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Portrait ofCatriona Aldridge

Catriona Aldridge

Partner

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Saltire Court
20 Castle Terrace
Edinburgh
EH1 2EN
United Kingdom
Languages English, French

Catriona is a partner in our UK employment team. Described as “first class”, she provides employment law support on both contentious and non-contentious matters to UK-wide and international clients across a range of sectors, including construction, hotels & leisure, financial services and energy.  

Catriona works with employers to advise on all aspects of the employment lifecycle and is recognised for her ability to give clear, practical advice on both day-to-day (for example industrial relations, disciplinary and grievance issues, redundancy) and more niche employment law matters (for example positive action and clash of rights). She works closely with clients on all aspects of business change, including both UK and international restructures and regularly advises on TUPE. This breadth of experience means she is adept at advising clients of all sizes, from large multi-national clients to start-up clients through the CMS equIP programme. 

She is a versatile litigator, noted by the Legal 500 for her experience in representing clients at the employment tribunal. She has defended employment tribunal claims covering topics from discrimination (including disability, sex, religion & belief), whistleblowing and breach of contract and ranging from high value claims brought by senior individuals to union-backed mass claims for equal pay and holiday pay.

Catriona has a particular interest in the ESG agenda from a people perspective and speaks and writes regularly on topics such as diversity & inclusion. 

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"Catriona Aldridge is another key member of the team; she deals with both contentious and non-contentious work and frequently acts for hotel and leisure alongside food and drink sector clients."

Legal 500, 2022

"Rising star"

Legal 500, 2022

Relevant experience

  • Managing the account of a UK-wide financial planning, investment management and advisory company, co-ordinating the employment team which supports the client on all aspects of employment related work, including disciplinary, grievance, senior exits, restrictive covenants, SMCR and IR35. Catriona has also supported this client after a number of mergers with exercises involving harmonisation of terms and policies. 
  • Successfully defending an equal pay claim raised by three social care workers against a local authority, including carrying out the advocacy in a 18 day hearing, involving 11 witnesses and resulting in the Tribunal supporting the Council’s approach to job evaluation.
  • Providing a full employment law service to a key Scottish visitor attraction for close to 15 years, including advising on putting in place a furlough collective agreement, changing rota patterns and terms and conditions, complex disciplinary situations, capability processes and defending disability discrimination claims. Catriona also worked with this client to resolve a dispute with one of its unions which had been ongoing over several years.
  • Providing advice on changes to the off-payroll working rules to a number of construction industry clients, including a UK-wide infrastructure services company, a civil engineering company and in respect of a range of FM contractors.
  • Advising on the TUPE and other employment issues arising from the sale by a UK- wide asset manager of its life & pensions and wealth businesses.
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Education

  • 2005 – Diploma in Legal Practice, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh
  • 2004 – LL.B (Distinction), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh
  • 2002 – BA (Hons), History with French, University of Durham, Durham
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Feed

26/09/2024
Duty to prevent sexual harassment of workers: final guidance published
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published the final version of its updated technical guidance (the Final Guidance) to support employers in complying with the new duty to prevent sexual...
17/09/2024
All change? Tipping and predictable working
For many employers, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors, the Government has offered a welcome reprieve to the introduction of rights to predictable working patterns that were due to come...
23/08/2024
When does workplace banter amount to sexual harassment?
Understanding what amounts to workplace sexual harassment is crucial, and even more so once the new duty to prevent sexual harassment comes into force on 26 October this year.A recent employment tribunal...
08/08/2024
Disability inclusion: reasonable adjustments in practice
This is the second in our series on the duty to make reasonable adjustments, looking at supporting employees with disability as part of an “S” in ESG strategy. Part one covered the legal framework...
07/08/2024
Disability inclusion as an ESG issue
Support for disabled employees should be an integral part of the equity, diversity, and inclusion agenda of any organisation. Groups like The Valuable 500 are intensifying the focus on disability inclusion...
10/07/2024
New duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace: EHRC publishes...
On 9 July 2024, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published updated guidance on how employers should comply with the new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace...
10/07/2024
Disability
Just under a quarter of the working population are disabled, and protection against disability discrimination has been in place for almost 30 years, yet we still see disabled employees facing challenges at work and employers struggling to meet their legal obligations and employee expectations. We see first-hand the challenges that employers face with some requests for adjustments, where they want to do the right thing but there is a lack of understanding of what that is, or how far they are expected to go. Each case is unique which means it’s difficult to provide general guidance. While large employers will often have the resources to accommodate changes, sometimes it is their size and desire to be consistent with everyone which prevents them from having the flexibility to depart from their standard policy or process. “That’s not how it’s done” is still something we hear. On this disability hub page we share our insights on the legal issues with reasonable adjustments and what this looks like in practice. Getting this wrong is costly; disability discrimination claims had the highest average employment tribunal award in 2022/23. Training managers on the steps they need to take to implement reasonable adjustments is money well spent. Progressive employers should be considering a range of options to support their disabled staff and initiatives like workplace passports are helping to normalise the approach in the workplace.
14/05/2024
From redundancy to recovery: workplace mental health
During Mental Health Awareness Week, 13 – 19 May 2024, employers are encouraged to reflect on best practices for supporting their employees' mental health. This is particularly relevant for employers...
04/12/2023
Environmental whistleblowing
In­tro­duc­tion Cli­mate change poses risks to businesses, stakeholders and individuals alike. Many individuals are becoming increasingly concerned with the climate crisis and want to work, and do business...
04/10/2023
Climate change
Businesses across all sectors are making strategic and operational changes to become more environmentally sustainable; setting net zero targets, reconfiguring products and services, changing production processes and reviewing the carbon footprint of premises…the list goes on. As part of any green agenda it is vital that organisations thoroughly consider the impact of these changes on their people. The ideal is for the workforce to be aligned to the organisation’s approach to climate change and to understand to rationale for any associated changes in workplace policy or practice. However there can be cultural and contractual impacts, which in turn can affect loyalty and job satisfaction and ultimately result in grievances or claims. Clashing priorities will inevitably arise and it is key that employers turn their minds to how they will navigate these workforce challenges to ensure they succeed in their quest of achieving a greener future. 
18/09/2023
Climate activism and protected beliefs
Climate activism is not a new issue. But for some employers it is becoming a new workplace is­sue. Em­ploy­ers, like politicians, would prefer to bring people with them on their climate change journey...
21/07/2023
Changes to flexible working on the horizon after Employment Relations (Flexible...
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Bill was introduced to Parliament in June 2022 as a Private Member’s Bill and received government backing...