Employment

High-quality, commercial advice on the full range of employment law issues for employers, employees and contractors.

Key contacts
Overview

Employment law advice needs to be concise, timely and, of course, practical.

We have wide expertise in the media and entertainment sectors but are equally at home with clients from other industries, including advertising, construction, finance, charities, professional services, local authorities, and SMEs. We also regularly advise senior executives, including CEOs and partners.

Our clients are extremely busy people. Our approach is to have a deep understanding of their businesses and the environment where they work and to be their trusted advisers. Through this approach, and because of the level of our advice, we provide a first-rate, partner-led service with practical and pragmatic advice.

Expertise

Our areas of expertise include the following:

  • Contracts of employment and service agreements
  • Consultancy/freelancer agreements
  • Settlement/termination agreements
  • Employment Tribunal proceedings
  • High Court proceedings
  • Restrictive covenants and team moves
  • Bonus/remuneration disputes
  • Unfair dismissal
  • Discrimination, bullying and harassment
  • Whistleblowing
  • TUPE and outsourcing
  • Employment status/IR35
  • Redundancy, restructures and insolvency
  • Discipline, performance management and grievances
  • Workplace investigations
  • Family friendly rights and pregnancy
  • Sickness and incapacity
  • Subject access requests, data protection and privacy notices
  • HR advice
  • Corporate due diligence
  • Trade union
  • Partnerships and LLPs
  • Employee handbooks and policies

KEY CONTACT

KEY CONTACTS

Our lawyers pride themselves on delivering high-quality pragmatic advice that is always ‘off the fence’.

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Source
…very supportive while getting on with the job in a very efficient way and handling tricky situations
Chambers & Partners
Simkins have an excellent media practice constantly evolving with the changes in our industry.
Legal 500
They were incredibly understanding of our unique needs and collaborated in a very flexible way. I would describe the team as very approachable and capable – they took time to listen to our requirements and made recommendations accordingly.
Legal 500
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Source
I always found the team to be very helpful, quick to respond but above all, providing very concrete and specific advice with a number of solutions for the scenario, rather than general advice in principle, which I think makes them truly unique.
Chambers & Partners
Simkins goes the extra mile to make its clients feel valued.
Legal 500
It has been an absolute delight working with the Simkins team. They are our first choice for support with all employment cases. We have always felt in safe hands with Simkins, and they are incredibly robust in giving us advice and guidance for all of our employment matters.
Legal 500

News & Insights

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Midweek Music Update: Wednesday 14 January 2026

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Generative AI and the entertainment industry: short video summary of the key legal insights

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Film and TV Briefing: Friday 9 January 2026

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Film and TV Briefing: Friday 19 December 2025