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- Home
- Professionals
- Helena Milner-Smith
Helena Milner-Smith helps companies navigate complex international HR-legal compliance issues.
Ms. Milner-Smith advises clients across a range of industries on all aspects of UK and international employment law, including the HR aspects of privacy compliance and human rights regulation.
Ms. Milner-Smith has particular expertise advising on the HR-legal aspects of multi-jurisdictional transactions. She also regularly assists clients seeking to protect their business and increase international compliance by designing and implementing global policies, employment contracts and restrictive covenants.
Ms. Milner-Smith has been recognised by Legal 500 UK for her “exceptional service” and “responsive and practical” advice.
In addition, Ms. Milner-Smith has gained valuable in-house experience while on secondment at three large multinational corporations - a pharmaceutical company, an oil company and a leading investment bank.
- Advising Microsoft Corporation on the global employment law aspects of its US$7bn acquisition of Nokia’s devices and services business and subsequent corporate integration, involving over 25,000 former Nokia employees across 60 countries.
- Providing international employment law advice to AstraZeneca in relation to its acquisition of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s interests in the companies’ global diabetes alliance across 40 jurisdictions.
- Advising a multinational retail client on the implementation of global employment contracts, policies and business code of conduct.
- Representing an international pharmaceutical company in defending several claims in the UK employment tribunal, including unfair dismissal and race discrimination.
- Advising an international media company on its restructure, including managing collective and individual redundancies.
Pro Bono
- Working with Kids In Need of Defense UK to provide children and young people with pro bono immigration and nationality legal advice and representation.
- Advising a global charity in relation to expatriate contracts and policies.
- Representing a global charity in defending allegations of unfair dismissal and whistleblowing.
- Nominated for the LawWorks Pro Bono Award for Best Contribution by an Individual in 2012 and 2010.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Employment Lawyers' Association
February 10, 2021, Inside Privacy
In this blog post, we look at a recent decision by the UK Court of Appeal and a separate prosecution brought by the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”; the UK data protection authority), which together serve as a cautionary tale for employees and prospective future employers of the risks of civil liability and criminal conviction for...… Continue Reading
February 10, 2021, Covington Alert
In this alert we look at a recent decision by the UK Court of Appeal and a separate prosecution brought by the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”; the UK data protection authority), which together serve as a cautionary tale for employees and prospective future employers of the risks of civil liability and criminal conviction for confidential information ...
December 1, 2020, Covington Alert
With a COVID-19 vaccine now on the horizon, employers are considering whether they can require employees to be immunized. Although mandating COVID-19 vaccination for employees will likely be permissible with some exceptions, employers will also need to grapple with a number of challenging issues, such as whether they should require the vaccination and what to do ...
November 30, 2020, Covington Alert
This International Employment Update summarises recent international employment law developments in the European Union, Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
November 2, 2020, Covington Alert
On Saturday 31 October, the UK Government announced a new national lockdown and confirmed the extension of the existing Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, more commonly referred to as the “furlough” scheme. In this alert, we set out what the UK Government has announced and what this means in terms of the support available to employers, including the status of the ...
October 5, 2020, Inside Privacy
On October 1, 2020, the Hamburg Data Protection Authority (“Hamburg DPA”) fined H&M, the Swedish clothing company, over €35 million for illegally surveilling employees at its service center in Nuremberg. This fine is the largest financial penalty issued by a German DPA to date for a violation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”),...… ...
September 29, 2020, Covington Alert
The UK Government has responded to growing pressure to support those who may be worst affected by the ending of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) on 31 October 2020. In this alert, we outline the rules of the new scheme and highlight key practical considerations for employers. Further Governmental guidance is expected soon. What Was Announced? On ...
Spring 2020, Covington Guide
As businesses across Europe prepare to reopen following the COVID-19 lockdown, Covington is providing practical resources and guidance on the broad array of issues companies face as employees return to the workplace, including employment, privacy, competition, policy, environmental and regulatory considerations at the EU level, with a focus on Germany and the ...
April 27, 2020, Covington Alert
Whether a company is an essential business or is expecting to reopen in the coming weeks, a number of challenges must be addressed in order to provide a safe environment in which employees can work, while at the same time mitigating risk and restoring operations. Generally speaking, employees can be required to come to the workplace, but this general rule must ...
March 27, 2020, Covington Alert
On Friday 20 March, the UK Government announced various support measures for UK businesses. One of these was the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the “Scheme”), which it is hoped will reduce the risk that UK employers promptly dismiss employees in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. Further guidance was published on 26 March, providing some much needed detail ...
March 19, 2020, Covington Alert
The speed and severity of the current crisis means UK employers face very difficult and pressing decisions. Some intermediate steps can be taken to preserve workforces for a period and avoid immediate redundancies. Some form of individual or even collective consultation with employees or their representatives may be necessary. This can be used ...
March 8, 2018, Covington Alert
Corporate Human Rights Benchmark Ltd (CHRB) has published its 2018 research methodology and is currently encouraging relevant companies to disclose information relevant to this year’s research and ranking exercise.
February 1, 2018, Covington Alert
This International Employment Update summarises recent international employment law developments in China, India, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
December 8, 2017, Covington Alert
Last week, the United Nations hosted the sixth annual Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva. The three-day event provided attendees with informative panels and important updates on the state of the field. Lawyers from Covington’s business and human rights initiative were in attendance and suggest five important takeaways for business.
Pro bono: Never enough
November 20, 2017, The Law Society Gazette
Helena Milner-Smith and Morag Peberdy participated in a roundtable hosted by The Law Society Gazette to discuss the importance of pro bono work. According to Milner-Smith, clients previously receiving poor paid-for advice is a major problem in immigration cases. Commenting on a briefing she received before working on her first immigration case, Milner-Smith ...
