Profits before People. - Fraud Paralegal CEL Solicitors Employee Review

When I first started at CEL, I thoroughly enjoyed the position. The financial remuneration was good, the team spirit was akin to an extended family, the workload was manageable, we finished every Friday at 15:30 and we would have various fun events that made the company a joy to work for. What on earth could go wrong? The change in management. After Christmas, the company was never the same. All of a sudden, the targets were dramatically increased, the bonus changed, over 12 members of staff were sacked in one day, people constantly handed in their notices with no job to go to, the employment of external managers (who for the majority, did not have a clue) and this led to an immediate drop in staff morale. We were also no longer permitted to have rubbish bins at our desk due to the firm's financial issues. Overtime would be offered one month, then taken away in the next. Hardly the actions of a successful, thriving firm. But it's okay, as one of the CEO's famously said "no one has died!" One staff member was told after a week they did not have a job for her anymore due to cutbacks, albeit fast forward 3 months they are hiring again. The legal assistants were all let go at once due to a 'change in structure.' This meant that even though you were hired as a paralegal, you were also expected to take 13 calls a day for other file handlers whilst managing a caseload of over 200 clients. As a previous review has stated, the role here is parallel to working in a call centre at times. Instead of taking the time to concentrate on client care and progress their files, the firm would rather you juggle answering the phone instead of hiring more support staff. My advice to any Law graduate would be to go to a firm where you will actually practice litigation instead of using AI to type out a Letter of Complaint to the banks and then draft a form to the Financial Ombudsman. Whilst the pink office may look fancy and you will be promised a training contract, you will more than likely be shunned from other law firms due to a lack of experience litigating. The social environment is analogous to a school playground, where management will go out of their way to ensure you are bullied out of the workplace if they do not have the grounds to sack you. Over 60 people had left the company (some voluntarily) in the space of a year. That fact alone is a testament to how the company is failing. As previously mentioned, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the best colleagues I have ever worked with but they realised their worth a lot sooner than what I did and have all gone onto bigger and better opportunities. Their slogan is People Before Profits, yet the directors go to San Carlo on boozy lunches, they have scrapped the bonus which made the job a living wage and they now overcharge client's on the new CFA. The starting salary was £21,000 but they complained about the bonus driving poor habits. If you paid your staff fairly to begin with, perhaps said poor habits would have not derived in the first place? There are many positive reviews on this Glassdoor. I think it is important to highlight that these appraisals were paid for by a hefty sum of £100. My advice would be for anyone applying for a position at CEL, give more leverage to the authentic reviews which have been classed as 'helpful'.