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About your new role

Our market leading Employment, Pensions and Immigration (EPI) team advises employers across the UK on all aspects of employment, pensions and immigration law. Our clients are some of the UK's largest and best known employers, in both the private and public sector. The quality of our clients and strength of our relationships with our clients speaks volumes about the quality of the service we provide. The candidate will be expected to attend the Leeds office, in line with our Hybrid Working Policy, working closely with members of the team who are based in Leeds but also with the potential to support other team members across a number of offices. Travel to other offices will be limited. As an Employment Solicitor you will manage a mixed caseload of employment tribunal work and provide HR and employment law advice to clients, assisting other members of the team with their caseloads where appropriate. We are particularly interested in candidates with experience of, and a desire to further develop, advocacy and/or corporate support work.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Providing HR employment law advice to a wide range of clients on issues such as disciplinaries, grievances, redundancies, TUPE, discrimination and whistleblowing matters, and absence management.
• Drafting / reviewing contracts of employment, staff handbooks settlement agreements and other employment related documents.
• Managing a mixed caseload of Employment Tribunal cases (predominantly acting for Respondents) including drafting pleadings, correspondence and witness statements, together with preparation of hearing bundles.
• Conducting advocacy at Employment Tribunals (and EAT), subject to experience
• Provision of support to corporate / transactional colleagues
• Assisting other members of the team with their caseloads as appropriate
• Drafting employment law / HR articles and legal updates
• Assisting with business development initiatives, including training and networking
• Working in accordance with client and internal SLAs
• Working in accordance with Weightmans’ values and procedures
• Working towards achieving the team's financial and chargeable targets

This list is not intended to be exhaustive and you will have other duties and responsibilities that fall within the remit of the role.

About You

• 1-3 YR Qualified Employment Solicitor, ideally with previous experience in both contentious and non-contentious employment law matters
• Advocacy (or a willingness to obtain) experience preferred.
• Commercially aware with some exposure to, and interest in, business development
• Excellent team working skills
• Strong academics and technical knowledge
• Excellent communication skills
• Excellent time management and organisation skills, with an ability to multi-task and prioritise deadlines
• Genuine interest in employment law and progression within their chosen field

Why work for us

Weightmans is a Top 45 law firm with offices throughout the UK. Having been recognised as the leading legal employer at the annual Britain's Top Employers awards 2021 and achieved record rankings in Chambers UK.

The independent research showed "Weightmans provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation."

We are truly committed to fostering a culture of equality and diversity, where everyone in the firm is respected and recognised on merit for the work that they do.

We strongly encourage applications from people of all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and disabilities. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustment at any stage of the application process.

Please feel free to note your preferred pronouns in your application.

Work for a firm where people matter – work for Weightmans.

As well as being immensely proud of the work we carry out for our clients and the culture we provide to our people we offer a wide range of benefits including;

• 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rated for part time)
• Agile / working from home including provision of home office equipment*
• Healthcare cover/ Medicash
• Pension plan
• Life Insurance 4 x salary
• Interest free travel loan scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme including counselling, legal and consumer advice service
• Discounted gym membership
• Discounted dental scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Offers & discounts
• Great reward and recognition scheme

*there are a small number of roles that cannot be performed from home, your Recruitment Adviser can confirm.

Please note

• Any reference to experience or PQE in our adverts or job descriptions is to be used as a guideline only. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and with different levels of experience who can demonstrate that they fulfil the requirements of the role.
• The successful candidate appointed to this role will be subject to our standard background checking process, and any offer of employment made is conditional upon successful completion of those checks. Further details can be obtained from the Recruitment team.
• We are open to part time/job share applicants.

Recruitment agencies (PSL /non-PSL)

Weightmans operates a strict 'preferred supplier list' (PSL) and is committed to working closely with the recruitment agencies that feature on that list. As such, Weightmans does not accept speculative or unsolicited CVs, profiles or any other introductions from both our PSL and non-PSL agencies.  If a PSL or non-PSL agency chooses to submit a speculative or unsolicited CV, profile or introduction without instruction from a member of Weightmans’ recruitment team, we will reserve the right to treat the introduction as a gift and contact the candidate directly without accepting or entering into the agency’s terms nor being liable for a recruitment fee.

Eligibility to work in the UK

Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process. All candidates must either already have a right to work in the UK before commencing employment, or meet the Home office criteria for Visa sponsorship. Candidates who require sponsorship should evaluate the Home Office eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker visa before applying.