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Alison Woods

Partner
Co-Head of Employment

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
6 Queens Road
Aberdeen
AB15 4ZT
United Kingdom
Languages English

Alison is co-head of the CMS UK employment team, and has a practice that extends across the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment law.  

Alison has a particular interest in assisting clients through business change, which sees her advising on the employment aspects of business purchases/transfers and restructures.  She is frequently called on to support sensitive issues at boardroom level, and supports clients in management reorganisations and employee/industrial relations projects, from strategic input through to implementation.  On a day-to-day basis Alison advises clients on their full range of employment needs, from sensitive investigations, to defending tribunal claims, and data privacy compliance.  Alison takes an interest in issues of inclusion and the workplace, which has seen her speaking and writing on multiple aspect of this; including gender pay, mental health at work, and the opportunities for diversity in a post-pandemic landscape.   

Alison is a board member of the CMS international employment practice and has a wide variety of experience working on and project-managing international instructions, and advising on cross-border issues.

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"Alison is fantastic. She provides practical, straightforward advice and is accessible and responsive."

Chambers 2022

“always ready to assist, and challenge where appropriate”.

Legal 500

"She has an ability to wade through complex issues and explain the best solutions quickly in layperson's terms."

Chambers 2018

Relevant experience

  • A global media organisation on its global transformation and restructure, advising on all UK issues and project managing employment legal across all international markets.  
  • A global consumer products company on its UK and international employment law needs across multiple markets on an ongoing basis.  
  • A variety of clients on HR data privacy compliance in response to the GDPR, and ongoing DSAR support. 
  • A listed company in its defence of £5 million whistleblowing claim, and separately on claims of sex discrimination and harassment. 
  • Numerous energy companies on restructure and collective redundancies.
  • A unionised business on industrial relations issues and related negotiations.
  • An oil major on various transactions in its disposal of offshore assets.
  • An international employer on the variation of contractual bonus arrangements.
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Education

  • 2006 – admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales
  • 2001 – Admitted as a solicitor in Scotland, and Notary Public
  • 2000 - Diploma in Legal Practice, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen
  • 1999 - LLB (Hons), University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen
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Feed

31/01/2024
On your radar | Issue 23
Key employment law developments and expected trends for 2024
06/09/2023
On your radar | Issue 22
Key employment issues to be aware of internationally
15/05/2023
On your radar | Issue 21
Key employment issues to be aware of internationally
05/04/2023
Striking Times: the shifting sands of industrial relations
Over the last twelve months we’ve seen unprecedented strike action in what has been dubbed the UK’s second ‘winter of discontent’. The landscape of industrial relations in the UK is changing prompted...
30/03/2023
Striking Times: the shifting sands of industrial relations in the UK
So far, 2023 has seen a continuation of last year’s widespread strike action in what has been dubbed the UK’s second winter of discontent. The disruptive effect of widespread and coordinated strike...
27/03/2023
Employment rates and limits - Changes for April 2023
April 2023 will see changes to employment rates and limits which are adjusted annually in line with the retail prices index. The RPI has risen significantly over the last year and statutory redundancy...
03/02/2023
On your radar | Issue 20 | Key employment issues to be aware of internationally
Welcome to the first edition of On your radar for 2023, which highlights expected employment law developments over the year ahead.Changes range from big picture concepts around future ways of working...
30/01/2023
On your radar | Issue 20
Key employment issues to be aware of internationally
03/01/2023
The people agenda 2023
2022 was another turbulent year in which the climate, strike action and cost of living crisis (rather than Covid-19) dominated the people agenda. Many people-related changes are afoot which include enhanced...
26/09/2022
On your radar | Issue 19
Key employment issues to be aware of internationally The new EU Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions is mentioned frequently in this edition of On your radar. Belgium, Germany...
22/09/2022
On your radar | Issue 19
Key employment issues to be aware of internationally
08/07/2022
The Government’s new direction for GDPR: what it means for workforce data
On 23 June 2022, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its response to its consultation (which closed in November 2021) regarding proposals to reform the UK’s data protection laws. The...