Employment law retainers
for employers

Practical legal support when you need it — without unpredictable costs

Managing employment law risk isn’t a one-off exercise. It’s ongoing, complex, and often time-sensitive, particularly as your workforce grows.

AfterAthena’s employment law retainers provide consistent, high-quality support on a fixed-fee basis, giving you clarity on cost, confidence in your decisions, and access to experienced legal specialists whenever you need them.

Whether you have no HR function or a well-established team, our retainers are designed to work around your business, not slow it down.

Why businesses choose retainer employment law support

Employment law issues rarely arrive at convenient times. Without ongoing support, businesses often face:

Reactive decision-making under pressure
Increasing exposure to tribunal claims and disputes
Policies and documentation which are contradictory, outdated or legally misaligned with current employment law and working practices
Heavy reliance on internal management time
Unpredictable and escalating legal costs

A retainer removes that uncertainty, giving you proactive, ongoing legal support built around your needs.

What our employment law retainers include

Our retainers are structured to provide day-to-day support, strategic input, and long-term protection.

Day-to-day legally privileged employment law advice

Strategic advice on how to achieve your objective on any employee relation issue
Practical guidance on tackling employee relation issues
Support with disciplinaries, grievances, redundancies or restructures, absence and performance and much more
Advice delivered in-person or via phone, email or Teams

Dedicated legal team

A named team of qualified employment lawyers — your “mini team” that always has your back
Advice aligned to your business objectives
Consistent, relationship-based support with continuity of service delivery
Complete confidentiality, with legal professional privilege

Contracts, policies and compliance

Annual review of employment contracts and policies
Ongoing support to keep documentation up to date
Practical implementation advice

Gender equality in the workplace is an ongoing commitment.

Strategic input and risk management

Advice on complex or high-risk issues
Early intervention to prevent escalation and manage costs
Support aligned to business growth and change

Fixed-fee pricing

An agreed annual fee with additional fair usage allowance
Predictable and controlled legal spend
No unexpected hourly billing for advice within your fixed plan and no checking the “clock” with your lawyers
Clear scope with a fair usage policy aligned to your business’ needs
Options start at 12-month contracts or discounted 2- and 3-year options, no 5-year “lock in contracts”
Flexible payment options
We offer “winding down” contracts if you’re stuck in a long-term contract you can’t get out of and need to give notice way ahead of time

Image of HR Consultants consulting a client

Optional legal expenses insurance (LEI)

Our retainers can be enhanced with legal expenses insurance, providing an additional layer of financial protection.

Covers compensation awards and legal fees up to £100,000 per claim
Up to £1 million annual cover
Includes legal costs for employment tribunal claims and H&S prosecutions, potentially saving tens of thousands of pounds in unexpected legal fees
Our litigation team will handle the defence

This gives you complete peace of mind — both legally and financially.

Flexible retainer models to suit your business

We understand that no two organisations operate the same way. Our retainers are designed to be flexible, including:

Standard employment law retainers
Bespoke packages tailored to your needs
Options to include business immigration services, HR consultancy, training, mediation, coaching, project support and even health and safety service plans
Scalable support as your business grows

Get a tailored quote

Technology-enabled support through the AfterAthena Hub

All retainers include full-tier access to the AfterAthena Hub — giving your team faster, 24/7 access to tools, guidance, and resources.

AI-powered drafting tools certified for legal use, for policies, letters and investigations
Template documents and precedent libraries
Legal updates and practical HR guidance
Training materials and webinars
Open communities of like-minded experts in business and HR
Direct access to AfterAthena specialists
Discounts for partner services such as criminal record checks, occupational health and whistleblowing reporting lines
Opportunity to highlight your own organisation with the community

The Hub helps reduce reliance on external support while keeping your business compliant and informed.

Outcomes you can expect

Working with AfterAthena on a retained basis helps you:

Achieve your desired outcomes
Make confident, commercially sound decisions
Reduce legal and financial risk
Resolve issues before they escalate
Strengthen and improve your documentation and processes to protect your business
Save management time and internal resource
Up-skill and develop your leaders, managers and wider HR team
Have confidence we will fight your corner should Tribunals arise

Get a tailored quote

Trusted by businesses across sectors

We work with organisations of all sizes, including:

Businesses without in-house HR
Growing companies building internal capability
Multi-site and complex organisations
Regulated and high-risk environments
Teams who already have in-house legal teams that require support for extremely complex cases they may not have seen or simply want a sense-check

Who we work with

What our clients say

“AfterAthena has been a game-changer… their support has ensured we are fully compliant and helped reduce absenteeism to an all-time low.”

Daniel Johnson, Managing Director, The Cardbox Box Co Ltd.

“The team provided expert guidance through employment tribunal claims… resulting in all claims being withdrawn.”

Allan Thompson, Managing Director, BMP Europe

How our retainers work

We take time to understand your business, structure and risk profile
We design a retainer tailored to your needs
You gain ongoing access to expert legal support
We provide proactive advice and strategic input as issues arise

Explore retained support tailored to your business

If you’re looking for ongoing employment law support with clear costs and real commercial value, our retainers provide a practical, scalable solution.

Speak to our team about:

Tailored retainer options
Legal expenses insurance
Integrating HR, health & safety and business immigration support
Access to the AfterAthena Hub

Get in touch

Related Insights

In our line of work, things change constantly. From legislative developments to new legal precedents and more, we're here to keep you up to date on the latest news. Below you'll find our most recent news, in addition to advice on how to make your work life easier.