How to get free legal advice about an employment problem

Employment Tribunal Litigant in Person Support scheme (ELIPS) can give you free advice if your case is being heard at one of the below Employment Tribunals:

• London Central
•  Bristol
•  Cardiff
• Midlands West
• Newcastle
• Leeds
• Manchester

And you have either a hearing, a case management order, or judicial mediation within 2 weeks of the clinic date (e.g. for the clinic on 3 October 2024, only those with hearings or case management order on or before 17th October will be eligible).

And you have the ET1, ET3, and any case management order or notice of hearing readily available.

If you meet the criteria above, please email the Pro Bono Administrator at elips@elaweb.org.uk at least two weeks before the date of the clinic, attaching your Notice of Hearing or Case Management Order confirming the date. They are not able to help everyone but if there are spaces available, you will be contacted.  

Prepare for your hearing by reading our advice on employment tribunal preparation. Don’t send any other documents until you have been asked for them but have them with you if you are offered an appointment.
 
ELIPS volunteers provide support in the form of one-off advice on the day of the clinic.  They are not able to provide longer term help or representation at hearings.

Advocate may be able to help find you a barrister who can provide you with free advice or representation at a tribunal hearing anywhere in England and Wales. You can apply for help if you are not eligible for legal aid and don't have enough money to pay for legal help.

You can apply directly online using their form and uploading your documents with it. You need to send a completed application form at least three weeks before the hearing or deadline for the piece of work you want help with. Should you find it easier you can also fill out a paper application form which you can print from their website or email enquiries@weareadvocate.org.uk to ask for one.

Advocate provide help for one piece of work at a time, for example, you could be approved for some free legal advice, and then maybe some free representation depending on the outcome of the advice. Find out more about how it works and find the online form. Once you have submitted your application, it is assessed by the casework team to make sure there is enough information about your case to decide if you are eligible for free help. The team may ask you for more documents or information if the form is not complete. Once the casework team is satisfied that they have enough information, your application will be sent to a senior reviewer to decide if your case fits the financial and legal merits. If the reviewer decides you are eligible and the work will take three days or less, the Advocate team will start looking for a barrister to help you. Because they rely on volunteers, they cannot guarantee to find someone, but they will do their best. If they can't find someone, they will let you know before your hearing.

Advocate finds barristers to help you with a particular task in your case. They cannot find someone to take a whole case for free. So, if your application is successful, you will receive help for that specific task. After that, if you need further help you can apply again, providing at least three weeks' notice. 

YESS are an employment law charity who can help you to agree a settlement with your employer or represent you in judicial mediation (they don’t do employment tribunal hearings and can’t help you prepare documents or comply with case management orders). YESS offer a free initial 20 minutes of advice and then agree a fee depending your income (people on a low income pay less than those on higher incomes). You can pay an affordable hourly rate or a fixed amount for the whole piece of work. Where they can, they try to get your employer to pay for your legal advice. If you live or work in Greater London they can sometimes assist for free. 

Free Representation Unit can provide representation at an employment tribunal if your hearing will be heard in London, the South East of England or Nottingham and if you are referred to them by another agency. Check their website for more details on who can refer to them. 

Working Families provides free and confidential advice to parents and carers about their employment rights including maternity and paternity leave, rights to time off in an emergency, parental leave and flexible working. You can call their Legal Helpline on 0300 012 0312 Monday - Friday 11 - 2pm (closed on bank holidays). Beware that calls are not free, but charged at the same rate as national landline calls. 

Maternity Action offers advice and information to help you understand and take up your rights and entitlements throughout your pregnancy, maternity leave and return to work. They can help anyone in England and Wales but look at their website for details of the helpline opening times or number as it depends on where you are in the country (they have additional funding to help people from Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside). They are very busy and are not able to help everyone who contacts them. 

Equality and Advisory Support Service can advise you if you think you are being discriminated against and want further help. Their helpline is open Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm - 0808 800 0082. Or you can contact them through their website.

If your problem is about discrimination at work and you (and your partner, if you have one) are low earners and have very few savings, you might be eligible for legal aid. This is government financial support for an employment law problem. Check if you might qualify on GOV.UK. Unfortunately, most people don’t.

Disability Law Service provides free confidential legal advice  in writing or over the phone to people with disabilities and their carers about (among other things) employment law and discrimination at work. Call: 0207 791 9800, Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5.30pm and choose option 3 or email: employment@dls.org.uk. They try to get back to you in 3-5 days. 
 
As well as advice, they are able to provide support with preparing your case and sometimes representation at tribunal, but only to disabled people in the London area.

Rights of Women provide initial advice and support for women experiencing sexual harassment (or need help identifying if it is sexual harassment). See the website for opening hours of the advice line.

If you are worried about something harmful or wrong-doing happening at your work and you are thinking of telling someone about it, Protect can help you. They provide free, independent and confidential legal advice. Call: 020 3117 2520 or you can fill in an online contact form. Their advice line is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays: 9:30am - 1pm, 2pm - 5:30pm; Wednesdays and Fridays: 9:30am - 1pm. Anyone in need of advice outside of those times can reach them via their contact form and they can make arrangements to call you back.

The Modern Slavery Helpline from Unseen offers callers who are potential victims help to consider their options, access crisis assistance, emotional support, help with access to social and legal services and help to connect with law enforcement agencies to get out of the situation and stay safe. If you don't speak English, they will connect you to an interpreter. Call 08000 121 700. Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Many people cannot get any free advice. If you can afford it, it would still be sensible to get some advice. Most solicitors will offer a short free consultation and then you can decide if you want further help and discuss how much it will cost you. You can find qualified solicitors near you on the Law Society website. Always look for a solicitor who specialises in the area of law you need help with (in this case, employment law).

Updated September 2024