Legal Services

UNISON provides quality legal services for employment-related and non-work issues at no extra cost to members and their family. In fact, UNISON provides the broadest range of legal help to union members in the UK

What do UNISON legal services cover?

  • Employment advice
  • Personal injury service – covers any accident which happens either outside or in the workplace, including assaults at work and industrial disease claims as well as road traffic accidents and accidents on holiday.
  • Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) claims
  • Work-related criminal offences
  • Wills – free wills service for members, with reduced rates for family members;
  • Conveyancing – discounted for members and their family members;
  • Clinical negligence – free screening service to assess a potential legal claim for members affected by clinical  negligence for members and their family members.
  • Free legal advice on any non-employment issuefrom UNISON’s lawyers. This service entitles you to receive a 30-minute telephone interview.

Essential legal services from UNISON

UNISON works in partnership with leading specialist personal injury lawyers Thompsons Solicitors to provide essential legal cover for members and their families. If you or a loved one has been injured you can claim with confidence using the UNISON legal service. Your case will be handled by an expert lawyer and – thanks to your UNISON membership […]

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Legal support on work-related issues

UNISON members can get free legal advice and assistance with work-related issues through our legal assistance scheme.

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Legal helpline for reps

A legal helpline is available for accredited UNISON stewards and lay officers who need urgent preliminary legal advice on employment matters. If the matter is not urgent, please contact your regional office as normal to get a referral for legal advice.
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Legal services for you and your family

UNISON members can access free initial legal advice on non-work related issues, along with support for members and their family members for personal injury cases outside work, a free wills service, low-cost conveyancing and help with immigration issues.

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Access to legal services

Although Thompsons Solicitors are UNISON’s approved legal firm for certain legal services, you must contact UNISON directly to get free access to these services.

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Injuries at work – your rights explained

Gerard Stilliard, head of personal injury claims at Thompsons Solicitors, outlines how you can access legal support if you have been injured at work.

The best employers recognise that proper health and safety is vital and take steps to ensure they keep their employees as safe as possible in the workplace.

At Thompsons, we see first-hand the devastating impact on workers and their families when health and safety is compromised – usually when management is under pressure to cut costs. That is why, as a proud partner of UNISON, we work with your union to actively promote the benefits of union membership and support you and your families with legal claims.

Your employer’s ‘duty of care’

Your employer owes you a duty of care, to protect your health, safety and welfare while at work. This include providing a safe work environment. They should:

  • Follow health and safety legislation
  • Conduct adequate risk assessments
  • Provide you with health and safety training
  • Supply sufficient PPE
  • Ensure equipment is in safe working order and regularly maintained
  • Reduce risk as much as reasonably possible.

If your employer has failed in their duty of care, and you have been injured at work as a result, you may be able to bring a compensation claim.

Making a compensation claim

The law requires employers to avoid risks entirely if this is possible and, if not, to minimise the risk of injury at work to the lowest level ‘reasonably practicable’.

Where employers fail in their obligation to protect you, UNISON and Thompsons will support your injury claim all the way to trial if necessary, but most cases settle well before they reach the doors of the court.

Giving you the best chance of success

To ensure your compensation claim for an accident at work is as strong as possible, you should try to:

  • Report the accident and your injuries to your employer
  • Record the accident in your workplace accident book
  • Take photographs of the place where the accident happened
  • Photograph any visible injuries
  • Find out the names and contact details for any witnesses
  • Keep a record of any visits to the doctors and treatments received, including receipts for any injury-related expenses.

The UNISON Legal Service gives you access to independent specialist legal advice from lawyers who are experts in their field. Using the union legal service is not only free, ensuring you receive 100% of any compensation awarded, it also increases the chances of your claim succeeding, because your lawyers can work with your local and national union representatives. You won’t get that level of compensation or support from any other law firm.

Here’s how our specialist teams can help

You can contact our experts for free advice and representation on:

 

Members’ families are also covered for:

  • Personal injury away from work, on holiday or on the roads
  • Special terms for medical negligence and wills.

 

Accessing support from Thompsons Solicitors

Thompsons Solicitors has been standing with unions and fighting for workers’ rights for more than 100 years.

Since we started in 1921, we have always refused to act for employers or insurers, only ever acting for the injured and mistreated. Every year, we secure millions of pounds in compensation for union members injured or mistreated by their employer.

For more information, visit Thompsons Solicitors’ website or call us directly on 0800 0 224 224.