Help/advice RE Settlement Agreement negotiations

[whattodo24]

After working full time for a company in London for the best part of 5 years, I was invited to a 'catch-up' meeting where I was then told that my contract was being terminated with immediate effect. They said something to the effect of me not having 'the skills [needed] to meet the demands of the role' and provided very wishy-washy examples to justify that sentiment (I have since asked for these specifics in writing, but have not yet received them). I told them that I didn't agree with the reasons given and asked there was any way of appealing the decision, but they said no. Apparently this has also happened to several other people, so the higher-ups must be restructuring or cutting costs for whatever reason; the company isn't making redundancies, so we were not going through any formal consultation process.

I'd only ever received positive performance reviews/ratings, and my work quality had never been called into question before. Consequently, I was not on any sort of formal performance/improvement plan - there was no way of knowing that this could be coming. I was totally blindsided and it's had a massive effect on my mental health, to be honest. It seems wholly unfair, and the company has seemingly disregarded their own company principles - which are published publicly - let alone the ACAS guidelines.

They proposed a settlement agreement of a 16 week tax-free lump sum, along with my notice period pay / any pro-rata holiday pay (as well as outplacement support etc.) They also said that they would pay £500 + VAT towards a solicitor, but that this was conditional on using their nominated independent solicitor contacts. I went elsewhere and the solicitor advised that the offer is more generous than what many employers put forward; they seem anxious that they could potentially jeopardise what's on the table by attempting to negotiate for anything more, and feel that the tribunal route would likely not be worth the stress/time/money (regardless of any potential success in claiming unfair dismissal).

However, I would ideally like the bonus I was due to receive to be included. I had no say in my contract coming to an end and no way of influencing that outcome, yet bonuses are due to be paid this week; it feels tactically callous. I feel that my (former) employer wants me to take ‘hush money’ without any wiggle room for compromise. The bonus scheme is discretionary and therefore I am aware that they're not legally obligated to pay it; it's just feels a little ironic given what they've disregarded.

Does anyone have advice on how best an employee can ask for a bonus to be included in a settlement agreement? (on a goodwill basis / by me emailing without prejudice to the employer)
It's the wording that I need help with.. I want to back myself while also giving a nod to my awareness of the legal iffiness of it all, but I don't want to seem like I'm threatening legal action or something to 'get my way'. I suppose I would just like a bit of grace and compassion; if they can compromise and honour awarding me my bonus then I'd feel a lot happier about signing the document and agreeing to its terms. Otherwise I'm conscious that it feels like I've been bull-dozed..

Thanks in advance for any help / words / advice anyone has on this matter.

[ULA]

Can I ask when would your bonus payment ordinarily be paid if you were not in settlement agreement discussions?

It could be that you leave this for the solicitor advising you on the settlement agreement to negotiate on your behalf. Alternatively you could email your employer on a without prejudice basis to ask for them to consider paying this to you as part of the settlement. This would potentially be more negotiable if your answer to my initial question is that is would be due during your notice period.