Frequently Asked Questions

YESS is not a law firm. We are a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee.

Unlike private law firms, we are non-profit making, 

We only advise on employment law and cannot help with immigration, family, property or any other type of legal matter.

All of our solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and are subject to the Solicitors Code of Conduct.

“Litigation” means the process of bringing (or defending) a court case to establish or enforce a person’s legal rights. The main court for employment rights is the employment tribunal, although employment cases can sometimes be brought in other civil courts (County or High Court).

YESS exists to help people resolve their employment disputes without going to court.

This is written into our charitable objectives.

Therefore we are not allowed to help our clients pursue or defend court proceedings or represent them in any court process (except for judicial mediation).

In addition, we cannot:

• Threaten your employer with employment tribunal proceedings or prepare a claim for you.
• Help you with strategy, tactics or paperwork within the tribunal process (except where that help is purely aimed at negotiating a settlement of the case).
• Attend any tribunal hearing with you or on your behalf (unless it is a judicial mediation).

However, we can help clients who want to get out of a litigation process they are already in, by helping them to settle it.

We cannot make any employer settle with an employee. In many cases, an employer is open to talking about settlement. However, if they are not willing to discuss this at all, then there will unfortunately be no more we can do to help.

The good news is that trying to talk to your employer about a settlement does not take away any of your other options.

If settlement discussions don’t go anywhere, all of your rights to raise a grievance, instigate Acas Early Conciliation or take your employer to the employment tribunal are still in place.

Acas Early Conciliation is a pre-litigation process.  Its aim is to see if the dispute can be resolved before legal proceedings are filed.

We can help with completing an Acas Early Conciliation application, and speak to Acas on your behalf.

If you have already brought a claim, we can only help you with trying to settle your case.

We can:

• Advise you on the strength of your case and make suggestions for resolution of the matter.
• Help you with a realistic “schedule of loss” and advise you on what would be a reasonable settlement sum.
• Approach your employer (or help you to do so) to see if they would consider settling the claims you have, by agreement.
• If you have been offered a judicial mediation, provide limited help and support on the day of the mediation.

We give 20 minutes of free advice to everyone who needs it.

After that, we charge fees to cover our operating costs. We do not make a profit, all fees go towards running the charity.

The solicitor who gives you the initial call will speak to you about fees and tell you if you are eligible for any free support under one of our grant-funded projects.

Our advice is mainly provided by phone or online meeting. Your solicitor will talk to you about what method would suit you best.

A face-to-face meeting at our London office is possible by prior arrangement, if you and your solicitor agree that this is the most appropriate way to discuss your case.