Tabytha
Cunningham

Tabytha is a Partner in the Employment and Immigration team advising on all aspects of employment law and business and personal immigration issues

Tabytha has worked alongside Charlotte Farrell on a job share basis since 2017 and works three days a week Wednesday to Friday, providing a full service together with Charlotte across the week. Clients have acknowledged Tabytha and Charlotte’s seamless working arrangements, allowing them to provide the combined experience of two solicitors.

Tabytha has particular experience in advising employers on the challenging HR issues they face day to day, from avoiding discrimination in the recruitment process to family friendly rights and disciplinary and grievance procedures. She also helps organisations manage strategic changes such as business reorganisations and redundancies, and has particular experience in supporting clients through the Employment Tribunal process.

Tabytha has extensive experience in advising on GDPR and data protection in an employment context. Her expertise includes drafting and advising on privacy notices for employees, job applicants,  consultants, contractors and volunteers as well as the key documents needed when processing particular types of employee data, including CCTV, DBS checks, location and biometric data. She regularly advises on processing data subject access requests and how these interlink with employment claims.

Tabytha’s experience in business immigration includes advising on applications for skilled worker and senior and specialist worker sponsor licenses, supporting clients with applications for undefined and defined certificates of sponsorship and connected skilled worker applications and advising on the transfer of sponsor licences following changes in ownership. Tabytha also advises employers on right to work obligations and business visitor visas and the new Electronic Travel Authorisation system for employees visiting the UK from overseas.

Tabytha also advises on a range of personal immigration matters, including partner and dependent visas, graduate visas, high potential individual visas and applications for indefinite leave to remain and British Citizenship.

Tabytha regularly delivers practical training to HR professionals, managers and leadership teams on employment, employee data protection and immigration law.

Notable work highlights

• Successfully defending complex employment tribunal claims, including claims for whistleblowing and discrimination;
• Obtaining deposit orders and achieving the early strike out of employment tribunal claims via interim applications.
• Advising on collective redundancies, including those arising in conjunction with TUPE transfers.
• Supporting clients in the charity sector to manage difficult disciplinary, and appeal hearings.
• Advising on the purchase of businesses holding a sponsor licence, and the required processes to notify UKVI and apply to transfer the sponsor licence.
• Supporting employers to successful apply for a sponsor licence with UKVI to enable them to sponsor skilled and senior or specialist workers
• Advising employers on the process to apply for defined and undefined certificates of sponsorship and related skilled worker visa applications.
• Advising employers in relation to failures in right to work compliance, including advising on remedial steps and reporting failures to UKVI.
• Advising global employers on the use of business visitor visas and requirements for advance electronic travel authorisation for employees visiting the UK from overseas.
• Supporting individuals with successful partner and dependent visa applications, including applications to join partners in the UK and to switch to a partner visa from within the UK
• Supporting individuals to apply for graduate visas
• Supporting individuals with British Citizenship applications, including applications from children.