Settlement Agreement Solicitors

If you have been offered a settlement agreement, your employer must make sure you receive independent legal advice before signing, otherwise the agreement will not be enforceable. The reason behind this is to ensure you fully understand the implications of entering into this agreement.

By signing the settlement agreement, you will not be able to bring a claim in the employment tribunal or courts, therefore it is really important that you get advice so you know what claims you will be waiving and how valuable they are.  This advice will enable you to make an informed decision about whether to accept the settlement agreement offer.

Our settlement agreement solicitors can provide this advice face to face or over the telephone at your convenience. Please contact us to arrange an appointment if you have been offered a settlement agreement.

For the settlement agreement to be legally binding the following conditions must be met:

The agreement must be in writing

• The agreement must relate to a particular complaint or proceedings
• The employee must have received advice from a relevant independent adviser, such as a lawyer or a certified and authorised member of a trade union
• The independent adviser must have a current contract of insurance or professional indemnity covering the risk of a claim by the employee in respect of loss arising from the advice
• The agreement must identify the adviser
• The agreement must state that the applicable statutory conditions regulating the settlement agreement have been met

If you are offered a settlement agreement your employer should provide you with a reasonable amount of time to consider the proposal and the terms.  The ACAS Code of Practice on settlement agreements specifies a minimum of 10 calendar days unless the parties agree otherwise.

If your employer proposes to end your employment, either because of redundancy or an ongoing workplace dispute, a settlement agreement is used to agree the terms under which you as the employee will leave your job.  

An employer will normally use a settlement agreement so both parties can part ways on amicable terms rather than putting you through a lengthy process, such as redundancy, performance/absence management or disciplinary.

Another common reason for a settlement agreement is when the employment relationship breaks down, and both parties wish to part ways amicably. This could occur either with your employer or your colleagues.

Yes.  You do not need to wait to be offered a settlement agreement from your employer and can request one at any point.  We would recommend seeking expert legal advice before making such a request so that you are aware how to do it and how much to ask for given the strength of your claims.

If your employer refuses your request for a settlement agreement and providing you have followed the correct process your employer cannot refer to this confidential conversation in an employment tribunal.

We often assist employees with their grievances/concerns and take the first step to request a settlement on their behalf.

• It allows for a clean break in your employment relationship
• It can be a quick and efficient way of receiving an enhanced settlement payment
• There will not be a requirement to become involved in formal procedures such as a capability, disciplinary or redundancy process which are time consuming, upsetting and could eventually result in your dismissal.
• You will avoid the expense and uncertainty of issuing Employment Tribunal proceedings
• You will have the opportunity to negotiate a suitable reference which will assist you in obtaining future employment.
• An expert solicitor will check that the sum of money you are receiving is fair compensation and, if not, you will be provided with assistance to negotiate a higher sum
• An expert solicitor will be able to advise of the risks in signing or not signing the settlement agreement.

That depends on the offer, the strength of any claims you may have, how long you have been employed and other factors which are personal to you. Our employment law experts can provide you with settlement agreement advice on whether the offer is fair given your circumstances.

Normally your employer will agree to pay a fixed contribution towards the cost of you obtaining independent legal advice on the terms and effect of the settlement agreement.

In straightforward cases, this contribution should be sufficient to cover all of your legal costs.  We will always try and ensure that we keep our costs within this contribution. 

However, if this is not possible because amendments need to be made to the settlement agreement or because you want us to negotiate a higher amount of compensation on your behalf, you will be required to contribute towards your legal fees.  We will always endeavour to keep costs to a minimum.