All Change: Top Five Global Mobility Hot Topics
September 27, 2017, Employment Webinar Series
September 5, 2017, Bloomberg
Helena Milner-Smith is quoted in a Bloomberg article regarding the European Court of Human Rights ruling on employee privacy in a case brought by Bogdan Mihai Barbulescu. According to Milner-Smith, the ruling should remind employers not to "go beyond what is necessary for a legitimate purpose." She adds, "However, the Grand Chamber’s ruling will have very little ...
September 5, 2017, The Law Society Gazette
Helena Milner-Smith is quoted by The Law Society Gazette in an article regarding the European Court of Human Rights ruling on employee privacy in a case brought by Bogdan Mihai Barbulescu. According to Milner-Smith, "The decision serves as a reminder for employers who monitor workplace communications to ensure their monitoring practices do not go beyond what is ...
EU Court Reverses Ruling On Employee Chat Surveillance
September 5, 2017, Law360
Helena Milner-Smith is quoted in a Law360 article regarding the European Court of Human Rights ruling on employee privacy in a case brought by Bogdan Mihai Barbulescu. "The decision serves as a reminder for employers who monitor workplace communications to ensure their monitoring practices do not go beyond what is necessary for a legitimate purpose, that ...
September 2017, Covington Alert
On March 5, 2017, the Belgian parliament enacted the Flexible and Workable Work Law, which seeks to increase flexibility for both employers and employees.
August 3, 2017, Global Policy Watch
We recently reported on the global trend towards improved business “non-financial reporting” of human rights and environmental practices. The latest U.K. developments in this area are the Modern Slavery (Transparency in Supply Chains) Bill 2017 (the “Bill“) and a report on labour market enforcement strategy published by David Metcalf, the U.K. Labour Market ...
May 24, 2017, Covington Alert
On May 25, 2018, employers located or with staff in the European Union (“EU”) will have to comply with a new data protection law—Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data—commonly referred to as the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). This will ...
December 12, 2016, Covington Alert
On 6 December 2016, the UK Government published the revised draft Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 (the “Regulations”), which, subject to prior parliamentary approval, are expected to come into force on 6 April 2017. The new law will require private employers in the UK to collect and publish information showing differences in pay ...
Covington Announces New Counsel
April 1, 2016
WASHINGTON, DC — Covington has promoted eight lawyers to of counsel and eight to special counsel, effective April 1, 2016. The new of counsel are as follows: Stefanie Doebler (Washington) focuses her practice on health care compliance matters for pharmaceutical and medical device clients. She provides advice related to advertising and promotion, fraud and abuse, ...
December 8, 2015
NEW YORK, December 8, 2015 - Covington represented Ascension, the nation’s leading Catholic and non-profit health system, in a $200 million investment transaction with TowerBrook Capital Partners in Accretive Health, a leading provider of revenue cycle management services to healthcare providers. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of ...
August 20, 2015, Inside Compensation
As people head off on their summer breaks, regulators in Europe, particularly Germany, are increasingly focused on the breakdown of the division between home and work life and how this division is changing as mobile devices become used for work-related emails. Regulators are considering new rules that would limit an employer’s ability to require employees...… ...
April 20, 2015, Inside Compensation
By Helena Milner-Smith, Kamakshi Venkataramanan and Jenna Wallace Vodafone announced recently a new progressive and generous mandatory minimum global maternity policy. According to the company, under the new policy, to be in effect by the end of this year, female employees of Vodafone in 30 countries will be offered two maternity benefits: (1) at least 16...… ...
December 9, 2014, Inside Compensation
We are writing with another update on French labor law that could impact international corporate transactions. French President Francois Hollande has proposed a change to French legislation that could remove the threat of imprisonment for directors and senior employees who are found to have breached obligations to consult with works councils and other employee ...
October 10, 2013, Inside EU Life Sciences
Hannah Edmonds, a trainee associate in Covington’s London office, contributed to this post. Currently, legal regimes governing protection of trade secrets and confidential information across the EU are fairly disparate. A study published by the European Commission in July (http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/iprenforcement/docs/20130711/final-study_en.pdf) has ...
Safer “Bring Your Own Device” Policies: New Guidance from the UK Information Commission’s Office
March 14, 2013, Inside Compensation
On 7 March 2013, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued new guidance for employers on the use of personal devices for business purposes. The guidance is largely informed by a survey commissioned by the ICO and carried out by the market research firm YouGov. According to the survey, 47 percent of adults in the UK...… Continue Reading
March 13, 2013, Inside Privacy
On 7 March 2013, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued new guidance on the use of personal devices for business purposes. The guidance is largely informed by a survey commissioned by the ICO and carried out by the market research firm YouGov. According to the survey, 47% of adults in the UK use personal...… Continue Reading
Navigating Global Redundancy Exercises: Five Key Principles for Implementing Cross-border Restructurings
March 7, 2013, Webinar
November 21, 2012, Covington E-Alert
Global Employee Contracts and Policies
September 27, 2012, Covington webinar
February 15, 2012, Practical International Corporate Finance Strategies
July 5, 2011, Covington E-Alert
October 6, 2010
LONDON, 6 October, 2010 — Covington & Burling LLP is pleased to announce the appointment of Christopher Walter as a partner in the European employment practice. He will be joined by special counsel Chris Bracebridge and associate Helena Laughrin. They will significantly enhance Covington's capabilities to meet the needs of the firm's growing European corporate ...
- The Lawyer Awards, shortlisted in the Employment Team of the Year category (2015)
- IFLR European Awards, shortlisted in Deals of the Year: M&A (2015)
- Legal 500 UK, Employment (2014-2015)
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