Employment Tribunal Advice Please

Undervalued

jobbingmusician wrote: »

I agree - I would be tempted to take the £15k, but as part of a compromise agreement* which included the costs of the solicitor to negotiate the reference for you and oversee the agreement.

*You need independent legal advice for a CA to be valid, if I recall correctly. It is normal for the employer to pay for this.

I would suggest that when asking for the reference, you suggest some things you would like to be included, such as 'Ms x's work was always of an excellent standard, and she left our employ by mutual agreement in [insert date] at a time when we were cutting back on staff. [or whatever neutral reason is acceptable to them]

Yes but this would not be a compromise agreement (which is now called a settlement agreement). That would be the case if the OP was still employed and was negotiating a exit.

The OP has been dismissed (Fairly or unfairly / rightly or wrongly) and has launched ET proceedings. What is now being offered is a settlement of those proceedings.

I would normally agree about the reference as it can be far more valuable long term than any cash settlement. However depending on exactly what the OP's job was in the financial industry that may regulate the reference position and make it non negotiable.

As I have said before the OP really needs some professional advice about the likely value of their claim. It is hard for anybody involved in the situation to be objective and the vast majority of ET claims yield far less than people fondly imagine.

So, whilst my gut reaction would be to take the offer it is just possible that this is one of the few claims that could, potentially, be worth much more. But if it is then the OP really needs to be represented which pushes up the risks.

Finally don't underestimate the stress involved and don't get obsessed with flicking peas at elephants!

steampowered

An offer would only typically be withdrawn once the employer has started racking up legal costs preparing for trial. So as long as you get a move on I can't imagine they'd revoke it.

Providing you with a neutral reference is something that is valuable to you but doesn't cost them anything so I doubt they'd raise too much of a fuss about that.

Crazy_Jamie

Undervalued wrote: »

As I have said before the OP really needs some professional advice about the likely value of their claim. It is hard for anybody involved in the situation to be objective and the vast majority of ET claims yield far less than people fondly imagine.

At the risk of undermining my previous post where I said that the OP doesn't need legal advice to conclude their claim, establishing the likely value of a claim is certainly one area where solicitors can be helpful, because without experience of Tribunal proceedings it is very difficult to in any way accurately judge how much a claim is worth. If the OP was to instruct a solicitor for any reason, it should be this.

Converse20

Thankyou all for your advice. I have made a counter offer and am hoping to negotiate a settlement. I didn't accept £15k although I do see where you are all coming from on accepting. My gut says that if they will offer this, coupled with everything that I have discovered and put to them in the last few weeks, they will give me a fair settlement.

Converse20

So, they've responded today saying that they are unwilling to offer a counter offer.

Game playing I think. I think that they will re-offer their old offer in a few days time.

Also, I've been reading a book which says that stat leave doesn't apply in the case of dismissal for gross misconduct.

Is this the case? If so I will have made myself look quite daft as I have told the respondent that they had made an error.

To clarify, I have 103 weeks and 1 day of service with no notice and was dismissed for gross misconduct.

Converse20

Also, in the statement off the dismissing manager, she stated firstly that my inability to attend the meeting would give me 2 years of service and that this was a contributory factor in her decision to proceed in my absense and ultimately dismiss me! I find this shocking. Does the law?

annandale

They've withdrawn the original offer? The 15k?

Converse20

Well they didn't withdraw exactly, but they didn't counter which is the same I would say.

Crazy_Jamie

Converse20 wrote: »

Well they didn't withdraw exactly, but they didn't counter which is the same I would say.

It isn't necessarily. You should clarify as to whether the £15,000 is still on the table.

Converse20

I responded saying that I assume that this is the end to those clients attempts to settle and would await the response in court. (worded better)

They didn't respond to this one. But responded to another email sent later on.