Settlement agreement

[Coley125]

I have been offered voluntary redundancy from my public sector employer and they have said that it is under the provisio of a settlement agreement. They have advised 2 companies that they work with quite closely to get independent financial advice from however this unsettles me as if they are independent why have they already been put in place by the organisation. What does anybody else think?. They have also offered £350 towards people getting their own independent financial advice. Is this the going rate and does anybody have any suggestions?

[Coley125]

Independent legal advice I mean on the settlement agreement.

[atticus]

Can you not contact another solicitor of your choosing?

[ULA]

You can choose who you want to be your independent employment law adviser for signing the adviser's certificate. The going rate is around £350 to £500 depending how how much toing and froing there is between your adviser and your employer or their representative. If the the £350 does not cover your adviser they would normally try to get the contribution from your employer increased but if they do not agree to this they you would be liable for the difference.

[Coley125]

Yes they have stated you can get your own but they have said they will only pay the £350 and I need to make adviser aware. They have also not provided a figure yet just a calculator based on years of service and salary. They have also said as it is voluntary you will have to pay your salary sacrifice lease car termination fee which is excessive. They have also put a clawback of payment if you return to another public sector organisation within 6 months but haven't stated what this figure would be but just quoted a sliding scale with no calculation. Personally feel this is a bit harsh given that for the whole of my working career 20 years plus has been public sector and this is where my skill set lies. Any suggestions on good advisors would be great thanks

[Coley125]

Just to add I had left my prev organisation of 10 years because after five acquisitions of organisations I was burnt out and needed a fresh start I wasn't told at interview that the new organisation was about to be merged with another organisation so I signed up to a 3 year salary sacrifice car as I had no vehicle only later to find out they want to reduce the organisation by 40% I couldn't face another reorg so I have applied for the vr as compulsory will follow

[ULA]

The process would be that a draft Settlement Agreement (SA) would have to be drawn up and provided to you as without that and a copy of your contract of employment any good employment law adviser should not take on your work until they are available, they need that as a starting point. In terms of an employment law adviser if you want to go with one not recommended by your employer then as the forum we do not provide recommendations, however you can go to our sister sister JustBeagle - Welcome which details law firms in England and Wales which you can search on by legal area.

Part of the job of the adviser 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 the terms on your behalf with your employer.

Given your employer, I would suspect that they have negotiated good terms with a law firm to provider advice to employees on an SA. That said you would be their client not the employer so they have a duty to act in your best interests.