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One fixed monthly fee, and a solicitor your managers can call before they act.

The HR advice retainer gives your HR team and line managers calls and emails to a named employment solicitor, for one fixed fee a month. Small problems get dealt with while they are small, and you know your legal spend for the year.

Ask for a retainer quote See what is included

1 feefixed for a year

1 solicitorwho knows your firm

Same dayreplies

What is included

The retainer covers the everyday questions that become claims when nobody asks them.

If it is employment advice for your business in England and Wales, it is covered. Larger pieces of work are quoted separately, at a fixed fee, before we start.

A named solicitor

One solicitor learns your business, your managers and your history, with a colleague who knows your file when they are away.

Same-day replies

Calls and emails answered the same working day, and within the hour when a meeting is about to start.

Letters and scripts

Invitation letters, outcome letters and meeting scripts for routine matters, drafted by us and ready to send.

A yearly document check

Once a year we review your contracts, handbook and policies against changes in the law, and tell you what to update.

Manager training

Two half-day sessions a year for your line managers, on the topics that keep coming up in your questions.

Reduced claim fees

If a claim is brought, defending it is quoted at a fixed fee below our rate for clients without a retainer.

Fixed fee

Your legal spend stays the same in a difficult month.

Hourly bills rise in the months something goes wrong, which is when a budget can least absorb them. A retainer turns your advice costs into one monthly figure, agreed at the start of the year.

Illustration only. The bars show a pattern, not real billing data.

How a question is handled

From a manager's call to written advice, usually within the working day.

No forms and no ticket numbers. Anyone you name on the retainer can contact us directly.

1
A manager calls or emails
They tell us what has happened in their own words. We know the business already, so there is no long briefing.
2
We ask the questions first
Length of service, what has been said and written, and anything else going on. The answers decide the advice.
3
Advice in writing
A short note your HR team keeps on file: what to do, in what order, and what to avoid.
4
We follow it through
If the matter grows, we draft the letters and join the meetings. If it becomes a claim, we defend it.

Who it suits

The retainer suits firms that have HR people but no lawyer of their own.

We would rather tell you now if it is the wrong fit than sell you a fee you will not use.

It suits you if

You employ between 50 and 500 people
You have an HR team or an HR lead, and no in-house lawyer
Your managers deal with people issues across several sites or shifts
You want a fixed legal budget for the year

It may not suit you if

You have fewer than 20 staff and rarely need advice. A fixed fee for each piece of work will cost you less.
You already employ an employment lawyer in-house
Your staff work mainly outside England and Wales
You need advice on immigration or pensions, which we do not cover

Two people working through printed documents beside a laptop — Case note. Details changed.

Case note

A care provider's home managers now ask before they act.

A care provider with 230 staff across four homes used a large firm for employment advice. Each call was billed by the hour, so the HR manager rationed them and home managers mostly decided alone.

In the first year on our retainer, the home managers called us before disciplinary meetings, probation reviews and sickness meetings. Two grievances were resolved at the first meeting.

The HR manager now budgets one figure for employment advice, and spends her time on recruitment instead of rereading letters.

4care homes

2grievances closed early

0tribunal claims

Questions

What HR directors ask us before they sign a retainer.

If your question is not here, ask it on a call. The first conversation is free.

Is there a limit on how many questions we can ask?

No. If it is employment advice for your business, it is covered. Larger pieces of work, such as a restructure affecting more than ten roles or defending a tribunal claim, are quoted separately at a fixed fee.

Who in our business can contact you?

Anyone you name on the retainer. Most clients name their HR team and their senior managers, and add site managers once they have seen how it works.

How quickly will we hear back?

We aim to reply the same working day, and within the hour when a meeting is about to start. Your named solicitor has a colleague who knows your file.

How long does the retainer run?

Twelve months at a fixed monthly fee. After that it runs month to month, and you can end it with one month's notice.

Does the retainer cover tribunal claims?

Advice on a claim is covered. Drafting the response, preparing witnesses and representation at a hearing are quoted at a fixed fee, reduced for retainer clients.

Before you act

The call to make before you dismiss anyone.

Tell us the situation in a few lines. A solicitor will call you back, usually the same working day, and the first conversation is free.

Phone[phone]
Email[email]
Office[address]
HoursMonday to Friday, 8.30am to 6pm