As an employer it has never been more crucial for you to be aware of the rights of employees and to be certain that you have all of the correct employment and staff procedures in place.

Over the last decade or so the law concerning employment and the rights of employees has been significantly extended.

The expansion of the Employment Rights Act and the Disability Discrimination Act, and the introduction of all the further recent anti-discrimination legislation (age, sexual orientation etc.), have had a considerable effect on how employers must run their businesses and look after their employees.

Employee rights have also now been extended to the point that anyone who has been in continuous employment with the same employer for more than 12 months is now allowed to claim for unfair dismissal if the dismissal is not both substantively and procedurally correct.

There have been other considerable changes in acts and regulations that seriously affect how employers deal with employees, for example the introduction of statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures and the introduction of flexible working rights.

It has never been so easy for employees to initiate Tribunal claims for any breach of their wide-ranging rights.

Employment Tribunal cases rose by 15 percent during 2006-07, according to figures from the Tribunals Service.

The number of cases brought to Tribunals rose to 132,577 from 115,039 during the last financial year, the data indicates. Of the total claims, the largest proportion (44,491) were for unfair dismissal.

Halborg & Co. have expertise in guiding employers through the maze of employment legislation to achieve sensible employment policies and procedures that will stand up in a Tribunal.

We can offer you a fixed price package for drafting the required statement of terms and conditions for your employees. Also for a fixed price package we can assist you with dismissing an employee, ensuring that the statutory dismissal procedure (and other relevant law) is followed and that the essential documentation is provided to the employee.