Industrial relations

Most unionised employers rarely have to deal with difficult industrial relations issues. When industrial relations issues do arise you will have to quickly get to grips with one of the most complex areas of the law.

Innes Clark

Partner

Innes is a Partner and heads up our Litigation Division which is one of the largest and most experienced litigation teams in Scotland.

0131 516 9564

Contact me

innes.clark@morton-fraser.com

How you handle the issue can be crucial to the success of your organisation. The challenges can be diverse ranging from a request for union recognition to challenging the validity of industrial action by a recognised trade union.

Clear advice

Often advice will be required at short notice, especially where the parties are in dispute. This can include challenging the legality of strike action or unlawful picketing. We give clear, practical advice. Sometimes your main aim will be to minimise the risk of confrontation. Our advice will always be tailored to meet your objectives.

Benefits we bring

We have a track record of dealing with this specialist area including drafting partnership/recognition agreements, opposing applications for recognition dealt with by the Central Arbitration Committee and advising on numerous industrial disputes. We are experienced in advising on the notoriously complex provisions in the trade union legislation. We also have significant litigation experience within our team if court action is necessary to seek to prevent unlawful action.

We have more Law Society of Scotland accredited employment law specialists than any other team in Scotland. The team is rated by both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 as one of the best in Scotland.

Our approach to fees

As well as providing clear advice we guarantee that we will be transparent on costs.

We can offer fixed fee packages for certain types of work. If it is not possible to provide a fixed fee then we will provide a clear indication of the likely fee based on an agreed scope of work.

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What our clients and peers say:

Market standing: "They have a first-class employment department."

Chambers & Partners

"Morton Fraser ‘empowers its clients to make the right decisions’. The ‘extremely responsive and professional’ team acts for employers and employees alike and is particularly known for advising public sector clients, SMEs and senior executives."

Legal 500

"Morton Fraser adopts an ‘honest, two way relationship’ with clients, and is known for advising on high-profile, complex cases for private and public sector organisations... The practice also acts for a range of employee clients, particularly senior management and executives."

Legal 500

"Morton Fraser's deep bench of practitioners also has extensive experience in employment tribunals."

Chambers & Partners

"They are very approachable. You are always made to feel that they are happy to help and that your query, however small, is important to them."

Employer client

"They are always on hand at short notice, and always able to accommodate emergency situations that crop up in the area of employment law."

Employer client

Morton Fraser’s team stands out for its ‘commercial approach to difficult employment law issues’ and ‘a clear ability to mitigate risk’.

Legal 500 2018/19

'Friendly approachable and good to have on your side'.

Legal 500 2019/20

'Very committed to making even the most tortuous things as painless as possible'.

Legal 500 2019/20

commercial insights and ability to think around different scenarios.

Chambers and Partners 2020

They are a great team to work with and they very much recognise the importance of the personal element of the solicitor-client relationship

Chambers and Partners 2020

‘Morton Fraser’s partnership and strategic understanding of our organisation during a significant period of change for us is exceptional and their ability to provide pragmatic and risk managed advice is superb.‘

Legal 500 2020/21

‘Exceptional service. Provided honest, truthful advice. Left me with total confidence in advice given.‘

Legal 500 2020/21

"They are incredibly knowledgeable and strategic thinkers, and give common-sense advice."

Chambers and Partners 2021