Associate - Employment

The role

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Associate to join our Employment team. You will work closely and collaboratively with Partners and other colleagues, advising on strategic, contentious, non-contentious and advisory UK employment law matters.

You will work closely with clients across a range of sectors, with a focus on retail, leisure, professional services, financial services, art and culture, and media and technology businesses, including those with international reach.

Role responsibility

Advising clients on a broad range of strategic, contentious, non-contentious and advisory UK employment law matters, including:

• Advising on worker status and atypical workers’ rights
• Advising on disciplinary and grievance processes
• Advising on capability processes and managing employee ill-health and absence
• Advising on pay, bonuses, incentives and remuneration rights
• Securing employee business confidentiality and customer information protection, and enforcement of post-termination restrictions including fiduciary obligations
• Advising on workforce management in redundancy and reorganisation programmes
• Supporting cross-jurisdictional workforce projects
• Advising on discrimination and harassment matters
• Advising on dismissals and employment termination
• Advising on statutory rights and enforcement in Employment Tribunals and appeal courts, including bringing and defending claims
• Advising on whistleblowing matters and related claims
• Handling High Court employment claims and enforcement actions, including injunctions
• Conducting workplace investigations
• Advising on the employment aspects of M&A and commercial property transactions
• Managing the full scope of employment-related transactional work, including due diligence, drafting employment provisions, assessing employment-related liabilities, and advising on benefits, incentives and bonus arrangements
• Negotiating senior-level exits and retention arrangements
• Advising financial services clients on remuneration structures, the scope and application of SMCR, conduct rule breaches, fitness and propriety assessments, and regulatory references
• Drafting and advising on the enforcement of post-termination restrictions, warranties and indemnities
• Advising on board-level matters, including directors’ duties and director and shareholder disputes
• Drafting employment contracts, service agreements and workplace policies
• Advising on partnership and LLP matters and related claims

The role will also encompass:

• Working collaboratively with colleagues across the firm, including corporate, tax, dispute resolution, reputation management, business crime and regulatory, and immigration, to provide a seamless client service
• Continuously developing your knowledge and expertise in employment law, including contributing to team and firm training
• Contributing to the team’s and firm’s marketing and business development initiatives
• Contributing to a respectful, inclusive and supportive team environment

About you

You will ideally be able to demonstrate:

• Experience across non-contentious, contentious and advisory employment matters
• The ability to manage your own matters and client relationships, with appropriate supervision and support
• Experience advising clients at all levels of seniority in a clear and effective manner
• The ability to manage client expectations and resolve issues effectively
• The ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and across the wider firm
• A strong client focus, with the ability to build and maintain excellent relationships and deliver high-quality, tailored client service
• An interest in contributing to business development and profile-raising activities
• A thoughtful approach to risk management, promoting compliance and regulatory awareness
• A collaborative approach, with the ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Assisting in developing and mentoring less experienced members of the team

At Howard Kennedy we believe that everyone deserves the space to thrive. We’re committed to creating an inclusive recruitment experience that reflects the diversity of both our people and our clients.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities, and we’re committed to ensuring that our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and accessible to all.

We understand that every candidate’s needs are different If there’s anything we can do to make your application journey more comfortable— whether for interviews, assessments, or onboarding—please let us know. We’ll work with you to remove any barriers and ensure our recruitment process is comfortable for you. 

Contact our recruitment team at recruitment@howardkennedy.com to discuss any support you might need.

Agency Introductions

Please note that we are not accepting applications via agencies for this role at this time. Before sharing any named candidate CVs, please contact your recruitment representative. If any named CVs are sent from agencies without approval from our recruitment team, they will not be deemed valid introductions, and no agency fee will be paid.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• 25 days annual holiday
• Permanent Health Insurance
• Life Assurance
• Interest free Season Ticket Loan
• Private Healthcare
• Pension Scheme
• Staff Introductory Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme

About us

With almost 200 lawyers in one location, we ensure our clients have the right team to help them get from where they are to where they want to be. We advise major corporates and institutions as well as entrepreneurial, ambitious enterprises which are often privately or family owned, or private equity backed. As well as our significant business law capability, we are one of only a few London-based law firms with a large private wealth offering. Our clients find our straightforward approach a compelling alternative to larger, less personal firms.

Whether you are an ambitious and talented individual wanting to hit the ground running from day one, or an established professional looking for a new opportunity, Howard Kennedy is the firm where you can really make it happen.

We have earned a strong reputation for our exceptional and uniquely talented people who between them deliver outstanding results for clients. In a firm of our size, our strong team dynamic creates a thriving culture of creativity and entrepreneurialism. Howard Kennedy is a pragmatic and non-hierarchical environment where success is shared, and you are proactively encouraged to thrive at your own pace.

Our distinctive culture is built on fairness and respect. Guided by the firm’s values of talk straight, think smart and be yourself, everyone in the firm holds equal value, and everyone plays their role in supporting, encouraging and inspiring colleagues to do their best work.

At the same time, we recognise and reward individualism, celebrating the diversity of our people and supporting them to grow their practice and drive their own career advancement.

As well as client work, there is opportunity to broaden your horizons at the firm with fulfilling pro bono and charity projects. We have a regular social calendar full of wellbeing activities, charitable and social events too.