Melanie Pimenta

With several years’ experience practising employment law, Melanie works closely with employers across a broad range of sectors, as well as senior executives and individuals. She supports organisations of all sizes, from SMEs to large, complex businesses, providing practical, commercially focused advice on day‑to‑day workplace issues and strategic projects. Her experience acting in‑house earlier in her career gives her a strong understanding of commercial pressures and the realities clients face when managing people and risk.

Melanie’s core specialisms include employment disputes and Employment Tribunal advocacy, unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing and restrictive covenants. She has extensive experience advising on non‑contentious employment matters, including grievances, disciplinary processes, redundancies, flexible working and family leave rights. Melanie also advises on corporate support matters and regularly drafts employment contracts, policies and settlement agreements, negotiating the resolution of complex and sensitive disputes.

In addition to her employment law practice, Melanie has several years’ experience advising businesses and individuals on privacy and data protection law issues. Her work includes data protection audits, compliance programmes, DSARs, data breach management and the drafting of policies and procedures. She has advised on international data transfers, transfer risk assessments and the implementation of biometric policies within global organisations, delivering clear, pragmatic guidance on UK data protection requirements.

Melanie is an experienced advocate, having undertaken over 140 Employment Tribunal hearings, including numerous final hearings. She has a particular interest in discrimination and parental leave rights and has contributed to the Employment Lawyers’ Association Working Party on parental leave, as well as advising and training clients on the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act.