Angharad has over 25 years of experience working in a City law firm with 15 years as a partner. She advises on all aspects of employment law across a wide range of industry sectors across both the public and private sectors, acting for individuals and firms.
Her practice is varied and she is particularly experienced at dealing with sensitive strategic employment law issues, including matters that involve reputational risk. This includes dismissals, board-level disputes, negotiating new contracts, employment aspects of commercial transactions, large global reorganisations, collective consultation issues, the Transfer of Undertaking Regulations and outsourcing issues, and employment litigation (including discrimination and whistleblowing, restrictive covenants and bonus issues).
Her work often includes an international element involving corporates in multiple jurisdictions or individual clients with cross-border employment issues. She also advises businesses and individuals in relation to UK immigration matters.
Angharad is the former Chair of the Employment Law Committee of England & Wales and served on the Committee for a total of nine years. During this time she was actively engaged with key stakeholders on Government policy such as the employment Law Parliamentary Support Group at the House of Commons. Angharad was also one of five members of the Working Party led by Mr Justice Underhill, responsible for carrying out the Fundamental Review of Employment Tribunal Rules that came into effect in 2013.
Angharad regularly leads seminars and training on employment law as well as bespoke senior management training sessions as well as Thought Leadership sessions.
Expertise
- Senior executives including negotiating new contracts and negotiating severance terms
- Grievance and disciplinary Investigations including independent processes where there is reputational risk
- Employment litigation including discrimination and whistleblowing matters as well as restrictive covenants and bonus disputes
- Large-scale reorganisations and collective issues often with an international element relating to the multiple jurisdictions
- Transfer of Undertaking Regulations including complex issues where there is a cross-border element and also relating to outsourcing
- Full range of employment law advice on corporate commercial transactions including strategic advice on acquisitions both from a corporate and individual perspective
Experience
Employment Litigation
- Acted for a major insurance provider in relation to an equal pay claim. The claim was successfully settled for a fraction of the original claim.
- Advised a major insurance company on a dispute with an employee dismissed for gross misconduct who subsequently filed counterclaims of unfair dismissal, breach of contract, and age and race discrimination claims.
- Successfully defended an international shipping group in the Employment Appeal Tribunal against whistleblowing and breach of contract claims against a former executive director. The EAT considered the extent to which the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996 may be applied extra-territorially, in particular in connection with unfair dismissal rights.
- Advised a further education college on a complex and multi-faceted dispute that centred on a misconduct dispute against the most senior member of the management with significant press coverage and reputational damage to the institution. We dealt with the investigation of the dispute working alongside our corporate team to deal with complex and interconnected issues relating to a Saudi Arabian-based joint venture operation for which our client was a majority shareholder. The litigation involved dealing with the regulatory and the data commissioner and taking cross-border legal advice.
- Advised senior employees of major investment banks in relation to discretionary bonus awards and in relation to discrimination claims.
- Acted for an auctioneer in relation to an unfair dismissal, breach of contract, race and sex discrimination claim and counterclaim which was successfully settled with the employee being required to make a charitable donation of the Respondent’s choice.
- Advised the Director of Football at a top Premier League club in relation to his acceptance of new employment that was the subject of an acrimonious and public dispute between two football clubs, culminating in a minor defamation issue in the press and extracting a written apology and damages for the employee.
- Advised a senior executive on whistleblowing claims that were interlinked with redundancy and grievance processes and involved other personnel at the most senior level in the United States.
- Advised on an HMRC investigation into the tax treatment of payments in lieu of notice over a six-year period and whether as a matter of custom and practice the wrong tax treatment was applied.
- Advised a construction company on the removal of a director and shareholder on disciplinary grounds for gross misconduct. The case was complicated by allegations of criminal conduct. The case was complex and the remaining elements of the dispute were successfully resolved through mediation.
