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gunnercooke is the fastest growing corporate law firm in the UK, now making its mark globally. We comprise a rapidly growing number of experts spanning legal and other disciplines. Clients benefit from flexible options on fees to suit their needs, access to a wider network of senior experts throughout the relationship, and legal advice which is complemented by an understanding of the commercial aspects of running a business.
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Joan Pettingill
Partner
Employment Law
Accolades
Expertise
Joan helps employers get employment law right.
She helps solve people problems.
Joan is a highly experienced expert in all areas of employment law.
She helps with staff risk management, staff attraction, lateral hires, team moves, engagement, accelerating and managing performance, and dismissals.
Joan has a high level of experience successfully defending employment tribunals. She often advises ‘behind the scene’ on issues as they arise and need careful prompt management to help prevent tribunals arising at all.
Joan is a trusted adviser for many strategic projects such as corporate sales, acquisitions and MBOs working closely with corporate teams.
She has a commercial no-nonsense approach to achieving clients’ objectives whilst keeping them on the right side of employment laws.
Joan is also experienced in upgrading employment contracts and policies, changing job descriptions, contract terms, or changing working practices. She is very experienced in all kinds of staff change management in particular where there are TUPE issues on business transfers or service provision changes. Joan has experience upgrading employment contract terms and conditions, policies and procedures including collective consultation and negotiations with trade unions all the way through to dealing with trade union recognition and collective bargaining.
She also carries out complex independent investigations. Joan advises regulatory decision makers on process as well as where employment law cuts across sensitive issues such as safeguarding for high profile organisations.
Joan Advises
- SMEs through to plcs
- Charities & not for profits
- Care homes and healthcare businesses
Experience Highlights
- Advising on the relocation of a £20M manufacturing facility to the far east advising on all TUPE consultations, role reorganisations, contract variations, interview processes, and exit arrangements.
- Successfully defending multiple union-backed employment tribunal claims for wages underpayments for an international engineering company.
- Successfully advising a national retailer on trade union recognition issues of competing trade unions following a merger.
- Advising a University in respect of trade union recognition negotiations as well as changes to contracts of employment and working practices after they had restructured their business units.
- On a service provision change, negotiating that TUPE did not apply thus releasing an engineering company from £several-millions of potential employee costs that they would otherwise have inherited.
- Investigation of £multi-million theft by an employee resulting in the recovery of funds and conviction.
- House of Lords case changing the law to allow children abused by care home managers to claim financial compensation.
Career History
Previous Law Firms
- Wake Smith Solicitors (Director & Head of Employment & HR Services 2020–21)
- Lupton Fawcett LLP (Partner, Employment Law Team 2014–20)
- HLW Keeble Hawson LLP (now Knights plc) (Partner, Employment Law Team 2007–14)
- Gordons (Solicitor 2001–07)
Memberships
- Employment Lawyers Association
Education
- Northumbria University (LLB Law (Hons))
- Legal Practice Course
Other
- ILM trainer
- ILM7 Executive Coach & Mentor
- Hub leader: gunnercooke iNSPIRE Yorkshire charity hub
- Chair: C-Suite Conversations executive peer group.
An experienced public speaker, Joan also frequently delivers training in employment law and is also an ILM7 executive coach. Joan is a Legal 500 named expert in employment law.
Expertise
Back to top
Joan helps employers get employment law right.
She helps solve people problems.
Joan is a highly experienced expert in all areas of employment law.
She helps with staff risk management, staff attraction, lateral hires, team moves, engagement, accelerating and managing performance, and dismissals.
Joan has a high level of experience successfully defending employment tribunals. She often advises ‘behind the scene’ on issues as they arise and need careful prompt management to help prevent tribunals arising at all.
Joan is a trusted adviser for many strategic projects such as corporate sales, acquisitions and MBOs working closely with corporate teams.
She has a commercial no-nonsense approach to achieving clients’ objectives whilst keeping them on the right side of employment laws.
