Employment Legal Counsel in Datchet

About The Role

The Employment Legal Counsel will act as Atlas’ specialist employment law advisor, providing strategic, commercial and pragmatic legal support across the business.

Working closely with HR, operational leaders and senior stakeholders, the role will help manage legal risk, support organisational change and enable legally compliant, people-focused decision making.

The role combines contentious and non-contentious employment law work and will require a highly responsive, commercially minded individual who is equally comfortable advising on complex employee relations matters, managing Employment Tribunal litigation and supporting large-scale TUPE transfers, acquisitions, restructures and business transformation projects.

The Employment Legal Counsel will be a trusted advisor, ensuring legal risks are identified, mitigated and managed while supporting the organisation's purpose, values and commercial objectives.

Although this position is based in Datchet, there is flexibility for the successful candidate to work on a hybrid basis, with the opportunity to work from home on certain days.

Key Responsibilities

• Employment Law Advice and Risk Management
• Act as a trusted advisor to HR and business leaders, providing pragmatic, commercially focused andlegally robust employment law advice.
• Advise on complex and high-risk employment matters including disciplinary, grievance, whistleblowing, discrimination, harassment, restructures, redundancy, business change, TUPE, settlement agreements, restrictive covenants and senior exits.
• Identify legal risks and provide practical solutions that balance compliance requirements with operationaland commercial objectives.
• Support the development of legally compliant people strategies across Atlas.
• Monitor legislative developments, case law and regulatory changes, assessing business impact anddriving implementation of required changes.
• Employment Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Manage or oversee Employment Tribunal litigation and pre-claim disputes, including ACAS Early Conciliation matters.
• Develop litigation strategy for employment disputes, conduct internal investigations, review pleadings, prepare Grounds of Resistance and other tribunal submissions, draft witness statements, managedisclosure and bundle preparation, and represent or support the organisation through pre-hearingproceedings, final hearings, and settlement negotiations.
• Instruct and manage external legal advisers and control legal spend where applicable.
• Support HR and managers through complex litigation, investigations and dispute resolution activity.
• Analyse litigation trends and provide recommendations to mitigate future risk and improveorganisational practice.
• TUPE, Business Change and Commercial Support
• Provide specialist legal support on TUPE transfers, outsourcing, insourcing, harmonisation exercises, acquisitions, contract mobilisation and organisational change programmes.
• Review and negotiate contractual employment provisions and TUPE-related obligations withincommercial contracts.
• Support bid, tender and commercial activity by identifying workforce and employment law risks.
• Partner with HR and operational teams to ensure legally compliant consultation and employeeengagement processes.
• Advise on collective consultation obligations and trade union considerations arising from businesschange programmes.
• Policy, Governance and Compliance
• Draft, review and update employment contracts, policies, procedures, guidance notes and templatedocumentation.
• Support the development of people policies that reflect legal requirements, best practice andorganisational values.
• Contribute to governance reporting by identifying trends, emerging risks and mitigation strategies.
• Maintain accurate legal documentation and support audit and compliance activities across the Peoplefunction.
• Provide legal support to HR in responding to employee data rights requests, including Subject Access Requests (SARs), requests for rectification, erasure, and other applicable data protection rights includingliaising with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) where required.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Capability Building
• Build trusted relationships with leaders, managers and HR colleagues across the organisation.
• Deliver practical training, coaching and legal updates to HR teams, managers and leadership groups.
• Support capability building through knowledge sharing and proactive legal guidance.
• Work collaboratively wiith external legal advisers, trade unions and other professional partners whererequired.

