Employment Associate Solicitor

Harper James; Remote; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A commercial law firm in the UK is seeking an Employment Associate Solicitor with 4-7 years PQE. This remote role offers competitive salary and benefits, including 33 days holiday and private healthcare. Responsibilities include advising on contracts, discrimination cases, and managing grievances. Ideal candidates are tech-savvy, ambitious, and skilled at relationship building. Join a supportive team culture focused on collaboration and growth without the politics and bureaucracy.

Benefits

Competitive salary and bonus

33 days holiday

Option to buy up to 5 holiday days

Private Healthcare

Death in service benefit

Access to electric car scheme

Flexible working environment

Qualifications

• 4-7 years' PQE in employment law.
• Experience advising on contentious and non-contentious matters.
• Ambitious and commercially minded.
• Eager to learn and adapt.

Responsibilities

• Advise on employment relationships and agreements.
• Handle business restructures and redundancies.
• Support with TUPE transfers and corporate transactions.
• Negotiate during the ACAS Early Conciliation process.

Skills

Drafting contracts of employment

Managing disciplinary and grievance processes

Knowledge of IR35

Advising on discrimination cases

Tech-savvy and familiar with Microsoft 365

Ability to adapt to new technologies

Building strong relationships

Defending Employment Tribunal claims

Tools

Microsoft 365 products

SharePoint

Job description

Employment Associate Solicitor 4-7 years PQE

Harper James is a full-service commercial law firm with a unique subscription-based model for ambitious SMEs. We’ve grown rapidly and recently secured private-equity backing from LDC to fuel our next phase of expansion. We’re a remote-first, no-ego team of 140+ people. Now we’re hiring Associates with 4-7 years’ PQE across our growing employment practice area.

What we are looking for

• advising on both contentious and non-contentious matters.
• drafting contracts of employment, policies and procedure.
• advising on the difference between employed, worker and self-employed relationships.
• drafting Consultancy Agreements.
• some knowledge of IR35.
• managing disciplinary and grievance processes.
• advising on discrimination and whistle‑blowing cases.
• assisting with TUPE transfers and other corporate transactions.
• business restructures & redundancies.
• being able to advise upon and negotiate during the ACAS Early Conciliation process.
• defending Employment Tribunal claims.
• enforcement / defence of restrictive covenant claims.
• handling senior exec severances.

You’ll need to be ambitious, commercially minded and eager to take the next step. You should be skilled at building strong relationships and delivering practical advice.

We need tech‑savvy self‑starters who thrive in a fast‑paced, modern work environment. We leverage cutting‑edge technology to streamline our office processes and maximise productivity.

Remote working

We offer truly remote working with access to meeting space in Birmingham, Cambridge, London, Manchester, Oxford, Southampton, Cardiff and Sheffield.

We work really hard to ensure our lawyers are part of the team, collaborating, sharing ideas and enjoying each other’s company. The remote set up simply allows people to work from wherever they want, to give people the flexibility they need, for whatever reason.

You’ll excel as part of the HJ team if you :

• Are a quick learner, ready to adapt to new systems and technologies with enthusiasm.
• Are excited about adopting and using AI tools to boost efficiency and productivity.
• Have a solid working knowledge of Microsoft 365 products (eg. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• Can confidently navigate SharePoint to manage and collaborate on projects.
• Have a keen eye for detail when formatting and editing documents, ensuring consistency and professionalism.

The bottom line

This is an opportunity to play an important part in the growth of the business, within an environment free of politics and bureaucracy; just a great team of people who all play a fundamental part in the success and continued growth of the business.

• An environment with no politics, no bureaucracy and a great team of people who all play a fundamental part in the success and continued growth of the business.
• Competitive salary and bonus.
• 33 days holiday, including public holidays.
• Option to buy up to 5 holiday days a year.
• Private Healthcare
• Death in service benefit.
• Access to our electric car scheme.
• Flexible working as part of a fully remote but collaborative team.

NO AGENCIES PLEASE