Business Advice & Employment Disputes
Welcome to our Business Advice and Employment Disputes section at J L Lezemore Solicitors. Running a business brings enough challenges without avoidable legal problems or disputes. We provide clear, practical advice in plain English to help businesses across Hertfordshire and Essex stay compliant, protect their interests and resolve issues quickly and cost-effectively.
Whether you need supplier or customer terms, up-to-date policies, or support with a difficult customer, supplier or employee, we tailor our advice to your business, your sector and the way you actually operate. Early advice often prevents a manageable issue from becoming an expensive one.
Business Advice
We help business owners and directors with the day-to-day legal documents and commercial issues that keep their operations running smoothly. Key areas we cover include:
- Drafting and reviewing terms and conditions for sales or services, whether face-to-face or at a distance, including online, telephone and email orders.
- Website terms and conditions, privacy policies and cookie policies, together with wider advice on UK GDPR, PECR and related data protection matters.
- Commercial contracts with customers, suppliers, contractors and consultants.
- Right-to-work and labour-supply compliance – advising on recruitment checks, contractor and subcontractor arrangements, substitution clauses, consultancy and agency terms, platform-based working models and supply-chain risk following the expansion of the right-to-work regime from 1 October 2026.
- Handling disputes with customers or suppliers, including unpaid invoices, faulty goods, delayed deliveries and alleged breaches of contract.
- Contractor disputes, including disputes involving consultants and sub-contractors.
- ID2 forms – certificate of identity for a corporate body for Land Registry applications and property transactions.
Most of the businesses we help are small to medium-sized and want documents that are easy to understand, legally sound and commercially sensible. We can draft from scratch or review and update what you already use, and we carry out most drafting work on a fixed-fee basis agreed in advance.
Contact J L Lezemore Solicitors covering Hertfordshire and Essex
Need business or employment support?
Get in touch today for straightforward, practical advice. We offer flexible appointments (including evenings and weekends where possible) across Hertfordshire and Essex.
Whether you need new terms and conditions, a staff handbook, or help with a dispute, the earlier you contact us, the easier it usually is to sort things out. We look forward to helping your business.
Please visit our contact page for more information.
Employment Advice for Employers
We support business owners and HR managers with all aspects of employing staff, from recruitment through to exit. Our aim is to help you stay on the right side of the law, reduce risk and deal with issues fairly, confidently and efficiently.
As at 5 October 2026, employers need to consider both the April 2026 reforms and the newer changes that have taken effect since then. These include the six-month tribunal limitation period for most claims arising on or after 1 October 2026, and the expansion of right-to-work compliance into certain worker, subcontracting, substitution, platform and supply-chain arrangements. Further important changes are expected later in October 2026 and in 2027.
Common issues we help employers with include:
- Drafting and updating employment contracts and service agreements that protect your business while complying with current law.
- Preparing or reviewing staff handbooks, policies and procedures, including disciplinary, grievance, equality, flexible working, sickness absence and anti-harassment policies.
- Handling grievances, disciplinaries, performance management and dismissals.
- Defending Employment Tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing claims.
- Employment Tribunal risk and time limits – including the six-month limitation period now applying to most claims arising on or after 1 October 2026, Acas early conciliation, internal process planning and document retention.
- Right-to-work compliance and workforce audits – including advice on employees, workers, contractors, subcontractors, substitution arrangements, online platforms, audit rights, contract terms and supply-chain exposure.
- Harassment prevention and investigations – including practical preparation for the strengthened duty from 30 October 2026 to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and the risk of third-party harassment claims.
- Trade union and employee-relations advice – including preparation for expected statutory union workplace access requests and the intended worker-information duty about trade union rights.
- Advice on settlement agreements and protected conversations.
- Practical compliance advice on the latest changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 and related reforms, including sick pay, day-one leave rights, whistleblowing protection and collective redundancy exposure.
Looking ahead, employers should now prepare in particular for the strengthened sexual-harassment duty and third-party harassment exposure expected from 30 October 2026, the expected union workplace access regime, the intended January 2027 duty to give workers information about trade union rights, the expected January 2027 unfair-dismissal reforms with transitional issues linked to the effective date of termination, further expected restrictions on 'fire and rehire', and the new bereavement and pregnancy-loss leave rights expected from April 2027.
Need business or employment support? Get in touch for straightforward, practical advice. We offer flexible appointments, including evenings and weekends where possible, across Hertfordshire and Essex. Whether you need new terms and conditions, updated employment documents or help with a dispute, early advice usually gives you more options and a better chance of resolving matters efficiently.
What’s coming in the next year
Further changes are on the way that will affect employers (see the full list in our Employee section). In particular, you will need to prepare for the reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months, removal of the compensation cap, stronger sexual harassment duties, new trade union rights and the Fair Rights Agency.