About You

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential

• A UK qualified Employment Lawyer Solicitor with ideally 3+ years' PQE with experience advising onemployment law matters.
• Proven experience managing both contentious and non-contentious employment law issues.
• Demonstrable experience handling Employment Tribunal cases and ACAS Early Conciliation matters.
• Strong understanding and experience of TUPE, organisational change, redundancy and collectiveconsultation processes.
• Experience operating within a fast-paced commercial environment.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and challenge appropriately at alllevels.
• Strong drafting, analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to balance legal accuracy with commercial pragmatism.
• Experience managing sensitive and confidential matters with discretion.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and manage a varied caseload independently.
• Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Collaborative approach with a commitment to knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.
• A Right to Work in the UK

Desirable

• Previous experience within an in-house legal function.
• Experience within Facilities Management, Cleaning, Security, Support Services or other multi-siteoperational environments.
• Experience working within unionised environments.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, outsourcing or large-scale workforce transformationprojects.
• Experience managing external legal providers and controlling legal spend.
• Advocacy experience at Preliminary or Final Hearings.

About The Company

What makes this job amazing?

• Full learning &support from Atlas.
• Stream – our financial wellbeing and benefits platform which provides you with real-time access to earned wages, information to improve your financial health, and discounts/savings at leading retailers and supermarkets.
• Cycle to work scheme*.
• Workplace pension scheme.
• Staff recognition scheme (Stars of Atlas).
• Staff engagement portal.
• The ability to progress your career within Atlas.
• Learning and development led by you: support in areas you like or want to learn more about.
• The opportunity to work amongst people who value and support each other, achieving great results.
• For those who value and excel in transparent, high-intensity, and high-impact environments, there is significant opportunity for advancement.
• Atlas continues to grow at pace which is both exciting and challenging.

*Subject to qualifying parameters.

Who are we?

Atlas is a family of people drawn together by a passion for creating happiness in others.

Founded in 1986 and 100% owned by our employees, we are now one of the fastest-growing business support companies in the UK, providing cleaning, security, pest and other support services to a wide range of companies, from globally recognised brands to small local businesses.

Our success is down to one thing; the passion and commitment of our extended family, who together we deliver happiness across thousands of client sites every single day.

To ensure we remain focused on our purpose as we grow, we recruit first and foremost on our values so for those committed to living them alongside us, there is no better place to work.

• Our Purpose
• To create happiness in ourselves and others

We approach work and life with a sense of fun, optimism and belief, and strive to have a positive impact on the world around us.

We show kindness and compassion to all those we meet, ensuring everyone is safe and healthy.

We deliver on our promises and go the extra mile every day.

Our Values

We are a family

Just like any other family, we laugh, cry, celebrate and commiserate together.

We may come from many different backgrounds, but we’re always there when it really matters.

Whether it’s with practical help and support, or simply a mug of tea and a shoulder to cry on.

Sharing makes us stronger

Knowledge is more powerful when its shared.

Which is why we share everything - our ideas, our expertise, our news andmost-of-all our time.

Show humility.

Share and work together, and anything is possible.

Own your space

You are Atlas. Don’t be afraid to make decisions. Use your time wisely and treat every pound as if it was coming from your own pocket.

Be honest. Always.

Have the courage to do the right thing, even when no-one is watching.

Whether it’s owning up to a mistake, having a difficult conversation, or simply arguing a point you feel passionate about.

Be yourself.

Authenticity breeds trust.

Trust brings happiness.

Treat clients like our best friends

If we’re a family, then our clients are our best friends.

Friends who you can be completely open and honest with, because they trust you to put their interests first.

We take the time to listen to what’s going on in our clients lives and pull out all the stops to make them feel happy.

Start with Wow

And never settle for less.

Create time to focus on quality and prioritise long-term solutions over short-term fixes.

Constantly seek opportunities to learn from others, and if something doesn’t make sense, shout.

Always ask yourself if there is more we can do to bring happiness to those around us.

Don't just talk. Do.

We are a business that thrives on doing.

The more we do, the more we succeed.

Embrace change.

Keep it simple.

Keep meetings short.

Plan just enough to succeed.

And then get on with it.

Atlas commits to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and as such aims to ensure that no employee or job applicant receives less favourable treatment or are placed at a disadvantage by imposed conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justified because of a protected characteristic.

Atlas strives to see its workforce broadly reflecting the community in which its operation is based.

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