SA being offered to reduce large cost to company

[inver28]

Company is issuing redundancy notice (a colleague replacing me) after agreeing to their terms following a disciplinary hearing where a 1st and final warning was issued. I have both a UK and local (foreign) contract. Company asked me to reduce my contract term from 2 yrs to 1 yr and sign a waiver to my local employment contract as this meant a large payout ( which would be 1 x year salary+) . Company has since been informed it is illegal to make this change in country of work and now has offered an SA, including a 'bonus' which is approx 10% of what the local contract payout would be. Company knows my entitlement , however I don't want a long battle but find the offer unreasonable but don't believe company will negotiate. . If I do take legal action in local country,and win costs of the year's salary, can Company take proceedings to claim back in UK? What is reasonable time to be given to take legal advice and to sign the SA?

[ULA]

Given that this is a situation where a settlement agreement (SA) is being offered you will be able to take advantage of independent legal advice.
A Settlement Agreement (SA) is a document which sets out the terms of what the company is going to pay you as “compensation” for you giving up any rights you have to make a subsequent claim against your employer. Part of the process of signing a SA is that you will be required to take independent legal advice from an employment law specialist. Part of their job is to ensure that the "compensation" being offered is at the correct level given the circumstances and the rights that you are giving up to bring any further claims. If they do not feel you are being offered enough "compensation" then they would have to negotiate on your behalf with your employer to increase the sum being offered.

Most employment advisers have a standard payment for providing this advice which is between £350 and £500 which is generally within the range that an employer offers to pay. This is usually enough to cover the costs if the SA is straight forward and there is not much back and forth negotiating terms on your behalf. However, for more complex matter which this may fall into the adviser may need to negotiate a higher rate with your employer.

You may need to ensure that your employment law adviser has experience in dealing with multi-country contracts. Please make sure that not only do you provide them with the SA but you will need copies of both your contracts.

As an admin point if this relates to your previous thread it would have been useful to have just posted on that thread otherwise those of us advising need to jump between threads to ensure consistency in advising on the same issue.

[inver28]

thanks for your response. Apologies about the separate thread, thought it was a different subject so should separate.
Company agreed that the amount was incorrect and should have been amended to same figure I submitted. However, Company stated process followed breached internal code of conduct.
Company gave an ultimatum in the discipliary hearing outcome letter - accept a 1st and final warning and adjust (shorten) contract term (cannot do according to Ministry of Labour in country) or if not in agreement, be issued with a dismissal . I accepted and signed the warning, in good faith, and agreed to amend the contract duration.
Was offering such an ultimatum legal?
If contract cannot be changed through no fault of my own, does this void the agreement I and Company signed?
Can the SA be withdrawn if I start to negotiate? or do I have a right to do so?
For ex gratia payment, what is reasonable to consider - 2,3, 4 mths salary as a start point? As Company is offering an EG payment, can I assume Company feels exposed to additional payout risk (for local contract) and wants to minimise?

[ULA]

As I have stated an SA is covered by advice from an employment law adviser who is ideally placed to do the negoitiation on your behalf and could also have a view as to the ex-gratia amount that would be reasonable given the circumstances and the employment rights you are giving up.

If a company is looking to agree an employee exit by way of an SA then this is generally because they do not want to expose themselves to a potential tribunal claim. However there will be a balance for them in terms of what the upper limit tis that they are prepared to pay to get such a deal done.