Settlement agreement offered.

spire2003

I am an office cleaner & was asked to attend a meeting with my boss. The company has decided , due to expansion, to employ an outside contract firm to do the cleaning. He stated that there would be too much work for me on my own & that the company had been too easy going in the past regarding health & safety. I basically told him he would have to make me redundant if that was the case. He seemed unsure of this. I went to see him again at his request. He said he didn't think he could make me redundant but suggested a settlement agreement. He said he needed to take advice on the matter. He pointed out that he needed to protect the company against a future claim by me. At that point i agreed to his suggestion pointing out what i would legally be entitled to if made redundant plus some other issues i thought appropriate cash wise. I pointed out that i also had to protect my interests. We agreed to meet again at the end of this week when he would have taken advise about how to end my employment. Has anyone else had a settlement agreement or have knowledge of them ?

Takeaway_Addict

To be fair everything you have done seems spot on, asking for what you would be entitled in redundancy pay and a little more seems fair. Though I would expect that if the company wished to play hardball they could ask the contract company to take you on under TUPE and obviously then there is no payout.

I presume you have worked there more than 2 years?

As a side, make sure you get an agreed reference down in writing as part of this settlement.

jobbingmusician

Also, settlement agreements should include payment by the employer for the employee to seek independent legal advice and ensure that the agreement meets their needs.

Undervalued

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Also, settlement agreements should include payment by the employer for the employee to seek independent legal advice and ensure that the agreement meets their needs.

A settlement agreement (compromise agreement) is only valid if it is countersigned by a solicitor or a specially trained union representative to say that they have advised the employee of their rights.

Whilst it is customary for the employer to pay an agreed sum to cover the legal costs it is not actually obligatory. Therefore you need to know what they will pay before seeing a solicitor. Generally this will only cover the legal minimum and will not pay for the solicitor to argue on your behalf.

I agree that it would be wise to include an agreed reference.

spire2003

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

To be fair everything you have done seems spot on, asking for what you would be entitled in redundancy pay and a little more seems fair. Though I would expect that if the company wished to play hardball they could ask the contract company to take you on under TUPE and obviously then there is no payout.

I presume you have worked there more than 2 years?

As a side, make sure you get an agreed reference down in writing as part of this settlement.

My boss has already mentioned in our first meeting that the other company would employ me ( no mention of TUPE ) but as i would have to work set hours i declined. I have a disabled wife & have always worked flexibly. I can clean the office any time after 5pm as long as it is ready for 7am next morning. Under the new company that is not an option. Present boss knows my wife as this was her job for 25 years until she had a stroke 4 years ago & i took it on.
I trust my boss not to hardball me as you say but you never know. Knowing them for 30 years without issue will hopefully help this situation come to an amicable conclusion.

spire2003

Undervalued wrote: »

A settlement agreement (compromise agreement) is only valid if it is countersigned by a solicitor or a specially trained union representative to say that they have advised the employee of their rights.

Whilst it is customary for the employer to pay an agreed sum to cover the legal costs it is not actually obligatory. Therefore you need to know what they will pay before seeing a solicitor. Generally this will only cover the legal minimum and will not pay for the solicitor to argue on your behalf.

I agree that it would be wise to include an agreed reference.

My boss has said i would need to see a solicitor with the agreement & that they will pay for this.

cazziebo

I think you have to be careful. It would be lovely if everyone honoured loyalty etc but it's not always as easy as that. Remember, the incoming company has no loyalty to you, and might be putting pressure on your boss to "resolve" the situation prior to taking on the contract.

It could be construed that you have already been offered suitable alternative employment and by turning it down you might have reduced your chances of a good settlement. (arguably the changed conditions might disqualify the offer as suitable, depends on nature of offer and your response)

For all subsequent meetings, be as non committal as possible until you have decided what you want to do. Use your time with the lawyer to ask as many questions as possible. What is the settlement based on? Does it compensate what you are losing? What references will be agreed?

getmore4less

turning down a TUPE would be a resignation.

Undervalued

getmore4less wrote: »

turning down a TUPE would be a resignation.

Yes but there is nothing in the original post to suggest that a TUPE is even being considered. In fact everything suggest that the firm are looking at some sort of enhanced redundancy protected by a settlement agreement.

Takeaway_Addict

Undervalued wrote: »

Yes but there is nothing in the original post to suggest that a TUPE is even being considered. In fact everything suggest that the firm are looking at some sort of enhanced redundancy protected by a settlement agreement.

I would guess this is only because the employer doesn't know what they are doing...

Undervalued

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

I would guess this is only because the employer doesn't know what they are doing...

Or because the contract firm don't want any more staff (particularly ones with many years of employment protection)!