Employment Tribunal COT3

confuseddotcodotuk

A COT3 was proposed by GE the Respondent's solicitor in order to settle a claim related to pregnancy and maternity discrimination, owed notice pay, owed holiday pay, Breach of Code of Practice, Breach of Contract. The offer £5500 covers the part of the owed pay £3000. Not much compensation is for the unfair treatment related to the maternity related matters.

The COT3 drafted by this solicitor was 3 pages long T&Cs. Not a lot of money here but forced to accept all T&Cs which 90% is to protect the Respondent really. The agreement still has not been agreed and as below. Do you think that these are reasonable, particularly the Bold wording?

The Claimant and the Respondent have agreed as follows:

1.                   The Claimant will write to the Employment Tribunal in the terms of the letter at Appendix 1 withdrawing the Claimant's Employment Tribunal Claim against the Respondent under case number 1306856/2020 (the "Tribunal Claim").  The Claimant and the Respondent acknowledge that the proceedings covered by this settlement will be dismissed following its withdrawal by the Claimant with no order as to costs in favour of either party.

2.                   In return for the Claimant withdrawing the Tribunal Claim, the Respondent agrees not pursue the Claimant for any costs in respect of the Tribunal Claim.  The Claimant and the Respondent acknowledge that the proceedings covered by this Agreement will be dismissed with no order as to costs in favour of either party.

1.                 Following the termination of the Claimant's employment on 1 May 2020 (the "Termination Date"), the Respondent will, without admission of liability, pay to the Claimant the following sum:

1.1                £5,500.

2.                   As the Respondent believes that s401 and s403 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 apply to the sum in clause 3, no deductions will be made for tax or employee national insurance contributions on this sum.

3.                   This sum shall be paid no later than 28 days after (i) the date on which the Respondent's solicitors receive this Form COT3 duly signed by or on behalf of the Claimant, (ii) the date on which the Respondent's solicitors receive a copy of the correspondence sent to the Employment Tribunal Office pursuant to Clause 1 withdrawing the Tribunal Claim, (iii) the date on which the Respondent’s solicitors receive written confirmation from the Claimant of the account number and sort code of the bank account into which the payment should be made (being an account in the Claimant’s name), and (iv) the date on which the Respondent receives the Claimant’s company property in accordance with Clause 14.

4.                   Whilst the parties believe that the tax status of the payment at clause 3 is as set out above, the Claimant agrees to indemnify the Respondent in relation to any claim from the relevant collection authority for income tax or National Insurance contributions due on any of the payments under this Agreement, including, interest, penalties and any expenses relating to such a claim.

5.                   The consideration referred to in Clause 3 above is accepted by the Claimant in full and final settlement of:

5.1                the Tribunal Claim; and

5.2                all claims of whatever nature which the Claimant has or may in the future have against the Respondent or against any other company in the group of companies of which the Respondent is a member ("Group Company") or against any employee, worker, agent or officer of the Respondent or Group Company arising out of or connected with the Claimant's employment by the Respondent and/or its termination whether or not any such claim exists or is known to or contemplated by the Parties or is recognised by law at the date of this Agreement and whether such claim arises at common law, under statute or otherwise and whether it falls within the jurisdiction of an employment tribunal or not.

6.                   For the avoidance of doubt the settlement in Clause 7 includes, but is not limited to, any claim under the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the Working Time Regulations 1998, the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004, the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999, the Employment Relations Act 1999, the Part‑time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, the Fixed‑term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the Equality Act 2010, the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2006, the European Public Limited‑Liability Company Regulations 2004; any claim in respect of which an ACAS Conciliation Officer is authorised to act; any claim under European law and any contractual claim arising or outstanding on the termination of the Claimant's employment (such as any claim for wrongful dismissal, notice money, holiday pay, arrears of wages or loss of opportunity to exercise statutory rights).

7.                   This settlement excludes any claims to enforce the terms of this Agreement, any claims relating to pension rights accrued at the date of termination of the Claimant's employment and any claim for personal injury, provided that by signing this Agreement the Claimant confirms that there are no circumstances known to the Claimant or which ought to be known to the Claimant which might give rise to such a claim.

8.                   The Claimant will not disclose the fact or terms of this Agreement (including details of the events and any negotiations leading up to it) to any third party (save to the Claimant's medical or professional advisers, the police and immediate family provided that the Claimant brings to their attention the obligations of confidentiality contained in this Agreement, or as may be required by law). The Claimant will also make no reference and will procure that her representative will make no reference (whether directly or indirectly) to the fact or terms of this Agreement (including details of the events and any negotiations leading up to it) on any social media platforms, which shall include but not be limited to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and/or Twitter. The Claimant understands the provisions of this Agreement and that nothing in this Agreement will prevent disclosure by the Claimant of information:

8.1                for the purpose of making a protected disclosure as defined by Part IVA of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Protected Disclosures), provided that the disclosure is made in accordance with the provisions of that Act;

8.2                as required by law or regulatory obligation, including for the purpose of reporting misconduct, or a serious breach of regulatory requirements, to a regulator or as required by any competent authority;

8.3                for the purpose of reporting an offence to the police or a law enforcement agency and/or co-operating with a criminal investigation or prosecution;

8.4                for the purposes of seeking medical advice from a qualified medical practitioner and/or legal advice from a qualified lawyer (as defined by section 203(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996);

8,5                in compliance with an order of, or to give evidence to, a court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction; 

8.6                subject to the Claimant first advising them of the confidential nature of the information disclosed, to the Claimant's spouse or civil partner and immediate family, and professional advisers (including tax advisers), and strictly on condition that they also keep the existence, terms and negotiation of this Agreement and the circumstances concerning the termination of the Claimant's employment confidential 

8.7                that has come into the public domain other than as a result of the wrongful act, default or breach of confidence by the Claimant or on the Claimant's behalf; or

8.8                as otherwise required for the purpose of enforcing any of the provisions of this Agreement. 

9.                   The Claimant will not make any disparaging or derogatory comments or statements whether in writing or otherwise concerning the Respondent, a Group Company or any of its or their employees, workers, agents or officers

10.                The Claimant warrants that:- 

10.1             the Tribunal Claim is still extant as at the date of this Agreement and no strike out order has been made. 

11.                The Claimant acknowledges that:

11.1             the Respondent has entered into this Agreement in specific reliance on the confidentiality provisions in Clause 10 and any warranty in Clause 15; and

11.2             that it is a condition precedent to the Respondent's obligations under this Agreement.

12.                Accordingly the Claimant agrees that should the warranties in Clauses 15 and 16 be inaccurate, or any of the provisions of Clause 10 be breached:

12.1             the Claimant will repay to the Respondent any sums paid pursuant to this Agreement but shall remain bound by the Claimant's continuing obligations under this Agreement; and

12.2             the Respondent shall immediately be released from any continuing obligations under this Agreement.

steampowered

Yes that is all completely standard.

When the Defendant agrees to settle a claim, you will always be expected to confirm that you do not have any other claims. The Defendant is not going to be prepared to settle this claim if you are able to sue them again about something else a week later.

Undervalued

^^^^^^

As above.

Obviously you don't have to agree to their terms and can propose you own. It will all then come down to the strength of your negotiating position, how much they are prepared to give to "get you out of their hair", how much grief and risk you are prepared to take by fighting etc.

As Steampowered suggests, any COT3 / settlement agreement will have terms to prevent an further claims (as far as the law allows) otherwise it is not really a settlement at all. If you feel you have any other possible claim against the employer it is a case of "now speak or forever hold your peace"!

Jaybee_16

As others have said, it looks like standard agreement wording to me.