Solicitor - Employment Law Advisory

KPMG International Cooperative; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading professional services firm in the UK seeks an experienced employment lawyer to join their team. Responsibilities include managing employment litigation, advisory services, and investigating sensitive conduct cases. The ideal candidate will have 2-4 years of experience, strong litigation knowledge, and the ability to communicate complex issues clearly. This role offers a dynamic work environment and requires strong contract drafting and negotiation skills.

Qualifications

• 2-4 years PQE preferable with solid employment knowledge.
• Ability to manage stress and tight deadlines.
• Strong in contract negotiation and drafting.

Responsibilities

• Manage employment litigation and advisory services.
• Conduct investigations in sensitive cases.
• Provide strategic advice on employee-related matters.

Skills

Employment litigation

Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE)

Contract drafting

Excellent communication skills

Negotiation expertise

Education

Degree educated (minimum 2:1)

Solid employment knowledge

Job description

The role is to provide in‑house employment law related advisory service on demand and proactively on initiative, to clients of the ELAT team, principally being human resources professionals within KPMG. The proposal is that the solicitor will assist other team members in relation to all of the employment law requirements of the business including advising on the creation and interpretation of People policies. There is also a requirement to undertake investigations in high‑risk or sensitive conduct cases as and when required. Advice will be on both contentious and non‑contentious employee related matters which occur in KPMG's offices throughout the UK. This will include providing advice to the in‑house employee relations team. Employment litigation experience is also required. In carrying out the role, the solicitor will be required to work as the junior employment lawyer joining the existing team currently comprising three solicitors. The successful candidate will also be required to liaise with and manage external law firms and barristers when appropriate. However, the majority of the employment legal advice is currently carried out in house. The successful candidate will also be asked to co‑ordinate and/or present training/update seminars on relevant topics for internal clients.

Responsibilities

• Employment litigation including drafting claim responses, conducting case management discussions, preliminary hearings and judicial mediation in person, managing disclosure, giving strategic advice on witness statements
• Significant practical knowledge and experience of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) essential, ideally with some public sector TUPE experience
• Outsourcing including drafting and negotiating appropriate warranties and indemnities and advising on best practice in consultation
• Transaction support, all aspects – including advice in relation to due diligence and post‑acquisition integration issues
• Advising on collective redundancies, employee consultations and alternatives to redundancy
• Advising on performance‑management cases with significant legal and/or reputational risk
• Undertaking investigations in high‑risk or sensitive conduct cases
• Advising on terms of engagement and recruitment of employees
• Advising on internal employee and partner investigations
• Advising on enforceability of restrictive covenants and associated litigation issues
• Discrimination, equal pay and the increasingly regulated areas of working time, health and safety and "family‑friendly" policies
• Impact of EU legislation on UK employment matters
• Reviewing, drafting and updating employment practices and policy
• Basic understanding of business immigration law and data privacy law

Qualifications

• No fixed PQE required but successful candidate will likely be between 2‑4 years PQE
• The successful candidate will be degree educated (minimum 2:1) and will have gained solid employment knowledge (contentious, transaction support and advisory) and trained and worked in a reputable employment legal team.
• Broad and sound technical knowledge of all aspects of employment law
• Experience of both contentious and non‑contentious matters
• Ability to operate in a stressful environment and prioritise and manage tight deadlines
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation expertise
• The ability to process wide amounts of complex information quickly and identify and understand the key issues
• Excellent communication skills (both oral and written), with ability to communicate complex issues concisely and clearly

Extras / Amazing Extras

• Experience in advocacy is highly desirable
• Understanding of business immigration law
• A proactive and pragmatic approach to problem solving

The KPMG Business Services function is a cornerstone of our UK business. Operating from 20 UK locations and sitting with KPMG Central Services we do work that matters.

Within Central Services we are part of a community of experts across a wide range of critical activities who help grow, run, and protect KPMG in the UK. With over 16,000 employees in the UK, KPMG faces all the challenges that a high calibre employment solicitor would expect to meet in private practice and now has a vacancy for an employment lawyer with experience in employment litigation, internal investigations, transaction support and general advisory work to join its employment team. Basic knowledge of business immigration law and data privacy law is also required.