Shoosmiths LLP

Partner, Employment

Paul leads the Shoosmiths National Employment Team.

Paul is known for investing time to understand his clients with a genuine focus on generating demonstrable improvements and savings in his clients' businesses.

Paul provides solutions and advice on a range of employment matters including - mitigating equal pay issues, managing trade union relations, consulting on the implications of business acquisitions and disposals, designing restructuring solutions, defending all types of tribunal claims and advising on executive severance (for both companies and individuals).

Paul has significant experience working with, and often embedded within, clients' Human Resources teams. Paul quickly understands the issues in hand, their impact on his clients' business, how they affect individual stakeholders and then works with his clients to deliver pragmatic, practical solutions.

Paul has over 17 years’ experience as a specialist employment solicitor and is known for his innovative thinking and solutions focused approach. Paul’s experience includes:-

• Working collaboratively with a leading national supermarket to design and implement a store restructuring programme resulting in the reduction of over 20,000 roles. This included positive trade union engagement, detailed communication and consultation plans.
• Working as a dedicated part of the HR team of an international and national newspaper – working with the client to ensure smooth implementation of change programmes and senior exits.
• Working with a passenger transport client which was experiencing absence problems. Paul designed a bespoke training solution, which resulted in substantial absence reduction, saving the client over £1m.
• Designing and implementing a national manager training programme for a retailer – the focus was on improving manager communication, streamlining disciplinary and grievance processes and improving manager capability. Over 3,500 managers were trained and the results were a significant reward on investment – over 10,000 manager hours were saved and reinvested on the shop floor in the first 6 months alone, the number of appeals reduced by 87%, grievances reduced by 57% and Tribunal claims fell by over 50%. In addition, as the quality of manager decisions and the way in which they were communicated improved, employee engagement benefited.
• Successfully defending over 2,000 unlawful deduction and breach of contract claims brought on behalf of members by two trade unions.
• Working with a number of large business’ to protect their equal pay position and delivering gender pay reporting confidence.
• Paul is a TUPE expert and is currently engaged in a multi-party public/ private commissioning project on behalf of one of the UK’s largest private health care companies