Sian Baker

Sian Baker is a senior associate in the Employment & Benefits practice of the London office. Sian worked at Mayer Brown earlier in her career and re-joined the firm in 2023. Sian advises on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious matters and, as a member of our international Employment & Benefits group, she works regularly on projects covering multiple countries.

Her advisory experience includes support on a broad range of corporate transactions, including the acquisition of a large cinema chain involving over 2,500 employees involving TUPE consultations; the sale of subsidiaries of a multinational pharmaceutical company and subsequent purchases; acquisition of an airport baggage handling company at Heathrow; and the sale of a multinational corporation involving the project management of employment lawyers in France, Italy and Chile. Sian has also advised on the restructuring of companies and groups, including recently the UK division of an international cosmetics company, and the TUPE information and consultation procedures involved. In addition, she has advised on consultations relating to the termination of final salary pension schemes. Sian has also advised on collective redundancies for a broad range of clients in different sectors, and as part of cross-border restructurings.

She has advised clients with UK subsidiaries or looking to establish UK subsidiaries, including the drafting of “beginners guides” to UK Employment law. She has also negotiated and drafted directors service agreements, including restrictive covenants, and drafted standard contracts of employment and employee handbooks, as well as advising on the implementation of new contracts of employment and employee policies.

Sian's contentious experience includes advising on Employment Tribunal and High Court cases, primarily on behalf of respondents, including a claim from the exiting chairman of a large media company, a complicated sex and disability discrimination claim involving the removal of contractual sick pay, and successfully defending a sex and race discrimination claim at the EAT. She also defended a subsidiary company of a client for a Health and Safety prosecution. Sian's High Court experience also extends to claims involving share option schemes and restrictive covenants. She has also advised respondents on other matters including the withdrawal of an offer of employment and the right of a trade union official to paid time off for the purposes of undertaking trade union activities.

Sian has authored many thought leadership pieces and publications on topics of employment law, and undertakes client training on a range of topics.