Employment
At Russell Jones & Walker, we have been advising police officers about their employment rights for over 40 years. This is a highly specialist area, requiring both technical legal knowledge and an in-depth understanding of police work.
Police employment differs in many ways from ordinary employment. The differences stem from the fact that police officers are not employees in the usual sense. They are public servants holding the office of constable. The range of rights and remedies available to police officers is therefore different from the range of rights and remedies for employees.
We advise the Police Federation on national collective issues, such as changes to police regulations and the new pensions scheme. This gives us unrivalled experience and understanding of the wider issues which affect police officers at work.
We advise police officers on their terms and conditions, including on issues such as pay, overtime and allowances, duty and working time, challenges to decisions to dismiss probationers, and rights to sick leave or maternity leave. The police pension scheme is another area of expertise, and we advise and assist in cases about medical retirement, injury on duty and with complaints to the Pensions Ombudsman.
One key employment protection for police officers is the right not to be subjected to unlawful discrimination. Discrimination is unlawful if it is on grounds of sex, race, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation and, since 1 October 2006, age. Less favourable treatment because of whistleblowing or for health and safety reasons is also unlawful. There are often particular issues of concern in discrimination claims by police officers, and we can bring an understanding of police work and the working environment which is vital to these cases.
We appreciate that reaching a resolution without recourse to an employment tribunal or the courts will be preferable in many cases. But where litigation is necessary, we have the expertise to provide strong and sensible advice and representation.
