Employment
HR retainer
We understand that managing employees and dealing with changes in employment law are areas where it’s difficult to find the time to give the necessary attention when you are already running a business.
Issues can arise at any time. They often come along in twos or threes and are rarely straightforward.
Unless you have the correct support, you could end up spending huge amounts of resources in dealing with matters, which most businesses can ill afford. And, if you find that you need to seek specialist advice, equally eye-watering sums of money that you have not budgeted for.
Keeping an employment solicitor on retainer could be the solution.
Howells provides a truly personalised HR consultancy service. Our experts are real people with over 30 years experience in employment law dealing with real commercial matters. We provide advice that is tailored to you and your business because that is what makes the difference.
What you can expect
Howells recognises the pressures faced by a business in complying with its legal obligations and trying to ensure that its workforce is happy and productive. Our HR retainer service is designed to relieve these pressures by offering expert employment and HR legal advice and support for a fixed monthly fee, freeing you up to concentrate on the things that you do best.
The advice and support offered by our employment solicitors is unlimited, covering everything from one-off enquiries on discreet issues to ongoing support for complex matters.
It includes assistance in ensuring compliance with employment law legislation through the provision of up-to-date and fully compliant contracts of employment, staff handbooks, and policies.
It also covers unlimited advice, through our helpline, covering all the HR and employment issues you are likely to face on a day-to-day basis. This could be non-contentious matters such as calculating holiday pay, or dealing with a flexible working request, to more contentious issues such as grievances, disciplinary action, or redundancies.
Please take a look at our HR retainer scheme brochure for further information.
About Howells HR
The HR retainer scheme is offered on an initial 12-month contract basis and the cost is calculated in accordance with the amount of full and part-time permanent staff you have.
When you contact us, you will speak with Karl Thomas, a specialist employment solicitor with over 20 years of experience, or one of our friendly legal assistants in the employment department. You won’t be put through to a call centre.
By speaking with the same individuals, you will have continuity of advice and have the same person guiding you through ongoing issues from start to finish. Our experience is that, by speaking regularly, we get to understand your business quicker, as well as the challenges it faces. This allows our employment lawyers to work with you to deal with those challenges as efficiently as possible.
A retainer typically includes:
- An audit of your existing employment law documentation.
- Provision of up-to-date and fully compliant employment contracts for all levels of seniority and work patterns.
- Provision of a staff handbook, as well as bespoke policies to reflect the needs of your business.
- Unlimited access to expert HR and employment law advice through our helpline.
- Provision of template documentation.
- Regular updates on important employment law topics.
- Automatic updates to contracts or policies where necessary (i.e. when employment law changes).
- Access to advice not covered by the HR retainer at a reduced rate.
