What is an Employment Advocate in England and Wales?

Employment law governs the roles and responsibilities of employers and employees in England and Wales. It covers all aspects of employment and the workplace. However, there are times when, as an employer, you may not understand how employment law relates to an issue between you and your employee. This may lead your employee to make a legal claim against you. If faced with this, you may need to turn to a professional, like an employment lawyer or advocate, to give you legal advice and also potentially represent you in court. Employment professionals advise and represent both employers and employees.

This article will explain what an employment advocate is and their role within an employment tribunal. It focuses on how an employment advocate may help you as an employer.

What is an Advocate?

An advocate is a legal professional who presents a case in a court or tribunal. Their role is to defend their client. They are often referred to in England and Wales as a barrister. Likewise, solicitors will often request an advocate to present their arguments before a court or tribunal.

What is an Employment Tribunal?

An employment tribunal is an independent body that deals with legal disputes between an employer and an employee. An employment tribunal will make decisions about issues between an employer and their employee by applying employment law. Employment tribunals work in a similar manner to courts.

Your employee may bring a dispute to an employment tribunal across a range of different areas. For example, they may raise:

• an unfair dismissal claim;
• alleged discrimination; or 
• a redundancy claim.

It is always best to try to informally resolve any disputes between you and your employees. For example, holding meetings can be beneficial to reach an agreement. Alternatively, you can implement formal workplace procedures such as a grievance policy. 

The cost includes any legal professional assistance you may need to take. It can also be high in terms of the result of the employment tribunal where you could be required to pay a sum of compensation. Therefore, consider other options before taking issues straight to an employment tribunal.

What is an Employment Advocate?

You or your employee may decide to represent yourself if faced with an employment tribunal. Indeed, it is fairly common to represent yourself in an employment tribunal. However, you may decide to engage an employment advocate to represent you on a contentious issue in employment law. A key advantage is that an employment advocate will be specialised in presenting employment cases. 

Employment law is a rapidly growing area of law. So, a specialist can be beneficial to representing your side of events to a high standard.

What Does an Employment Advocate Do?

An employment advocate will prepare the employment case to test the evidence. Some employment cases may only last one day, but others could last as long as five or six weeks.  

Additionally, an employment advocate acts in the interest of their client, which could be you or one of your employees. They will portray their client’s version of the dispute and persuade the tribunal judge that their client is right. This may involve:

• preparing and handing over a bundle of witness statements; or
• cross-examining witnesses which could include you as the employer.

Further, it is possible to access an employment advocate through your business insurance or any legal subscription your business maintains. Alternatively, an employment law firm can, in some instances, offer a service for a monthly fee. So, if you need legal representation or advice for an employment tribunal, you are not required to pay any further cost.

Key Takeaways

Employment law is a complicated area that you must understand as an employer. However, there may be times when you draw upon the expertise of a legal professional. For example, when you face an employment law dispute with your employee, you may need to turn to an employment advocate. In addition, an employment advocate may be beneficial if your dispute escalates and reaches an employment tribunal.  

If you need help managing disputes with your employees in England and Wales, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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