Compromise Agreement - is this a breach?

LittleVoice

randombloke wrote: »

No it wasnt - and maybe thats the grey area - for me anyway.

Yes, met with a proper solicitor too - an independent one that i paid.

Perhaps the law is different in NI but in England the reasonable cost of independent legal (solicitor) advice has to be paid for by the employer and without this, I believe, the terms cannot be enforced.

SarEl

LittleVoice wrote: »

Perhaps the law is different in NI but in England the reasonable cost of independent legal (solicitor) advice has to be paid for by the employer and without this, I believe, the terms cannot be enforced.

The situation in NI is that it also has to have independant advice - but neither there not here does the employer have to pay. It is custon the employer pays and nothing more. The agreement, based on what the OP says, is valid. And yes, the law is different in NI in lots of respects - but not this one.

I am afraid that there is not formal answer to this one. The employer is not lying. They made you an offer to pay you off, but you agreed to that offer. In law that is a resignation - as it actually is in England too. They were not compromising an existing legal action. This is about the interpretation of benefit rules, not employment law per se. Benefit rules are that you are sanctioned if you have voluntarily given up your job - and compromise agreement or not, this is exactly what you did. Benefit agencies have generally in the past accepted such circumstances as "beyond control" of the claimant and accepted that it was not voluntary in the sense of "walked out". But I suspect we will all see a lot more of this in the future. The discretion on this is with the Benefit A gency - whatever the employer has said. You are allowed to disclose the existence of a compromise agreement - just not the details of it or what led up to it. You should do so if you have not, and this may make a difference, but I cannot guarantee it because the DWP is getting very tough these days and will save money wherever they can.

ponymad_3

I m getting a little nervous here. I have just signed a compromise agreement- my first day not at work today.... In my ref which is attached to the agreement it does state redundancy although in the agreement in does say termination. I hope JSA allowance will be ok with this I am just awaiting their contact and interview.

My agreement came about due to my job getting downgraded and there is a rule and agreement with our Union that in this situation you are able to take R rather than the donwgrade. I will have my fingers crossed for you and me both .

LittleVoice

ponymad wrote: »

In my ref which is attached to the agreement it does state redundancy although in the agreement in does say termination. I hope JSA allowance will be ok with this I am just awaiting their contact and interview.

The full description would therefore be "termination of employment on the grounds of redundancy". Or they could say "dismissal on the grounds of redundancy". The key thing is that it mentions redundancy.

whitelabel

SarEl wrote: »

...

I am afraid that there is not formal answer to this one. The employer is not lying. They made you an offer to pay you off, but you agreed to that offer. In law that is a resignation - as it actually is in England too...

Id have to disagree here, my employer told me they were terminating my contract with immediate effect, (note there were no grounds for and this was not a dismissal) and the compromise agreement was the settlement they proposed to prevent me suing them for not giving correct notice etc.
By accepting that agreement I didnt resign. when asked now I say made redundant (the company [a global one] doesnt like to have any redundancies on its books and so all are dealt with in this manner)

the same could be true for the OP in that they didnt resign either

ponymad_3

Well I shall soon have the powers that be's opinion as they have been in touch and my interview is on Friday

SarEl

whitelabel wrote: »

Id have to disagree here, my employer told me they were terminating my contract with immediate effect, (note there were no grounds for and this was not a dismissal) and the compromise agreement was the settlement they proposed to prevent me suing them for not giving correct notice etc.
By accepting that agreement I didnt resign. when asked now I say made redundant (the company [a global one] doesnt like to have any redundancies on its books and so all are dealt with in this manner)

the same could be true for the OP in that they didnt resign either

But that is a very different situation from the one described by the OP. Your employer told you that you were being terminated. In the OP's case the OP was offered to leave after two weeks on sick leave - it was their decision to accept the offer and there was no act by the employer to terminate. Your personal experience in a different company, in a different situation, is not a basis for legal opinion.

What is important here is whether the benefits agency accept the explanation from the OP - there is no rule that says they have to sanction anyway. They always have discretion and have always been able to use it to allow claims where someone has cause to leave their employment. Compromise agreements are generally accepted (although for no good reason) as the employer admitting fault and have generally been allowed through - but that was then and this is now, with governments determined to cut benefits and claimants. So I hope that reason still applies, but there is no way of being able to guarantee it.