Terminations/Settlement Agreements
- Advised a high-profile global PR company on practical and strategic advice relating to the enforceability of restrictive covenant and insolvency issues arising from an LLP agreement and attempts from the former administrators to recover excess advances from former members and to a seek to require the new employer to agree to enter into a revenue-sharing agreement.
- Acted for senior executives across a whole range of sectors including for IT directors of private equity firms, UK general counsel, CEO of a pharma group, CEO of financial services, and global HR director of technology groups.
- Advised on severance terms and agreements for a premiership football club.
- Advised a tech company in relation to terminating the employment of their founder.
- Successfully acted for a senior executive in relation to a dispute with a global insurance company and secured a significant severance package.
- Successfully acted for a senior executive in relation to a dispute with a global insurance company and secured a significant severance package. The case involved sensitive disability and maternity issues.
- Advised on complex issues relating to an employee’s permanent health insurance benefits and engaged in negotiations leading to agreed severance terms
Contract Issues
- Provided 1-2-1 training on the Senior Management Regime to individuals holding a senior management function at a bank in the UK.
- Advised the CEO of a global advertising company on her terms under an LLP agreement.
- Advised a Luxembourg bank on its establishment of a new branch in the UK, which included carrying out a project management and compliance role.
- Advised a senior executive joining a private equity firm on the terms of her employment including matters related to her guaranteed bonus payments term and notice provisions and the terms of her existing contract.
- Advised an online gaming company in relation to the allowance and bonus payments.
- Acted for a major premiership football club in relation to the new contract terms for its manager.
- Advised a new family-owned hedge fund setting up in the UK on all aspects of its employment needs and drafting contracts for several levels of employee including for the CEO and investment manager.
- Advised a senior executive on the terms, operation and legal implications of a new LLP structure introduced by a quoted British investment management business.
- Advised an online gaming company in relation to the extent to which allowance and bonus payment must be included in calculations of holiday pay.
- Advised a premiership football club in relation to performance issues related to the manager.
- Advised a start-up company on all aspects of its employment needs including its employment and consultancy contracts.
- Advised a crew and management services company on numerous aviation industry-related employment issues including health and safety issues and disability issues relating to cabin crew and pilots, together with advice on holiday pay and working time issues.
Outsourcing/TUPE
- Advised a facilities management company on the roll-out of a global outsourcing contract in 15 jurisdictions and co-ordinating advice in relation to applicable consultation and information obligations.
- Acted for an international professional services firm in respect of an outsourcing contract won in relation to the provision of facilities management services across 121 properties, across 94 countries in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, China and Africa
- Assisted the owner of a biomass plant to terminate its services agreement with the manager of the plant due to continued poor performance. This involved establishing the application of TUPE; analysing the indemnification protection; and assisting the company to follow a fair dismissal procedure and also dealing with complicated issues around the consultation process.
- Advised on a sensitive intra-company transfer within an aviation and defence business, which included advice on TUPE.
- Advised on a TUPE transfer of employees engaged by the client at Heathrow Airport to a new service provider. This included restructuring work and the offer of alternative roles and others being made redundant. It raised issues around grading and selection pools and resulted in a number of grievances that were settled.
Restructuring/Reorganisations
- Advised a Nordic bank on a major restructuring programme for its UK operation to include strategic advice on the terms of the severance package and on retention arrangements.
- Assisted an international shipping company with a global restructuring, centred on moving the core agency operations of the group’s business from the UK to Switzerland.
- Advised the client on the issues relating to TUPE following the reverse takeover of a business and on issues regarding the collective redundancies arising as a result.
- Advised an online betting business on the closure of their entire call centre operation, which involved relocating operations from being home- to office-based. This included collective redundancy in the UK and relocation of call centre staff based in Spain, the Netherlands and Gibraltar.
- Acted in the reorganisation of an entire shipping business relocating from London to Norway. This required collective consultation with employees; some were made redundant, others transferred temporarily and others on a permanent basis. One of the particular challenges of this relocation was ensuring that the transfer took place without compromising the operational function of the business, which involved putting in place a suite of measures around severance and retention packages.
