Help - Settlement Agreement Received!!

[dantheman1982]

Hi all....

I'm looking for a bit of advice if anyone can help, I’ll try and keep it brief. I work for an engineering company, I’ve been with them nearly six years and barring the events of the last couple of months, my employment has been a happy one with successful appraisals each year.

In March this year I was forced to raise a grievance regarding the treatment I had received in relation to a complaint that had been made against me, in the end I was told the complaint was unfounded but action was still taken against me.

The grievance was not dealt with correctly and the company continually failed to follow it’s own guide lines, and ACAS's code of conduct.. When I raised my concerns about the grievance not being addressed I was first ignored, then told it was probably best if we parted company and they suggested a settlement agreement.

I’ve done some calculations, and I have a solicitor ready to act once my company present their draft settlement agreement.

To be perfectly honest this is all a bit new to me, what should I be expecting? My notice period is one calendar month, I have been with the company just short of six years, this settlement agreement has come around due to them failing to deal with a grievance that sights bullying and unfair treatment, there is also a confidentiality issue in that I am aware that my company has failed to follow legal regulations and when i reported this to a manager I was moved from my role.

Any advise would be welcomed

[ULA]

It is not an exact science but, since you are waiving your right to bring any claims, the amount offered should reflect the value of the claims you are giving up.

So, the questions that you may need to discuss with your solicitor include:

Is there any potential claim you could bring against your employer?

If so, how likely is it that the claim would succeed at a tribunal?

If you did succeed, how much would you be likely to recover?

If you have a strong claim against your employer, they are more likely to give you a higher termination payment.

In addition, you should get a sum equivalent to any accrued but untaken holiday pay and notice period since it is unusual to expect someone to work their notice if they are leaving under the terms of a Settlement Agreement.

Just another couple of points:

Reference

There is no legal obligation on an employer to provide a reference for an employee or ex-employee. Employers can refuse to provide a reference if they want to.

However, it is common to include a clause stating that the employer will provide a reference in an agreed form. The reference is usually annexed to the agreement.

Often this reference is very basic and provides minimal information such as start date, finish date and job title. Most employers these days are not surprised to receive such a simple reference.

Legal Advice

Most settlement agreements include a certificate for your adviser to sign. This is to confirm that you have received the necessary advice and that your adviser is suitably qualified and insured.

Usually, employers include a clause agreeing to pay a contribution towards your legal costs. Depending on how much your solicitor charges for advice, this should be enough to cover your costs in full.

Hope that provides some guidance but if you have any other questions then just come back and ask.

[dantheman1982]

Hi, thanks for the advice, it’s extremely helpful

An offer has been made, standard reference, secrecy clause ect. Monetary wise it’s my notice period paid in lieu, then a compensatory settlement amount, in total it amounts to about 5 months’ salary. Alternatively I can refuse the settlement and return to work, I have now joined my works union (should have joined before, lesson learned) and they are ready to get involved in the unresolved grievance that led to this. Plus there is the secrecy / whistle blower issue, without going into too much detail we make mechanical / service items for several well known petroleum companies that are used on oil rigs. When I reported a compliance issue to my line manager I was moved to a different job rather than the compliance issue being addressed.

I have appointed a solicitor to look over the settlement agreement and have put my points to him, without drawing the matter out and incurring increased costs he is going to make a quick call to my employer and see if they will increase the settlement amount and agree to put together a better standard reference. They asked me last week not to attend work and to say at home whilst the negotiations were taking place, they have now put last week’s date as my leaving date in the agreement, meaning one of my weeks notice has been used waiting for them to complete their offer?!?! I have asked the solicitor to ask them to have the notice period start on the day the agreement is signed.

Any thoughts?

[ULA]

Firstly just another couple of points I have picked up on re-reading your posts sorry I missed them:

1. On notice period, since you are just short of six years you will be entitled to 5 weeks pay in lieu of notice (1 week for each completed year of service) since statutory overrides your contract if this is the greater.
2. Do you get any benefits? If so and if you being paid in lieu of notice, then you need to be compensated for not getting them during your notice period.

My view is that you are still an employee of the company until the settlement agreement has been agreed. It was their decision to ask you not to attend work, I presume you were ok to carry on working whilst this was being agreed. My view is that you should continue to be paid and the settlement agreement should actually state your leaving date.

[dantheman1982]

They offered the full 5 weeks straight away, benefits wise there’s not really anything I’m missing out on bar pension contributions which I’m assuming they pay for the notice period.

I’m waiting on the solicitor coming back to me about the exact finish date, I’m in agreement with you in that I am still employed as nothing has been signed or accepted, the only reason I am off is that I was told not to go in, confirmed in email by a company director.

I was supposed to have had feedback by 10am this morning but the solicitor said they’ve not got back to him yet. Whilst I’m ready to leave, no one wants to stay with a company that does not value them, I’ve got an overwhelming temptation to contact work direct and ask them to severely increase their offer or I’ll simply return to work and let the union deal with the complaint.

[ULA]

I would always caution doing anything in haste and although it is hard wait and see what if anything happens in regard to getting the feedback. I am sure that as the deadline has passed your solicitor has probably chased them.

[dantheman1982]

Bit of an update, they agreed to change the notice start date to this coming Monday so I get the full 5 weeks notice without interruption. There's been a few arguments about how many holidays I've taken but I've emailed my employer with proof all the dates and added a calculation showing how many days they will owe me by the end of my notice period, hopefully they'll concur with these figures and it'll be an easy transition.

I'll keep the thread updated, again many thanks for your help

[ULA]

Glad things seem to be on track and hope everything gets finalised.

Yes please do pop back and keep us updated.

[dantheman1982]

Well we signed the agreement, the only final obstacle left was to check when the payment arrived that they'd calculated my outstanding holiday pay correctly.

Roll on 10 days (the time listed in the agreement that the monies should be paid within) and I've heard nothing from my employer, no money no P45 no wage slip....

[ULA]

I would suggest that in the first instance you write to your employer and say that in accordance with the agreement the payment should have been made by/on xxx and that you have not received this and request for immediate payment and confirmation that this will be actioned.