Redundancy/waiver agreement/exgratia payment - implications/confusion

shal1969

Hi Lazydaisy

Yes defenetly a compromise I had to sign it in front on a solisitor I am pretty sure they new the redundancy package was going to change that why they got me to sign it, and to make it even worse other people benifited from me leaving early to two girls whom I worked along side only did a 3 day week but because I left early the increased the last 9 week to a 4 day week so they got they redundancy paid on a 4 day week and they were quids in . I took the case to the employment tribunal which they were willing to look at but my old employer said if I loose the case I will have to pay their legal fees so had to withdraw. Mind you they are keeping it on file for a year so any help would be greatful I love to get them back for what the did.

zzzLazyDaisy

shal1969 wrote: »

Hi Lazydaisy I took the case to the employment tribunal which they were willing to look at but my old employer said if I loose the case I will have to pay their legal fees so had to withdraw.

That is nonsense - the normal rule in Employment Tribunals is that each party pays its own costs, so you would not be ordered to pay your employer's costs if you lost. UNLESS, there was a pre-hearing review and the Employment Tribunal ordered you to pay a deposit as a condition of continuing with your claim, in which case you would also be given a warning by the ET that your case had little prospect of success and that if you continued with your claim and lost, you may be ordered to pay the employer's costs.

I am not sure what you mean when you say the ET are keeping the case on file for a year, as once a party has withdrawn, the case is closed and cannot normally be re-opened.

shal1969

They sent me a letter to say that the case was closed however they are keeping the case on file for a year from the date of the letter should I need to contact them again. Is it to late for me to go back to them now as I feel really cheated out of my money and to be honest it has made me really depressed and have now had to have medication over it all.

zzzLazyDaisy

Your problem is that you notified the tribunal that you wished to your claim. In other words, it was your decision to close your case - albeit because you may not have fully understood the rules and/or didn't discuss the case with ACAS before deciding to drop your claim. You would have to contact the tribunal and seek their advice on re-opening your claim, as only the tribunal can give you an answer.

However, you should be aware that there is a strict 42 day time limit for appealing a decision made by the tribunal, so it will depend on when all this happened. I suspect the comment that the papers would be kept for one year, is simply for administration purposes in case you need copies of any of the papers for some reason - but again only the tribunal can confirm or clarify this.

Finally, I am sorry to hear that this experience has affected your health, but whether you can re-open the case or not, the tribunal has no power to take this into account, or to award compensation for upset/distress/damage to health in these cases.

Maybe it is time to close the door on this episode and focus on moving forward? Good luck!

Thishitcountry

LazyDaisy

Can you advise what is norm regarding payment of costs with compromise agreements please. Employer has mentioned they will pay c£300 - however solicitor I have appointed has indicated fees may be 700-1k for 'bogstandard agreement' Im not getting a massive payoff potentially and this cost to me pretty high in relation

Debt_Free_Chick

The employer's cost is to cover the minimum legal advice you need on the terms of the agreement and £300 should be adequate, in my view.

However, a solicitor appointed by you is likely to want to negotiate to see if he/she can get better terms. That cost is not covered by what your employer pays for. So if you want "extra advice" - beyond verifying the validity of the agreement - then that would be at your own expense.

You need to be clear what your solicitor is quoting for.

zzzLazyDaisy

As a now retired employment lawyer I would say that the fees you have been quoted are extortionate - UNLESS as DFC says, there is some dispute about the amount and you will be expecting your solicitor to negotiate on your behalf for a better deal.

The only time I would ever have charged fees in that region was when I was acting on behalf of an out going director and the employer wanted to include extra clauses in the CA, but then the employer would agree to pay extra for that anyway.

For a fairly bog-standard CA, with little room for negotiation, I always charged £250 +VAT which was the going rate then, and frankly it was money for old rope. That was 5 years ago so £300 (+VAT) sounds about right.

TBH it sounds to me that you have contacted a solicitor who doesn't deal with these things very often, as those who do are well aware of the going rate, and will normally stay within it, ulness something unexpected crops up.

I suggest that you do some phoning around and ask your local firms of solicitors if they have a solicitor who specialises in employment law, and if so what their fees are likely to be for acting on behalf of an employee in dealing with what appears to be a fairly straight forward Compromise Agreement.

leese2504

Thishitcountry wrote: »

LazyDaisy

Can you advise what is norm regarding payment of costs with compromise agreements please. Employer has mentioned they will pay c£300 - however solicitor I have appointed has indicated fees may be 700-1k for 'bogstandard agreement' Im not getting a massive payoff potentially and this cost to me pretty high in relation

Hiya I left with a compromise agreement along with several other people, the solicitor charged £300.00. Mine ended up amounting to £500.00 ( I was on maternity leave at the time so lots of other loose ends needed tieing so to speak ) but my solicitor got permission off my employer for them to pay. I also had a section which stipulated the lump sum would be tax free, however my employer also added a section stating should HMRC decide to chase me for the tax I would be liable. As yet touch would they haven't asked for the tax and my solicitor stated in 9 years of her actioning the agreements nobody has ever had tax deducted. But obviously they isn't 100%. Hope this helps