Sarah is a Senior Associate in the Employment team.
She acts for SME and large businesses as well as overseas businesses with UK entities. Sarah has particular experience acting for clients in the travel and aviation, manufacturing, consumer and communication sectors In addition, she acts for senior executives.
Experienced in employment tribunals, she defends businesses in claims for unfair dismissal, discrimination and breach of contract. She works with the corporate team on the employment aspects of transactions in relation to mergers and acquisitions, and she collaborates with the commercial team in the review and negotiation of outsourcing agreements in respect of TUPE.
In addition, she provides strategic advice on the full spectrum of employment matters, which includes advising employers on disciplinary processes and employee grievances. Besides advising on redundancies and restructuring as a result of workplace closures and relocations, she drafts directors’ service agreements, employment contracts and consultancy agreements for self-employed individuals.
Recent examples of how Sarah has supported clients include:
- successfully returning an employee to work following in excess of 12 months off with mental health issues by supporting the HR team in managing the sickness absence, and mitigating the risk of a potential claim for disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments;
- facilitating an agreement between two service providers thereby avoiding the need to undertake a redundancy procedure and the associated liabilities relating to the potential TUPE transfer of an employee;
- successfully defending and settling a part-time employee’s claim for sex discrimination, pregnancy and maternity discrimination, involving the potential for significant compensation and reputational damage to the client; and
- project managing and delivery of advice to employees involved in a mass settlement agreement process involving over 500 individuals.