"The staff I encountered were friendly and professional, always approachable."Client of Julie Taylor
Julie Taylor
Partner
Julie is a Partner at Gardner Leader and Head of the Employment team.
Julie is an employment law and HR specialist. She helps a variety of organisations manage their employment law obligations. This ranges from drafting and maintaining effective contracts and policies to govern the working relationship, including for volunteers and casual staff, to recommending the best way to resolve or manage disputes. Julie also advises regularly on the terms of settlement agreements for both employers and employees.
For the companies and organisations that Julie works with, she provides practical, straightforward advice aimed at reducing the risk of facing employment litigation as a consequence of crucial business decisions, with a good awareness of the commercial realities. This sits alongside ensuring they have effective contracts and policies in place, updated in line with the constantly evolving employment law legislation. Where disputes arise, Julie can guide employers through the tribunal process and also explain the merits to enable them to decide whether a commercial settlement is a more cost-effective solution or whether there is a need to take a robust stance and mitigate the risk of more claims.
For individuals, Julie advises on the types of employment claims they may have or what risks they may have in pursuing possibly competing opportunities outside of their current employment. She has experience of handling a wide variety of tribunal litigation, including several complex discrimination claims, including disability, nationality and sex discrimination as well as TUPE issues. Julie has also worked with various insurers and takes care to ensure the options and risks are clear.
Julie runs monthly HR Exchange meetings with Michelle Bailey from People’s Essentials for employers and HR professionals to come together to share ideas and experiences and consider topical employment issues. She also writes regular employment updates and articles for our website as well as for various external media.
Employment Law Experience
Recent non-contentious work includes:
- Drafting employment contracts and staff handbooks.
- Advising on redundancy procedures and restructuring.
- Advising on capability procedures in accordance with the ACAS Code of Practice and the Companies’ own procedure in order to manage under-performing employees.
- Negotiating various business exits for high profile individuals.
- Assessing the options where action was proposed regarding a breach of restrictive covenants.
- Advice on procedure for obtaining consent to assess the medical condition of an absent employee.
- Advising on the application of TUPE to a business transfer and the associated procedures.
- Advising on right to work requirements.
- Drafting standard settlement agreement for department redundancies.
Recent contentious work includes:
- Settlement of a complex nationality discrimination claim just weeks before the 17 day final hearing for a six figure sum for our claimant client.
- Commercial settlement agreed of an unfair dismissal claim directly arising as a result of the pandemic for our respondent client.
- Settlement following mediation of a complex disability discrimination claim, resulting in our claimant client receiving a considerable settlement and avoiding a 10 day hearing.
- Successfully defending a company from a claim for holiday pay from a self-employed contractor who asserted he was a worker.
- Successfully defended a company from an automatic unfair dismissal claim following a TUPE transfer.
- Secured a significant settlement for a claimant following a five day tribunal hearing that upheld claims of automatic unfair dismissal following a TUPE transfer.
- Experience of disability discrimination and sex discrimination claims.
- Numerous matters have also been negotiated to a settlement on behalf of both claimants and companies.
Work Highlights
- Julie took part in a lockdown project to write a book with the Thames Valley CIPD. Her chapter regarding the employment contract was included in the published book, available here: Good Work Good Business: Practical People Strategies for a Changing World eBook : Bailey, Michelle, Borrett, Shirley, Huish, Julie, Mair, Marjory, Marsh, Adrian, Mills, Heather, Perham, Sian, Stiegler, Sally , Wheatley, Adrian, Taylor, Julie, Reid, Marc: Amazon.co.uk: Books
Legal Directories and Awards
- Julie was listed in the 2021 Legal 500 rankings as a Recommended Lawyer for Employment Law. She was commended for being “Very thorough and you can always trust that she takes the time to understand the situation before providing practical and realistic advice.”
- Additional Legal 500 testimonials include:
- Julie Taylor responded quickly to our needs and supported us throughout. She was reassuring and understanding, listened with care and empathy and delivered the information and advice we needed. She was at all times totally professional and I would have no hesitation in approaching Julie again for advice, and probably will!‘
- ‘The emphasis is on being personal. They have worked hard to make a connection with local businesses. There is a high level of care and attention and you feel that the team wants to help you.’
- ‘I am always impressed by the standard of service and communication provided by the employment team. I have worked with Julie Taylor for a number of years on a variety of employment matters. I particularly value that Julie always responds promptly to my enquiries and trust her to provide her advice in the context of the bigger picture.’
Memberships and Professional Bodies
- Julie is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and Industrial Law Society and has previously taken part in working parties addressing new government proposals to amend employment law.
Julie Taylor qualified in 2007.
Recent Articles
- 22-10-2021 - New employment legislation is expected to make it illegal for employers to withhold tips
- 14-09-2021 - Coronavirus – Employment update September 2021
- 17-08-2021 - How the failure to consider ‘furloughing’ an employee made dismissal unfair
- 23-07-2021 - Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) or ‘Furlough Scheme’ Updates – Summer 2021
- 20-07-2021 - Employment issues: Returning to work after freedom day
- 14-10-2020 - Winter job support scheme
- 14-10-2020 - Expanded job support scheme for closed business premises
- 14-10-2020 - Employment tribunal procedural changes
- 14-10-2020 - Self-isolation – the rules and regulations of coronavirus
- 25-09-2020 - Job Support Scheme
