Chris Boyle
Partner, Head of ServiceChris Boyle is a partner and head of the employment law and HR team at Napthens, and the firm's AfterAthena brand, based in the firm's Preston office.
Chris is head of Napthens’ employment law and HR team and acts for some of UK’s well-known brands to fast growing entrepreneurial businesses.
He is passionate about innovation and enhancing the client experience through practical advice and technology.
Chris has a wealth of experience in advising a wide range of clients on areas including complex discrimination litigation and trade union law.
Having joined Napthens in 2004, Chris became partner in 2008 and now heads up Napthens Group’s AfterAthena brand, supporting clients with employment law, HR and health and safety guidance.
In The Legal 500 guide to the legal industry, this team has been recommended for employment law services and Chris himself noted as leading a ‘proactive team.’
Experience
- Advised on multi-party with a TUPE transfer (including cross border transfer) including 4,000 employees. Involved complicated collective consultation both TUPE and redundancy issues
- Advised client on large scale changes to terms and conditions including negotiation with trade unions and processes around collective agreements, including advising on strategic and tactical considerations with regards proposed industrial action
- Represented the Respondent in Frudd and Frudd v The Partington Group Ltd (EA-2019-000725-RN) should claimants be compensated for ‘time work’ during a one-hour period when they were on call, but not explicitly paid for, under Regulation 30 of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) dismissed the appeal as the claimants had not presented sufficient evidence to show that they were performing ‘time work’ during the hour. The EAT found that the Employment Tribunal had adequately reviewed the facts and considered all relevant factors, and its approach did not amount to a failure to apply the statutory presumption
- Successfully represented client in allegations of complex and wide-ranging sex and racial discrimination and harassment claims in employment tribunal
- Advised on leading authority case which set out the test to be applied in a dismissal and engagement case where the employer was reducing pay by 5%. A change to terms does not have to be crucial to the survival of the business in order to be valid. Focus is not on whether an employee’s refusal to agree is reasonable, but on whether the employer’s decision is reasonable in the all the circumstances
- Advised on leading authority dealing with the principle that the employment tribunal’s findings regarding the principal reason for dismissal were pivotal in determining the unfairness of a dismissal
Affiliations
- Member of the Employment Lawyers Association
- Member of the Law Society
Related insights
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