Unlike last years budget where George Osborne confirmed that the one year qualifying period to make a claim for unfair dismissal would be increased to two years there was very little for employment lawyers to get excited about. The announcement of most interest to employment lawyers (well it was not really announced but could be found contained within all the paperwork issued by the treasury to accompany the budget speech) was that the consultation on Employment Tribunal Fees would end on 17 July 2012 before the summer recess. This announcement was in reality not particularly exciting anyway.
One of the main aims of the budget was to encourage growth within the economy. One way to boost the economy is to try and get more people back into work. Unemployment stands at 8.7% of the working population up from 8.4% last year so there was a need for the Chancellor to come up with incentives for employers to take people on. Arguably the cut in corporation tax from 25% to 24% in April with two further cuts to bring it down to 22% by 2014 will mean that Companies will have more to spend on other things including taking on more staff although this is in no way guaranteed.
From an employees point of view the increase in the personal allowance will clearly be of benefit to employee, particularly to those who are lower-paid. It remains to be seen however whether inflation will mean that the gains from the increase will be wiped out.
Ultimately everyone seemed to know what the contents of the budget would be so much of the comment had been made beforehand and from an Employment Law point of view there was very little that could be said anyway!
Thursday 22 March 2012
Moving On Up!
I have been somewhat slack recently in terms of posting on my blog recently. This is because there have been a lot of changes recently in my work life so I have been dealing with them rather than blogging on here.
I am now in the process of setting up my own practice in Southampton through Fox Whitfield solicitors. Fox Whitfield is a niche employment firm advising on employment law only. All the solicitors at Fox Whitfield are over 5 years qualified and the way that the firm is structured with sattelite offices around the country means that we are able to keep our fees down while still providing a high quality of service. Due to the wonders of modern technology we are still able to discuss any difficult cases that we may have and pass on work to each other when we are at full capacity in the same way that any conventional firm would.
I have therefore been getting everything ready to practice. I have managed to get an office at the University of Southampton Science Park. It is a great location with lots of other businesses around of varying sizes. It is close to the M3, the airport, the train station and there is plenty of free parking for clients. There is also a nice cafe there as well!
One big difference between setting up your own practice and being employed is that when you are employed you turn up at work on your first day and you are given a desk, chair, telephone and a PC as the basic minimum. When you are setting up you have to bring your own desk, chair etc. with you to go in your office. I have therefore spent the last few days getting office furniture to go in my office. I found a good supplier in Chandlers Ford called Haywood Office Services who were very helpful and good value too.
I am now in the process of marketing. I am trying to get the Fox Whitfield name out there by attending networking events, using Twitter and Linkedin and also by blogging.
Hopefully this hard work will pay off. At times it can be very daunting; however, it is also very exciting too!
Now I just need to get some clients........
I am now in the process of setting up my own practice in Southampton through Fox Whitfield solicitors. Fox Whitfield is a niche employment firm advising on employment law only. All the solicitors at Fox Whitfield are over 5 years qualified and the way that the firm is structured with sattelite offices around the country means that we are able to keep our fees down while still providing a high quality of service. Due to the wonders of modern technology we are still able to discuss any difficult cases that we may have and pass on work to each other when we are at full capacity in the same way that any conventional firm would.
I have therefore been getting everything ready to practice. I have managed to get an office at the University of Southampton Science Park. It is a great location with lots of other businesses around of varying sizes. It is close to the M3, the airport, the train station and there is plenty of free parking for clients. There is also a nice cafe there as well!
One big difference between setting up your own practice and being employed is that when you are employed you turn up at work on your first day and you are given a desk, chair, telephone and a PC as the basic minimum. When you are setting up you have to bring your own desk, chair etc. with you to go in your office. I have therefore spent the last few days getting office furniture to go in my office. I found a good supplier in Chandlers Ford called Haywood Office Services who were very helpful and good value too.
I am now in the process of marketing. I am trying to get the Fox Whitfield name out there by attending networking events, using Twitter and Linkedin and also by blogging.
Hopefully this hard work will pay off. At times it can be very daunting; however, it is also very exciting too!
Now I just need to get some clients........
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