Hannah Harding

Hannah trained at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, where she qualified as an employment lawyer in 2009 and gained extensive experience in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law, advising employers across a range of sectors, including in the technology, retail and financial services sectors.  Following a move to Fox Williams LLP in 2012, Hannah expanded her portfolio to advising senior executives on exit strategies, team moves and the interplay between employment and regulatory issues. In 2014 Hannah moved in-house to the Government Legal Service, the largest provider of legal services across Government, working with all the main Whitehall Departments, giving her exposure to often high profile, politically sensitive and cutting edge employment matters.

Hannah has provided strategic advice and guidance to HR clients on all aspects of the employment relationship.  During the life of the employment relationship, she has assisted with the drafting and negotiation of employment documentation as well as advising on the enforceability and applicability of employee restrictions, and keeping all employee policies up to date.  Hannah has advised on the full range of HR issues, including the handling of grievance and disciplinary matters, managing poor performance and long term sick absence, flexible working requests, unlawful discrimination issues, issues surrounding maternity and other periods of leave, and negotiating an employee’s departure.  Hannah has also advised on business reorganisations and redundancies and has provided advice on TUPE in business transfers and outsourcings. Hannah is a sophisticated employment lawyer and has extensive experience in advising clients throughout the employment tribunal process and in negotiating settlements (including the drafting and review of settlement agreements).

Relevant experience includes:

• Providing supporting advice and documents to an IT client when managing TUPE and collective consultation obligations during a business transfer.
• Reviewing and drafting handbooks, policies, contracts of employment and service agreements for clients from a range of different sectors, including start-up businesses.
• Being a first port of contact for day-to-day HR queries for numerous clients.
• Advising Government Departments on engaging individuals on a non-traditional basis, including flexible working arrangements and home working provisions and updating flexible working policies to reflect the new ways of working following the pandemic. More generally advising on issues arising from Covid 19.
• Advising a supermarket on collective consultation and the individual redundancy process following the restructuring of its business, including preparing a suite of documents to assist the client with the process.
• Acting for a small retailer client and numerous Government Departments in defending allegations of unlawful discrimination, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, breaches of the TUPE regulations and whistleblowing in the Tribunal as well as defending a number of complex claims in the senior courts, including representing a Government Department in the seminal case of Mercer v AFG.
• Negotiating settlement packages for senior executives and employers from different sectors and drafting and negotiating settlement agreement terms.
• Advising a Government Department on its pay and contract reform and harmonising terms and conditions.