Christine Caffrey Principal Associate Solicitor | Employment Team

Expertise

I help employers with both contentious and non-contentious employment law issues, across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on advising charities, educational establishments and non-profit organisations.

I provide day to day support to my clients on legal and HR issues affecting their business and work with them to resolve employee disputes at all levels, including defending tribunal claims. I regularly advise organisations on employee-related issues such as disciplinary action, safeguarding issues, handling grievances, managing sickness absence, performance management issues and advising on redundancy and restructuring. I work very closely with senior management and HR teams to help guide the organisation through what can often be a complex or difficult situation to manage.

In addition, I give practical advice to organisations in relation to contracts of employment, employment policies and procedures, as well as helping to identify any particular problem areas in their business from an employment law or HR perspective.

I also advise both employers and employees on settlement agreements.

Alongside employment law, I also undertake work in data protection law. I advise UK-based organisations on how to meet their legal obligations to manage and protect personal data, conduct data audits and help them to address complaints and handle data breaches. I also regularly advise organisations on how to deal with data subject access requests made alongside employment tribunal litigation.

In addition to my legal work, I am a Mental Health First Aider and I chair the firm’s Wellbeing Team which aims to support a culture that promotes the physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing of all our employees and partners at SA Law.

I regularly write articles on a range of matters for the media and the SA Law website – you can read some of them here.

Key Experience

• Advising a London-based charity in defending a complex employment status claim, including holiday pay and unfair dismissal claims;
• Advising another London-based charity in defending claims for constructive unfair dismissal and discrimination arising from disability;
• Advising clients on UK GDPR compliance and handling of data subject access requests and data breaches
• Advising private companies on the impact of IR35 and the off-payroll working rules on their business post-April 2021;
• Preparing bespoke staff handbooks and company policies