Disciplinary issues are the most common type of employment law disputes in the UK, new research by YouGov has found.
The “Employment Law, 2014” report shows that among senior business leaders who have had employment law disputes in the last five years, almost half (46%) had dealt with a disciplinary issue and four in ten (40%) said they had legal issues to do with redundancy. Over one in five (22%) have had to do with claims for unfair dismissal while 19% have had to deal with wage disputes.
Base: 256 UK senior managers aged 18+ who dealt with an employment dispute in the last 5 years
YouGov's research suggests that many businesses do not immediately turn to external legal advice for help in their employment disputes. Over seven in ten (72%) senior managers questioned said internal solutions to employment law disputes are important. Over a third (35%) do not use external legal advisers but have internal resources, such as internal legal expertise, HR department or a senior manager, that deal with all employment law disputes from start to finish. A similar proportion (37%) use a combination of internal expertise and external advice, while fewer than three in ten (28%) go straight to an external legal adviser when a dispute arises.
Base: 256 UK senior managers aged 18+ who dealt with an employment dispute in the last 5 years
The report found that among those who have used external legal advice, almost a quarter (23%) incurred no costs in their last employment dispute while a further 28% had costs of less than £1,500. Over two in three (69%) found the final costs were in line with their expectations and 9% said they were lower than they envisaged. However, over one in five (22%) said the final charges were higher than expected.
For further information about the Employment Law 2014 report, please click here
Find out about other YouGov reports here
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