Senior Legal Counsel- Employment

Helping over ten million people around the world manage their savings, retirement plans and life insurance requires a lot of people behind-the-scenes.  It’s up to us in L&G Group functions – which includes our tech and digital teams, Group Finance, HR, Risk and Corporate Comms to provide the essential support services that all areas of the business need, here in the UK and overseas. Simply put, we enable everyone at Legal & General to do what they do best. That means we’re helping to improve our customers’ lives, and contributing to the success of the business every day.

Your role at a glance

To support the Assistant General Counsel (People & Operations) in providing a first-class employment law service to the L&G Group both in the UK and internationally. The role holder will be responsible for providing day-to-day employment advice to HR and business managers (as appropriate) across the Group in a way that allows the business to achieve its aims and which ensures a consistent corporate approach is taken across the Group while minimising material legal. 

What you'll be doing

• To provide employment legal advice to all L&G business divisions to ensure:

a)           the Group’s strategic and commercial objectives are, where possible, furthered;

b)           a proper account is taken of material legal risks identified and the Group’s position is mitigated and protected;

c)           compliance with relevant legislation and regulation; and

d)           all corporate governance aspects are considered.

• To provide employment law advice to:

a)           HR teams and business managers (as appropriate) across the Group in relation to day to day employment matters such as policies and procedures, sickness absence, flexible working requests, performance and conduct issues, grievances, appeals, redundancies and restructures;

b)           HR teams and the business in relation to complex legal matters such as discrimination, equal pay, holiday pay and working time and changing contractual terms;

c)           HR teams and the business in relation to senior exits and settlement agreements;

d)           HR teams, Group Compliance and the business in relation to benefits including pensions (with external advice where appropriate), share plans and remuneration (including compliance with Regulatory obligations such as the Remuneration Code);

e)           HR teams, Group Procurement and the business in relation to TUPE including first and second generation outsourcing, insourcing and business sales and acquisitions;

f)            The business, Recruitment and HR in relation to restraint of trade issues both on commencement and termination of employment;

g)           HR and the business (as appropriate) in relation to immigration issues and obligations including sponsor licence management, visa applications, business travel, overseas remote working (with external advice where appropriate);

h)           HR, the business and Group Legal colleagues in relation to the planning and execution of corporate transactions, including assisting with due diligence where relevant;

i)            The Employment Relations team, HR and the business in relation to Trade Union issues;

j)            HR teams and the business (as appropriate) in relation to Group transformation projects (for example, previous projects include IR35, International HR and Future of Work); and

k)           The business and HR in relation to international labour issues (seeking local advice where appropriate).

• You will manage employment law litigation ensuring that material legal and reputational risks are minimised while establishing a culture that is perceived as robust and which does not reward failure.
• You will assist the Assistant General Counsel (People & Operations) to identify and report any matters which are of strategic, reputational or material financial value to the Group General Counsel.
• You will manage external legal fees to ensure business costs are kept to a minimum and manage external legal advice to ensure sound and commercially useful advice is provided to the business.
• You will ensure there is appropriate horizon scanning of legal and regulatory developments and ensure that the business is advised in a timely and appropriate manner.
• You will provide training and guidance to HR (as required) to ensure they are equipped to manage complex matters, topics of interest and/or areas of concern to the business.
• You will ensure the design and implementation of HR policies gives sufficient emphasis that the fair treatment of customers and employees as is central to our corporate culture.
• Treating Customers Fairly – responsibility for ensuring that material legal and reputational risks are identified and escalated to the Group General Counsel and the appropriate management / committees in a timely manner and that where remedial activity is required that this is carried out in a timely manner with due consideration of the needs of the customer.

• 2.1 or above degree from a recognised UK university (or a similar level of qualification gained from a non-UK university)
• England & Wales qualified solicitor (or a solicitor or attorney qualified in another jurisdiction)
• Experience of working in-house in financial services would be desirable
• Detailed knowledge of the relevant statutory, regulatory and common employment law applicable to a major financial services group
• An awareness of legislative and best practice change and its applicability to a financial services organisation such as Legal & General Group PLC
• Competent in use of IT systems such as Microsoft Word
• We would envisage the role being suitable for an individual who has circa 5 years’ post qualification experience.  Please note this is a guide only and we would be willing to consider applications from individuals with different levels of post qualification experience.

Please note, the role is envisaged to be a full time role although we are happy to consider the role on a part-time or job-share basis.

When you commit to Legal & General, we’ll commit to you too. That means we’ll recognise and reward your hard work, your performance and your contribution.

If you join us, you’ll get access to some great benefits, including private medical insurance, 30 days holiday (excluding bank holidays), a generous pension scheme, life assurance, and Income Protection. You'll receive a car allowance of 12% of your annual salary, and you can participate in our electric car scheme, which offers employees the option to hire a brand new electric car through tax efficient salary sacrifice. We’re also proud to offer competitive family leave. 

You’ll have the opportunity to participate in our annual, performance-related bonus plan and valuable share schemes. And then there are the many discounts we offer that you can take advantage of – both for our own products and at a range of high street stores and online offerings. 

The brand with the brolly is choosing today to change tomorrow.

Since 1836, we’ve grown to become one of the world's largest asset managers, homebuilders, pension providers and insurance brands. 

We’re all here to improve the lives of our customers, build a better society for the long term, and create value for our shareholders - helping to shape a better future for society and the planet.

We need people who share our ambitions, agility and entrepreneurial spirit to help us do it.

At L&G, you’ll find a balance that helps you be your best. Empowered by hybrid working, we’re supported by technology and workplaces that enable us to work effectively wherever we are. We come together in offices to collaborate and connect, and use time at home for individual, focused activities. And, when we achieve great things, we celebrate our success and reward strong performance.

Today, there’s over 10,000 of us, working towards our mission, with plenty of opportunities to grow your career as we grow L&G. Will you join us?

Great minds don’t have to think alike, so we welcome voices from all backgrounds. Bringing together people with different life experiences helps us build empathy with our customers and drive innovation.

We don’t just talk about it, we actively promote diversity and equitable opportunities for all. That means our employment decisions are made without regard to race, colour, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or protected veteran status. In fact, we embrace every dimension of diversity to reflect the customers and communities we serve.

We think it’s important to create an inclusive environment where we can all belong, contribute and drive progress, where you can develop and grow, and be empowered. We want you to use your voice to help us build a better tomorrow.

We all work differently, and have different needs, which is why. we’re always open to discussing flexible working arrangements. Likewise, we’re committed to finding reasonable accommodations for candidates with specific needs during our recruiting process.

So whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever your story, we'd love to hear from you.