This is a fairly common question. Basically a compromise agreement (aka termination or settlement agreement) is a legally binding contract between employer and employee whereby the employee accepts a financial package (usual elements include: compensation for loss of employment, notice monies, outplacement services provision, release of stock etc) in return for agreeing not to sue the employer for breach of contract, or unfair dismissal or for any discrimination related reason. The employee will also commonly agree to keep the agreement itself confidential and to say nothing about the employer’s trade secrets and affairs, amongst other requirements. In order to be legally binding the employee needs to take independent legal advice on the terms of the agreement from a qualified legal adviser – usually a solicitor. The employer will usually pay a contribution towards the cost of that advice to encourage the employee to get the advice.
In my day job I am a Partner in the above firm. We have recently relaunched our website and have started a Dale Langley blog. Initial comments have been favourable. I have just posted an article on a case concerning compromise agreements and why you should not delay in negotiating the terms or signing off. Please click here to go to the article.
I have also written on compromise agreements and what they are before – click here to read more.
As ever, if you would like me to help please contact me at michaelscutt@dalelangley.co.uk
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Personnel Today, a very useful website for HR and employment law matters has published an article on what steps employers can take – click here to visit it.
There are also RSS feeds so you should have no reaosn not to be fully up-to-date!
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Well, since I jumped on the Swine Flu bandwagon with my post last week, I thought I better stay there for a bit longer.
In that post I wondered just what precautions an employer could be expected to take to avoid the risk of being found liable to an employee for contracting swine flu at work (always assuming that it could be proven that the infection was picked up in the workplace). My view then (and now) is not much, beyond promoting good hygiene and not insisting on ill employees coming into the office to spread their germs. Business Link, the organisation for employers, has provided guidance on their website - click here to go to the site.
This post isn’t about Freddie Flintoff bowling 5-92 to defeat the Aussies at Lords (a very constructive dismissal in my view) but, sadly, is about some recent cases on the law relating to constructive dismissal. The recent case of Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation v Buckland [2009] EAT whilst not being as newsworthy as this week’s actions at Lords is, nevertheless, important stuff on the difficult topic of constructive dismissal. In my experience few topics cause as much confusion or are as overused as constructive dismissal. Every second client thinks they have or are about to suffer it.
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Constructive Dismissal – recent developments
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Thanks to Annabel Kaye of Irenicon (@AnnabelKaye) for bringing the article in MailOnline to my attention, via Twitter. The full article can be found at www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articles-1201371/Bosses-risk-lawsuits-staff-swine-flu . Apparently, according to the Mail, employers need to be getting worried about the risk of being sued by employees who catch swine flu from doing their jobs . The article quotes lawyers and other commentators who point out the risk of increased litigation.
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Swine Flu – should employers worry about being sued?
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Continuing in the same vein as my last post, here is an article that caught my eye in Telegraph Online today – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5718984/Staff-strip-naked-to-improve-morale.html
How on earth stripping off in front of one’s colleagues can improve morale I don’t know, but then I suppose I’m not a “business psychologist”.
Perhaps the prospect of bearing all for the 5 1/2 people watching Virgin Channel 1 helped them to shed their garments?
Moustaches, nudity, what next? England have got Australia at 29-2 at lunch on the second day after being bowled out for 425. Yep, the world has gone mad.
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The silly season is well and truly upon us
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Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, has come under fire for not only being a political lightweight out of his depth in one of the most important offices of state, but also for wearing a moustache (well, we are approaching the silly season). An article at www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article6709864.ece suggests that a moustache often signifies the wearer is homosexual or, of more importance to this blog, that it is a symbol of ”the constipated mentality of an inept, small-town jobsworth”, being the impression that Mr Ainsworth’s “facial furniture” gives to some. I make no comment on that.
What obligations are there on an employer to consult with its workforce and when should they do so? Many people will be aware of the provisions of s.188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 which imposes a requirement on all employers making 20 or more staff redundant in a 90 day period to collectively consult with any recognised Trade Union or employee representatives on the need for and ways of avoiding redundancies. I’ve covered this issue before and it is particularly relevant in the current climate of large numbers of redundancies.
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