Compromise Agreement Offer - What do I ask for?

suej102

To cut a long story short, I was put 'at risk' of redundancy in April and subsequently made redundant from my 3 year service as a part-time administrator for a large organisation. The redundancy was pretty much a 'sham' and I engaged a solicitor whilst still 'at risk' who suggested we reach a compromise agreement from the outset.

During my 1st consultation my arrogant (male) boss (a Director) made many errors and also agreed that I could go on garden leave if I went quickly and quietly! He gave no basis for my selection other than blaming the recession, but the truth was that he did not like me and wanted me out of his team - he had 'inherited me' and was a sexist !!!! and a bully - I was having none of this and made my feelings clear towards him on several occasions. I was the only female on the team and he simply didn't know what to do with me - he was not used to someone standing up for themselves as he had obviously bullied his way through life to this point unchallenged.

So, once my employers received my solicitors letter they postponed the redundancy process and undertook a grievance hearing. This was obviously a box ticking exercise on behalf of the company and the outcome was unsurprisingly (as with all internal hearings) not in my favour. Immediately after these findings were relayed to me the company then went on to conclude the redundancy process and, again unsurprisingly I was made redundant. I went on to appeal immediately.

I had no response from HR to my appeal and contacted them via email to check that they were attending to this within the time frames given in my handbook. I received an interesting response apologising profusely for the delay and referring to this being down to 'unforeseen circumstances'. This was a little odd but they assured me I would hear from them during the next few days. It was shortly after this that I heard via an ex colleague that my (now ex) boss had in fact just been sacked by the Board!

On Friday I received a very polite email from HR responding finally to my appeal and advising me that they would be willing to look at reaching a compromise agreement, and have effectively asked me the following "[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Please could you let me know the terms of what you would be reasonably seeking under a compromise agreement and I will explore this option with senior management. ".[/FONT][/FONT]

This is my dilemma. Where do I stand now that my ex boss has been dismissed? I was accompanied at each of my meetings and appeal by a senior manager and my ex boss took no notes whatsoever. I have minuted and recorded everything and had all of this witnessed.

What should I ask for? I was part-time and had been there 3 years. I have no idea how long it is going to take me to find another suitable role and have been signed off with stress at one stage during this process. Who goes 'first' when negotiating these matters, I am loathed to return to my solicitor as I already have paid around £1,000 for her services and would prefer to sort this final bit out directly if possible.

Many thanks in advance for any advice anyone has!

BlueIsTheColour

Well if you were to proceed to a tribunal you would have to produce a "Schedule of Loss" to show your losses as a result of the company's actions, so salary, redundancy payments, holidays etc, length of time it will take to get another role, any potential reduction in salary now the job market has decreased, are the types of things that could potentially be included.

As with all negotiations, I guess you have to go in high to allow yourself the negotiating room to come down to what you actually would be happy with

BlueIsTheColour

PS - If they are offering a compromise agreement they should also offer independant legal advice paid for by them too, often up to about £150 worth? As you would be signing away your rights to go to a tribunal, the employer is obligated to pay for the advice for you, however, it is only advice about the agreement itself and the terms it contains, as opposed to a general strength of potentila claim type discussion

Horace

If you have been there for three years then you can take your employer to an employment tribunal.

If you accept a compromise agreement you will not have the option to take them to a tribunal.

Your solicitor sounds like she was a waste of space - find another one who will work on a no win no fee basis and someone who knows something about employment law. A decent solicitor will give you a free half hour.

You don't actually need to employ a solicitor to take a case to the employment tribunal but sometimes having one helps - you can submit a claim online.

A compromise agreement means that you accept their terms and basically they are trying to get you to sign away your rights - they know they have done something wrong (improper records after grievance meetings etc).

Good luck and don't let the barstewards grind you down.

suej102

It sounds as though you feel that I should take this further and not accept a CA? Is this your feelings with what little info I have given?

Thanks so much for taking time to respond.

tippytop

My OH was offered a compromise agreement when he was told he was to be made redundant last month. At first we didn’t know what it was for but after searching the net we realized that they had not followed all procedures and wanted him to sign to cover their tracks.

He refused to sign saying he was under no obligation to do so. They then asked him to attend a meeting (I went along also). They said the CA was to protect him. Lol. I told them that he was not going to sign and we stepped outside to have a break. By the time we came back there was an offer of cash. They didn’t say how much and we left it at that.