Joan is also experienced in upgrading employment contracts and policies, changing job descriptions, contract terms, or changing working practices. She is very experienced in all kinds of staff change management in particular where there are TUPE issues on business transfers or service provision changes. Joan has experience upgrading employment contract terms and conditions, policies and procedures including collective consultation and negotiations with trade unions all the way through to dealing with trade union recognition and collective bargaining.
She also carries out complex independent investigations. Joan advises regulatory decision makers on process as well as where employment law cuts across sensitive issues such as safeguarding for high profile organisations.
Joan Advises
Back to top
- SMEs through to plcs
- Charities & not for profits
- Care homes and healthcare businesses
Experience Highlights
Back to top
- Advising on the relocation of a £20M manufacturing facility to the far east advising on all TUPE consultations, role reorganisations, contract variations, interview processes, and exit arrangements.
- Successfully defending multiple union-backed employment tribunal claims for wages underpayments for an international engineering company.
- Successfully advising a national retailer on trade union recognition issues of competing trade unions following a merger.
- Advising a University in respect of trade union recognition negotiations as well as changes to contracts of employment and working practices after they had restructured their business units.
- On a service provision change, negotiating that TUPE did not apply thus releasing an engineering company from £several-millions of potential employee costs that they would otherwise have inherited.
- Investigation of £multi-million theft by an employee resulting in the recovery of funds and conviction.
- House of Lords case changing the law to allow children abused by care home managers to claim financial compensation.
Career History
Back to top
Previous Law Firms
- Wake Smith Solicitors (Director & Head of Employment & HR Services 2020–21)
- Lupton Fawcett LLP (Partner, Employment Law Team 2014–20)
- HLW Keeble Hawson LLP (now Knights plc) (Partner, Employment Law Team 2007–14)
- Gordons (Solicitor 2001–07)
Memberships
- Employment Lawyers Association
Education
- Northumbria University (LLB Law (Hons))
- Legal Practice Course
Other
- ILM trainer
- ILM7 Executive Coach & Mentor
- Hub leader: gunnercooke iNSPIRE Yorkshire charity hub
- Chair: C-Suite Conversations executive peer group.
An experienced public speaker, Joan also frequently delivers training in employment law and is also an ILM7 executive coach. Joan is a Legal 500 named expert in employment law.
Testimonials
“Joan advised us with a large scale collective redundancy and redeployment process. She talked us through the process and helped us arrange free assistance to support staff finding other jobs. It was a lot to manage but I could sleep at night knowing we had gone through a difficult process properly and fairly. The really great thing was that there was no “come back” at all. Not one grievance or claim. Everyone felt they had been treated fairly and both the business and the staff could draw a line and move on. I have since used gunnercooke for other business-related matters.”
Client
‘Cool, calm and collected, which is precisely what we require with employment law advice and guidance. Decisions sometimes need to be made fast, but not without sound employment law advice, and Joan is anyone's go-to solicitor for that steadfast advice.’
Steve Taylor
Managing Director, SolarFrame Limited‘Joan is a business focussed legal partner who provides expert guidance and tools that align complex legalities to corporate culture. Joan models excellence in coaching, communication and drive for improvement. My first choice for consistently high standards in all employment law matters.’
Kelly Asghar
SVP Corporate, Services GS1‘By working directly with Joan Pettingill, we have been impressed that all communication has been direct ensuring any questions are answered quickly.’
Legal 500
‘Joan has been on hand to guide us through a very tricky time as we have been faced with a restructure. Unlike many employment specialists, Joan has a great understanding of our challenges and has been a great support keeping in contact with us every step of the way.’
Legal 500
‘We work with Joan Pettingill for our employment law. As an SME we rely on professional partners to advise and assist us on the challenges small businesses face, especially over the last 12 months.’
Legal 500
"Excellent service, very professional"
Ms H
Client