Collective Issues
- Advised on the negotiation and terms of a new European Works Council Agreement that also included liaising with Luxembourg counsel.
- Advised on a lengthy negotiation with a trade union on the introduction of redundancy policy for pilots and in relation to flexible working requests with health and safety implications.
Germany
- Advised in relation to collective redundancies taking place in the UK, Germany and France and also dealing with issues related to the European Works Council while also fulfilling domestic consultation processes in terms of timing on informing and consulting on the restructuring process.
- Acted in relation to collective redundancies in the UK, France, Sweden and Germany that was complicated by the interplay with the obligations to the European Works Council while at the same time fulfilling the domestic consultation process.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised by The Legal 500 for Employment: Senior Executives (2020-2024)
Recognised by The Legal 500 for Employment: Employers (2020-2024)
“Angharad Harris is an exceptionally talented, knowledgeable and detail-oriented professional. She was fully focused on getting the best outcome; she is outstanding.” The Legal 500 2024
“Angharad Harris is fantastic and we are always very happy with her work. She always responds to queries quickly and is thorough, organised and friendly. I feel like we can always rely on her to answer any questions in a clear and detailed way.” The Legal 500 2024
“Angharad Harris listened so well to the challenges I had and the support I needed. I was kept well informed of the status of my legal issue and given clear guidance and options on how to proceed with my case. During a very traumatic time, I felt comfortable in the advice I was given and really welcomed the calm and confident approach.” The Legal 500 2023
“Angharard Harris was able to quickly assess my individual case and provide practical, pragmatic advice on the solutions that may be appropriate to my case. At all times I felt supported, fully advised and all options were explained very clearly and precisely to me.” The Legal 500 2023
“Angharard Harris is very accessible, straightforward and a problem solver. She is the best in the business. She continues to go above and beyond across all employment law matters and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to all and everyone. She is by far the best lawyer I have ever had the privilege of working with.” The Legal 500 2023
“Angharad is an exceptional lawyer, who knows her field extremely well. She is creative in her approach and will often think outside of the box, which I find unique in this particular field. Angharad gives extremely clear guidance and reasoning on every aspect of a case, which helps me make the right decisions.” The Legal 500 2022
“Angharad Harris provided me with excellent support through my employment change. She was supportive and understanding throughout ensuring that the right expert was brought in when required, including outside foreign law. She was transparent throughout the process regarding fees and expectations were understood on both sides. It was a fairly difficult time for me and I felt she was critical to me getting the right outcome and feeling satisfied with the process.” The Legal 500 2021
Angharad Harris advises organisations from an array of industry sectors on all potential issues faced by employers. Clients praise her as “pragmatic, authoritative and able to build relationships with both parties while representing the interests of the clients.” Chambers UK 2020
Angharad Harris of Keystone Law has a wealth of experience assisting clients with a wide range of employment law disputes. Sources say: “She always ensures the best advice and that all matters are followed up and completed,” with another adding: “She is very practical and able to steer us through the legal points.” Chambers UK 2019
Recognised in the Legal 500 2018 for Employment: Employers and Senior Executives
“Responsive” Legal 500 2018
“Represents clients from a number of sectors, including banking, insurance and real estate, on both contentious and non-contentious employment law issues. Clients say: “She is both knowledgeable and practical in the advice she gives.” Chambers UK 2018
“Extremely patient and able to explain incredibly technical terms in a way laymen can understand.” Chambers UK 2017
Angharad Harris “works with both employers and employees on a range of disputes. Sources say that “she is effective, decisive and provides helpful and constructive advice to her clients.” Chambers UK 2016
Member of the Law Society of England & Wales
Member of the Employment Lawyers Association
Member of the Immigration Practitioners Association
Career
Angharad qualified as a solicitor in 1993. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2018, she worked at Watson Farley & Williams.