Pay in lieu of notice plus extra month if I sign agreement

moneymel

Just when life is going swimmingly...

I had a consultation meeting 2 days ago to formally start the process of being at risk of redundancy due to cost cutting.

The consultation period ends in 2 weeks. I will have been there 1 year 2 months so I don't think there is anything I'm entitled to with regards to statutory redundancy pay.

They are offering to pay me my notice period in lieu, plus one month's pay which is conditional on signing a settlement agreement. They mentioned some pay out of benefits as well. Not too sure of these as was quite upset and couldn't focus.

They will cover the cost of legal advise regarding the settlement agreement and I think she said that they insist on me getting independent legal advice. I think that could be to prevent a claim of unfair dismissal ?

1. Does this package sound reasonable?
2. Is there a website to find independent legal advisors, or can I got to any local solicitor ?

Thanks for any advice!

missile

Sorry to hear your situation.

Sounds like a reasonable offer to me. If you are unsure of the terms, perhaps you should ask for the offer in writing?

What did this settlement agreement say? Be careful not to sign away your rights. E.G. If you are made redundant and they employ someone else to do your job, you could have a claim.

CAB will provide you with advice for free.

lincroft1710

As OP has been there less than 2 yrs, they can be dismissed without reason, unless they have a protected characteristic and suffer discrimination.

hcb42

yes, take it - it might be best option

Undervalued

missile wrote: »

Sorry to hear your situation.

Sounds like a reasonable offer to me. If you are unsure of the terms, perhaps you should ask for the offer in writing?

What did this settlement agreement say? Be careful not to sign away your rights. E.G. If you are made redundant and they employ someone else to do your job, you could have a claim.

CAB will provide you with advice for free.

It is a legal requirement that a settlement agreement must be "signed off" by either a solicitor or a special trained trades union official. Either must have appropriate insurance in place.

The cab can give general advice but cannot perform this function.

Mersey_2

Yes, they'll usually book an appointment with a solicitor (especially if a larger firm), or you can choose one. They usually operate on a fixed fee for the advice ie it may be capped at eg £400 plus VAT so best checking if you want to book your own (as the firm may not agree to pay if the fee is hourly rate or higher).




Undervalued is right - I only know of 1 CAB who still offers this service (solicitor specialising in employment law works for them 1 day per week, whereas most lawyers simply do eg 1 day per month pro bono work for CABs, apart from a couple of social security/welfare law ones who are employed part-time).

Clive1982

Just make sure you are happy with the settlement agreement with your solicitor, usually they are offered because the employer wants something from you, so you get an enhanced redundancy.


In my last company we got a settlement agreement as our jobs were being outsourced oversees and they wanted our co-operation to handover our knowledge and refuse TUPEE (which we were never actually offered) to the outsourcer, so we received enhanced redundancy on the agreed leaving date and that handover had been signed off, which it had. In the first draft of the agreement, they had it in the contract that I could not accept a new role until after the date I received the redundancy payment (my leaving date after 3 months notice as per my contract), so I refused that arguing that I needed to find a job while still working, but I agreed I would not start a new job until after my leaving date as per the settlement agreement, they accepted this with abit of grumbling !!! There were also lots of exceptions on not raising any claims on unfair dismissal for lots of criteria.

moneymel

The CAB was helpful and gave me a list of local solicitors. Only one had someone who could deal with employment issues and thankfully they looked into this for me before the next meeting tomorrow. She thinks its a pretty good package considering my length of service and doesn't see anything suspicious.

Thanks for the feedback. I still feel quite gloomy but guess I just need closure. There isn't anything to prevent me from getting another job once I'm terminated, so Onwards and maybe even Upwards.