We could have waited for them to say an amount but we decided to ask for £3000. They came back with £1000 which we declined. We asked for £2000 and then we final agreed £1500.
Now I’m sure he could have got a lot more but we really didn’t want to go to a tribunal.

My advice is to also go in high and remember they need you to sign to protect themselves. You have nothing to loss. We wanted to get it over and done with as quick as possible but we had been advised half a years pay.
Also they paid the solicitors cost £250 and make sure the amount you get is agreed to be taxed free.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Uncertain

You need to get some decent idea of what you might (reasonably) get if this went to a tribunal. Do keep in mind that the word is MIGHT. Most tribunal awards are not huge by any means.

Pretend, for a moment, that this is certain. Deduct any costs you can't recover and then deicide how much it is worth to you to have it over and done with. Deduct this as well.

The final bit depends on your attitude to risk. How much more would you deduct not to have this risk?

Armed with this figure I would go back to them (marked Without Prejudice) and suggest about 50% more than your bottom line.

Best of luck!

getmore4less

Looks to me like the Boss got sacked by the board as a result of the grievence hearing.
You could consider that being reopened there maybe a case that is much easier to win now.

If you want to go, then you need to get an idea what a tribunal would award not just for the redundancy but the previous grievence as well.
An employment solicitor is needed for that or some more knowlegable person here might be able to comment

To be on the high side I think I would look for something along the lines of
12 months gross pay(consider reducing this to net pay if pushed)
Enhanced redundancy payment say 6 weeks pay(2w per year min or higher if this is still under the £350 or just go for the £350py).
PILON.(3 weeks or longer if in contract)
Outstanding holiday(due this anyway)
All costs so far(include the £1k solicitor bill)
Add some compensation factor say 50%.

I would also try to get them to open the bidding not sure how to approach that though.


If you actualy think you may like the place now and want to be sure of employment, another option may be to ask for the redundancy appeal to be considered properly since it was the old boss that wanted you out and that now he has gone you may consider staying if a job still exists with a new boss with suitably enhanced pay .

Debt_Free_Chick

Compromise Agreements are legitimate ways of dealing with the termination of employment. They are even referred to in the Employment Rights 1996. In "white collar" jobs - especially the professions - CAs are always used for redundancies. I mention this just to make it clear that a CA doesn't necessarily mean that the company is "on the back foot" or offering a CA purely out of fear of tribunal. Indeed, a CA is a way of saying "look, we know a Tribunal is likely to award in your favour, so let's forget the hassle of Tribunal and simply agree that we'll pay you what the Tribunal would award". It's a compromise as you agree to forego your right to make a claim in a Tribunal, in return for the company paying you what the Tribunal is likely to award.

So - what you should ask for is the amount that a tribunal is likely to award you. The starting point is your contractual entitlement. In your current contract, what notice does the company have to give to end your employment? (It's probably under a clause stated "Termination" or similar).

And how long have you been employed?

londondulwich

You may have a claim for unfair dismissal if the redundancy was a sham.

You may also have a claim for direct sex discrimination due to the selection criteria your ex-boss used and the company followed.

The treatment you suffered, which led to a diagnosed stress related personal injury, could amount to harassment based on the grounds of your sex. This would come under the sex discrimination claim and would be taken into consideration for any award given for injury to feelings.

The failure to conduct an appropriate investigation into your grievance, which resulted in a white wash or downplaying of the bullying and your subsequent dismissal, could be classified as a continuation of the discriminatory act.

You might also have a victimisation claim if the intention to dismiss/ selection for redundancy was motivated by your raising genuine concerns and asserting your right not to be abused in the workplace.

If you had made management aware that your ex-bosses' behaviour was damaging your health, before falling ill, you might also have a personal injury claim.

Claims for harassment can be several. This means that you can co-join the harasser to the proceedings against the employer and the tribunal may apportion a percentage of any damages against the bully.

If you are unsatisfied with your solicitor, it might be to your advantage to approach a more established firm with a proven track record in employment.

suej102

Wow - thanks for this everyone - my head is spinning now! I have been paid statutory redundancy and my outstanding holiday, plus one month's notice. I am now officially unemployed as I received this plus my p45 on 24th July.

I am unsure whether, when responding to the CA (I think I will ask them to make an offer considering several factors and list accordingly ...) to mention that I am aware that my ex boss has now been dismissed. Would this be at all useful to mention at this stage?