John is a Partner in the Employment team.
Experienced in providing employment law advice and HR support, predominantly to employers, John works closely with clients to understand their needs and to provide practical and commercial advice together with strategic counselling and guidance.
Particular areas of interest include supporting employers to: navigate complex grievances or disciplinary issues; manage poor performance and persistent absence; implement large-scale redundancy programmes; manage the transfer of staff under TUPE; and defend complicated claims in the employment tribunal.
Working for local and national employers of all shapes and sizes, across a broad-range of sectors, clients include a number of organisations in the financial sector and one of the largest adhesive and sealant companies in the world, Bostik UK Limited.
Experienced in advising schools and academies, having spent over a decade working closely with private and publicly funded providers of education to children up to the age of 18. John advises schools on a range of education matters including staffing issues, admission and exclusion policies, special educational needs provision, reasonable adjustments for children with a disability, safeguarding concerns, complaints from parents and the defence of legal proceedings.
John also provides support to employees who need help resolving a dispute with their employer, whether through a settlement agreement or tribunal proceedings, where they have been advised to speak to a lawyer about a TUPE transfer or in connection with proposed changes to their working conditions or terms of employment.
Recent examples of how John has supported clients include:
- supporting a client with a redundancy collective consultation exercise involving more than 300 employees without exposing the employer to claims of unfair dismissal or failure to inform and consult;
- advising a client on the implementation of flexible and hybrid working arrangements, and how to best manage any associated risks including the preparation of an appropriate policy;
- completing the due diligence on the employment aspects of a high value share purchase and negotiating appropriate warranties and indemnities to manage the risks associated with the previous employer; and
- supporting a parent to successfully overturn the permanent exclusion of their child from an independent school.