Experts
IN EMPLOYMENT LAW FOR OVER 50 YEARS
Our story
We believe employment law and HR should go hand in hand. Our employment lawyers are highly experienced and offer commercially minded service as well as operationally aware advice. They combine their expertise in both fields to provide innovative people management.
We add value by getting to know how your business works, what your priorities are and how much support your business needs. The way we offer employment law support provides you with a real choice, the ability to control costs and to get exceptional results. All our fees are transparent.
We work in partnership with you to help your business succeed. We remove the complexities of employment law, add skills and confidence to your team, and allow you to concentrate on simply running your business.
Wherever you are, we can support you. Our clients range from small businesses to national multi-site operations and large companies with an international presence. We practise law throughout the UK. We advise clients in the Republic of Ireland and we can call on employment specialists in other countries.
What we do
We offer a range of services to suit the needs of your business.
From the start, we appoint a lead consultant to work directly with you and help you to create an employment law service package that fits your needs – whether that is a simple telephone call, face-to-face meetings, training or drafting the documents you need.
CASE STUDIES
Aligning job evaluation and pay bands “We have built up a strong working relationship with Watershed over many years and always receive sound advice and guidance on job evaluation, pay and grading matters.” Audit Scotland supports the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission with financial and performance auditing to ensure that Scotland’s public funds are…
Employment law support Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services is a long-standing Watershed client. It helps its customers to provide high-quality inspections and repairs, term maintenance or new build capital projects by supplying a broad range of products and services. These include scaffolding, insulation, cladding, coating, labour, project management, and safety systems. It employs approximately 2,500…
Support on reward Watershed has provided support on employment law and managing people to Benchmark Sport since 2019. Benchmark Sport is the holding company for a global network of brands and businesses that develop sport-related networks in the business and social sectors. These brands include Think Beyond, Beyond Sport, SIG, NSE and TrybWorld. In February…
Recent News
The ‘all reasonable steps’ defence – it can be done!
Case: Campbell v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2025] EAT 42 This case provides a rare example of an employer successfully relying on the ‘all reasonable steps’ defence against a discrimination claim. What happened? During a workplace dispute, a white employee made a racially abusive comment to a black union representative. The representative claimed…
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Redundancy: when consultation counts
Case: De Bank Haycocks v ADP RPO UK Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1291 This case clarifies a critical issue for HR professionals: What does a ‘fair’ consultation look like in small-scale redundancy exercises? What happened A recruitment consultant, Mr De Bank Haycocks, was part of a 16-person team serving one client. Following a 50% reduction…
Closing the gaps: ethnicity and disability pay reporting ahead
What is new? Under the proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, employers with 250 or more employees will be legally required to publish: Ethnicity and disability pay gaps (mean and median hourly pay). Bonus differentials. Proportion of employees receiving bonuses. Workforce composition by ethnicity and disability. This marks a significant evolution from gender pay gap…
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HR consultants not liable for employer’s decision to dismiss
Case: Handa v Station Hotel (Newcastle) Ltd [2025] EAT 62 The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has provided a thoughtful judgment that reassures external HR professionals that they can complete investigations and disciplinary processes without inheriting liability for dismissal decisions. What happened? Mr Handa, formerly a director, blew the whistle on alleged financial irregularities. Shortly after,…
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