Employment Lawyer – Dispute Resolution and Employment Law Team

Permanent, Full Time

£47,472 to £55,850 per annum + benefits, including Local Government Pension Scheme

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 22nd January 2025

Anywhere worker means you can enjoy flexible working arrangements with the option to work from home or remotely. Due to the nature of this role, we typically attend the office 2-3 days per week.

We are open to a chat about flexible arrangements & part-time working. No promises, but we would still like to hear from you if you would like to discuss potential options.

Why work for us?

• You will be involved in potentially high-profile and ground-breaking employment matters and will advise clients on all aspects of employment law issues (including claims at Employment Tribunal level and at appellate court level) in demanding circumstances which will at times have far-reaching consequences.
• This role offers the opportunity to be exposed to and get involved in real quality work.
• As part of Essex County Council (ECC), a diverse and large organisation committed to excellence, you will contribute to delivering outstanding services to residents across Essex.
• Our in-house legal service, Essex Legal Service (ELS), prides itself on providing comprehensive legal support to the Council.

In this role, you will provide expert legal advice and guidance to both in-house and external public body clients, ensuring effective decision-making and compliance with statutory requirements. This position offers a unique opportunity to develop your employment law expertise within a friendly, supportive and high-performing environment.

What’s in it for you?

• Generous Time Off: Starting with 27 days of holiday, which increases with your length of service, plus 8 bank holidays and up to 4 paid volunteer days each year to give back to your community.
• Secure Your Future: Benefit from enrolment in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), ensuring your financial security for the future.
• Professional Growth: We cover the payment of professional fees for approved professions, supporting your career development.
• Work-Life Balance: Enjoy the flexibility of hybrid working arrangements, allowing you to balance work with your personal life.
• Commitment to your growth including comprehensive Learning and Development initiatives, with access to coaching and mentoring.

The Role

The successful post holder will be responsible for the delivery of all aspects of legal advice within the Employment Section, where you will be expected to build strong relationships with internal and external partners. This position will be fast-paced and it is therefore imperative you are proficient in handling a full caseload consisting of both contentious and non-contentious employment law matters including, but not limited to, the following:

• Discrimination claims
• Unfair dismissal
• TUPE
• Settlement Agreements and early conciliation via ACAS
• Restructures and redundancies
• Trade union provisions
• Pensions experience desirable although not essential.

As a qualified employment lawyer, you will join a team that prides itself on the provision of high-quality advice, information, evaluation, and interpretation to clients that underpin effective decision-making, meaningful performance management, and meets statutory requirements. Achieving good client service and making a real and demonstrable difference to the delivery of ELS’ business and the business of our clients is core to our ethos.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Qualified solicitor/barrister with current membership of the Law Society or Bar Standards Board
• Evidence of continuing professional development, 2 years post-qualified experience, and expert knowledge in relevant professional area (although lawyers with less post-qualified experience will be considered).
• Experience of a full range of employment law matters including but not limited to dealing with employment tribunals, unfair dismissal claims, discrimination matters, disciplinary and grievances, capability issues, and TUPE.
• Commercial awareness with sufficient professional credibility to maintain the existing client base.
• Ability to work and think self-reliantly while maintaining focus on delivering team and corporate objectives.
• Proven track record of building strong working relationships across a large, complex organisation and with internal and external partners/stakeholders and clients.
• Ability to provide clear and succinct advice on complex matters to both the client base and junior colleagues.
• A strong focus on outcomes to achieve strategic objectives.
• Candidates from both defence and prosecution backgrounds will be considered.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website. If you have any questions or would like a copy of the full job description please email: keira.simpson@essex.gov.uk

Further Information

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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