Legal expenses insurance providers in the UK have reported that calls from businesses seeking advice over redundancies have trebled during the first quarter of this year as the economic downturn takes it’s toll.
One of the UK’s leading insurance specialists Abbey Legal Protection reports that calls for advice from mid-corporate businesses increased by 190% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same time last year.
In the current economic climate businesses of all sizes are affected and Abbey also reports a similar increase in the number of SMEs seeking legal advice on the delicate subject of redundancies. SMEs seeking advice rose to 5,697 during the first quarter of 2009 compared to 1,982 calls in the same period of 2008.
Abbey Legal Services director Murray Fairclough said: “What these figures reflect is both the state of the employment market and that we are being approached for sound advice so businesses can avoid claims being bought against them and being taken to a tribunal. Businesses are desperate at the moment to make sure that they do not get taken to a tribunal.”
The message is clear for employers not to act instinctively and to seek legal advice prior to considering redundancies, dismissing an employee over their ‘attitude’ for instance is obviously open to dispute and could end up costing the employer a lot more than they are likely to save in the short term.
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