I’ve noticed a disturbing tendency recently for some employers to tell redundant employees that they will only contribute to their legal costs incurred by a third party solicitor reviewing the compromise agreement if the employee uses the firm of solicitor nominated by the company. If the employee wants to go to a solicitor of their own choice they will have to pay all the legal costs associated with the advice they receive, without any contribution from the employer. Remember that it is a legal requirement that a compromise agreement be reviewed by an independent solicitor in order to make the agreement legally binding.
Employment Law Explained
Tag Archives: compromise agreements
Coulson’s Compromise Agreement: So What?
I’ve been away in France for a couple of weeks, hence the silence on this blog. It’s now time to burn off those calories with some serious typing and what better start than on a story that Robert Peston ran on his BBC blog on the 22nd August (apologies if this is staler than yesterday’s croissant)? Under a headline “Coulson got hundreds of thousands of pounds from News International”, Mr. Peston reported that Andy Coulson (yes, the one late of News International (NI) and News of the World) received several hundred thousand pounds in respect of
Just been made redundant? Don’t forget …
If your employment has just ended, not just for redundancy but for any reason, did you sign a compromise agreement? Perhaps you entered into a COT3 via ACAS to settle the dispute?
If you did there’s a good chance you will have signed up to a clause that says;
“You shall not at any time after the termination of your employment represent yourself as being interested in or employed by or in any way connected with [name of ex-employer]”
The Equality Act 2010: Law Society Seeks Urgent Consultation
The EA has been in force for roughly one month and it is already experiencing some turbulence. Not from Duncan Bannatyne’s rantings in the Daily Mail but from the effect of some sloppy drafting. The problem concerns the drafting of s.147(5) of the Act, which deals with compromise agreements.
The offending section says;
“ none of the following is an independent adviser in relation to a qualifying compromise contract:
(a) a person who is a party to the contract or the complaint; and
(d) a person who is acting for a person within paragraph (a) in
10 questions to ask if you’re made redundant
Ok, imagine the scenario. You’re told on Friday morning at 9.35 a.m to go to the 7th floor and meet Siobhan, your HR generalist. Only HR live on the 7th floor, not real people. You go into a meeting room with her and there is Charles, your line manager or maybe Fiona, who is really quite senior in HR but not usually seen during the hours of daylight. You’re handed a lengthy letter and told that your role is at risk of redundancy. What do you do?
Answer: try and get as much information out of Siobhan and Charles/Fiona as you can. What to ask?
Dale Langley & Co
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
Redundancy – know your rights!
Judging from the traffic on this site, redundancy is the big employment law issue at the moment and not surprisingly given the current climate. 1,000 job losses announced this week at Nomura, 650 at Credit Suisse and that on top of the losses at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. In my day job I am seeing plenty of people from investment banks and beyond, all with concerns and queries about either being told they’ve been selected for redundancy or are at risk. If you’re one of those people what do you need to know?