Employee rights

kirstyp9404

I was wondering if it is illegal to be asked to leave my employment by my employer (not made redundant) for a lump sum of money (good will gesture) significantly less than my legal redundancy entitlement 

lincroft1710

No, it is not unlawful for them to ask you to resign and offer a goodwill payment. Is your job actually redundant?

sharpe106

Usually if a employer wants rid of you they offer voluntary redundancy, although it is usually better then statutory redundancy pay. But if they want rid of for another reason they can offer you some money to go and it is up to you to accept it or not. 

kirstyp9404

No the job is not actually redundant 

El_Torro

What's the full story here? Are they thinking of sacking you but are offering you this payment to avoid having to do that?

It doesn't sound like they've done anything illegal, they're not forcing you to take this payment and leave after all.

sharpe106

They must want rid of you either for poor performance or they have somebody else lined up for the job. Not illegal if you accept it. Although if you decline it you may find your days are numbered anyway. 

getmore4less

They can ask and you can say no, I will go quietly for £x, xxx if you want to go. 

Best if you get it wrapped up in a suitable settlement agreement so you can claim benefits if needed. 

nicechap

If you go for a settlement agreement, ensure it has an agreed positive/ neutral reference.  Last thing you'd want is to find them saying something like 'we wouldn't employ kirstyp9494 again' to prospective employers.

Bungle5393

Not illegal at all, but as other posters have said you will need to get a suitable compromise agreement drawn up (the employer normally does this and you would be advised to get some kind of legal advice to look at it from your point of view to make sure you're not disadvantaged in any way). An agreed reference is critical as you don't know (or maybe you do) their reasons for wanting to do this. Normally employers do this as a quick and easy way to get someone out the door because the alternative of dealing with that person's performance through weekly/monthly meetings and disciplinaries is too time-consuming.

You would be advised to take them up on the offer, but counter it with 'you're offering me £X, but actually I would need £Y to walk away' - think about how long it would take you to find another job in the current climate and base the figure on this.

The reason I say you'd be advised to take them up on the offer is because, if you decline, you will probably find yourself on some kind of performance management process quite rapidly.

Undervalued

Bungle5393 said:

Not illegal at all, but as other posters have said you will need to get a suitable compromise agreement drawn up (the employer normally does this and you would be advised to get some kind of legal advice to look at it from your point of view to make sure you're not disadvantaged in any way). An agreed reference is critical as you don't know (or maybe you do) their reasons for wanting to do this. Normally employers do this as a quick and easy way to get someone out the door because the alternative of dealing with that person's performance through weekly/monthly meetings and disciplinaries is too time-consuming.

You would be advised to take them up on the offer, but counter it with 'you're offering me £X, but actually I would need £Y to walk away' - think about how long it would take you to find another job in the current climate and base the figure on this.

The reason I say you'd be advised to take them up on the offer is because, if you decline, you will probably find yourself on some kind of performance management process quite rapidly.

It is now called a settlement agreement, which replaced "compromise agreements" quite a few years ago.

From the employee's point of view it doesn't matter if a proper one is not draw up as they could then take the money and still sue! The settlement agreement is very largely to protect the employer from future claims as the employee would be signing away all rights (with a very few exceptions) to make any legal claim. To be valid the employee must receive advice, either from a solicitor or a specially trained and insured trades union representative. It is customary (although not actually obligatory) for the employer to pay towards the cost of this advice.