expectations and resolve issues effectively
• The ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and across the wider firm
• A strong client focus, with the ability to build and maintain excellent relationships and deliver high-quality, tailored client service
• An interest in contributing to business development and profile-raising activities
• A thoughtful approach to risk management, promoting compliance and regulatory awareness
• A collaborative approach, with the ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Assisting in developing and mentoring less experienced members of the team

At Howard Kennedy we believe that everyone deserves the space to thrive. We're committed to creating an inclusive recruitment experience that reflects the diversity of both our people and our clients. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities, and we're committed to ensuring that our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and accessible to all. We understand that every candidate's needs are different. If there's anything we can do to make your application journey more comfortable- whether for interviews, assessments, or onboarding-please let us know. We'll work with you to remove any barriers and ensure our recruitment process is comfortable for you.