Getting a good deal
Settlement Agreements are a fundamental part of employment law these days. Employers are very aware of the potential time, hassle and expense that dismissing an employee can create. Therefore simply agreeing a settlement with an employee to leave quickly and easily without having to follow any kind of process is a very attractive proposition.
But unfortunately there is one issue that can make things more difficult. The law requires that employees obtain independent legal advice from a Solicitor before they can sign the Settlement Agreement. Whilst, you may have agreed a deal with employee on the terms of their departure, their Solicitor may have a very different view of the deal and seek to re-negotiate it on improved terms.
Furthermore, if settlement discussions break down then you need to make sure that the process you have followed for those discussions is correct to stop them being used by the employee to bring a subsequent claim against you.
