Why choosing a law firm over an HR consultancy agency for your small business is a no-brainer

As a small business owner with less than 50 staff, it is highly likely that you have either considered outsourcing your HR arrangements, or are already in contract with an HR consultancy agency.

On the surface it may seem that law firms and HR consultancy agencies offer similar services. However, that could not be further from the truth.

HR consultants advise on ‘soft skills’ such as candidate selection, ‘culture’, morale and management – which in essence can be rather abstract and nonpractical in real terms.

Solicitors’ extensive education and subsequent training in UK law is incomparable as it relates to complex areas such as TUPE, restrictive covenants (non-compete agreements), discrimination and the provision of employment contracts.

Before entering into any legally binding agreement with either a law firm or a HR consultancy agency it would be advisable to take into consideration the following:

Expertise

It takes at least 6 years to become a fully-qualified Employment Law Solicitor, whilst no formal education is required to become a HR Consultant. HR agencies are unregulated which means that literally anyone can start their own HR enterprise – whilst law firms are overseen and governed by The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Most importantly, HR consultants are not covered by legal privilege, and as such, they are not authorised to provide any advice to your business relating to UK law.

Call centres

To increase their profit and reduce costs, many HR consultancy firms use scripted call centres whilst ensuring their customers that there is a single-point of contact.  With annual staff turnover at UK call centres being between 26% – 50% (the national is average is 15%), it would certainly be next-to-impossible to guarantee any continuity of service.

This could result in you quickly becoming “a hot potato”, and having to explain your business upon each call.  With this high employee churn in mind, it makes call centres one of the most uncertain and turbulent industries in the UK.

Long contracts

Most HR consultancy agencies are very keen to lock customers into 3-5 year contracts which is problematic in itself.  No matter how forensic your research may be, it would be virtually impossible to know if their service is fit-for-purpose – which is why at Oakwood Solicitors we offer an introductory 6-month contract to our clients who can then test-drive our expertise.

Not only are longer contracts restrictive but they are also notoriously difficult to leave.  I have spoken to numerous business owners who have missed their ‘28-day window’ to exit the agreement which has resulted in the contract being automatically renewed for a further 3 to 5-years.

Longer contracts are unfortunately a legacy from an archaic HR business model, which does not resonate with modern business owners who expect and require the flexibility of shorter contracts.

Cost and pricing

This brings us to the greatest myth of them all, which is cost and pricing.  If you have visited their websites or spoken to any of their HR agents then invariably you have been informed that, ‘solicitors are very good, but they’re expensive’ – which aside from being ‘very good’, is completely untrue.

Yes, law firms historically have garnered an unfair reputation for their charges, however at Oakwood Solicitors we offer to price-match any other online offer alongside our flexible 6-month introductory contract.

In summary, if you are a small business owner looking to outsource your HR arrangements with a strong desire to avoid call centres and long contracts whilst only dealing with Employment Law Solicitors, then please call our team.

Further reading

Employment law and HR Package – Oakwood Solicitors

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