Sam Rayner

Sam advises international organisations on the full suite of global employment and HR data protection issues, with a particular focus on the technology, aviation, media, entertainment and sports industry sectors.

His extensive in-house experience, having recently undertaken secondments to a major sporting governing body and leading international bank, enables him to provide concise, commercially-focused advice on complex, cross-jurisdictional matters.

Sam's recent experience includes:

• Advising on strategy, process and implementation of a large restructuring project for an international airline in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, working in close contact with multiple business areas to facilitate one of the largest collective redundancy exercises in UK legal history.
• Working across a wide variety of HR issues under an international retainer arrangement with a global technology company, ranging from sensitive disciplinary procedures to subject access requests and strategic initiatives in response to Covid-19 pressures.
• Managing cross-border collective issues and industrial relations involving works councils, trade unions and other representative bodies, including applications for trade union recognition and collective bargaining dispute resolution on behalf of a UK-headquartered airline and a commercial transportation company.
• Providing comprehensive TUPE/ARD advice to an international media company relating to its outsourcing of the planning, construction and ongoing operation of public theme and experience parks.
• Undertaking workforce employment status reviews for multiple sports organisations and governing bodies.
• Coordinating actual and prospective employee litigation (before employment tribunals and the civil courts), including: (i) the defence of high-value whistleblowing claims against a hedge-fund and its managers; and (ii) injunction applications made on behalf of a tech start-up seeking to prevent competitive activity by former employees.
• Supporting a global technology company on its international acquisition of a complementary business throughout the transaction cycle, from initial due diligence through, to employment input on acquisition documentation and the implementation of post-completion deliverables.
• Planning, implementing and reviewing large HR data compliance projects and providing strategic advice on ad-hoc privacy initiatives, including: (i) coordinating a broad GDPR compliance programme for a leading global software company; and (ii) assisting with the implementation of bespoke employee monitoring practices for a APAC-based airline.