Top quality helpline advice at a low, affordable cost

We appreciate how difficult it can be trying to deal with and balance employee matters with the needs of your business.

Whether you need to issue new employment contracts and policies, get help dealing with a staff disciplinary process, need support with employee grievances, or just need reassurance that your planned approach is the right one, our responsive and friendly rockhopper lawyers will provide commercial, clear and practical advice – always with your business objectives in mind. For a low, fixed monthly fee, our rockhopper helpline is available to you for your queries, supported by our helpline log of all advice provided.

Unlike other helpline providers, all of our rockhopper team are experienced and qualified employment lawyers, most of whom have been practicing law for well over ten years. We also don’t tie clients in so you can use rockhopper for as long as you like!

rockhopper is one of the services provided by the market leading employment practice at Lewis Silkin. The rockhopper team work flexibly from home on different terms to other Lewis Silkin lawyers, enabling them to continue a challenging legal career alongside their other commitments.


Access to a comprehensive set of employment documents

Contracts, template letters, redundancy scripts and staff polices: our fixed monthly helpline fee includes secure access to a comprehensive suite of documents.

The documents are top quality and written in unstuffy plain English. They are easy to use and can be accessed at any time via our secure extranet, whenever you need them. So whether you are a startup or established business, and whether you need to issue an employment contract, respond to a grievance, give a warning letter to an employee for poor performance, agree severance terms in a settlement agreement, or update your HR policies, a the hard work has been done for you, at no extra cost.


Employment Tribunal support

Instructing solicitors to defend Employment Tribunal claims is usually the best way for an employer to maximise chances of success, or to get the best settlement result.

With many law firms, legal costs can soon escalate and insurance arrangements can often be a false economy for employers, with poor quality and uncommercial advice being provided by inexperienced, unqualified advisors.

We charge low, fixed fees for Employment Tribunal claims so that costs are set at the very start of the process. Fees are paid in stages, so if the claim is settled, withdrawn or struck out at an early stage, only part of the fee is payable.

Our large team of rockhopper lawyers all have many years of experience defending Employment Tribunal claims, from unlawful deduction from wages and unfair dismissal to disability and race discrimination. We provide you with advice on the merits of each claim and any strategies for settlement at an early stage. We also keep you updated on the status of each claim through our online Tribunal Tracker which is tailored to your requirements. Should you find yourself facing high volumes of claims, we will work with you to address any trends or recurring issues to minimize the risk of similar claims occurring in the future.

Let us handle your Employment Tribunal claims so that you can focus on your business.


Handbook and contract reviews

With employment law ever changing, it is important to make sure your contracts and staff handbooks are up to date, compliant, future proof and easy to understand.

For a low fixed fee, we can ensure that your employment documentation is current and compliant, taking into account any recent legislation and developments in employment law as well as other changes to the workplace which need to be taken into account. We will also tailor your documentation to the requirements of your business and ensure that it is user friendly and written in plain English.


Immigration support

For an optional extra fee, we can supplement your helpline with immigration advice.

Our immigration experts can provide you with practical and commercial advice on a range of immigration issues including prevention of illegal working, how to apply for a sponsor licence and use the sponsorship management system, employing highly skilled migrants and the implications of Brexit. Additionally our team can provide fixed fee support for visa applications, sponsor licences, mock Home Office audits, immigration applications for EEA nationals and for family members of British and EEA nationals and settlement and citizenship applications.


“There's no other employment law support I'd consider using apart from rockhopper. I've used the service in three separate companies now for a reason! The level of support, expertise and pragmatism simply isn't found in any other service of this kind. They're a People-person's dream to work with.”

- Technology platform

 

"From my perspective, HR issues are new to me, and it's great to have the team at the end of the phone to answer questions (however material or minor the question) on spec and without warning. Being able to call for an instant answer has made a big difference to us."

- Online tradesperson service