Settlement Agreements

Settlement Agreements were previously known as Compromise Agreements up until July 2013. A Settlement Agreement is a severance agreement offering a financial incentive when a contract of employment is terminated, to void an employee bringing a claim against their employer. It is important to understand that a Settlement Agreement is a legally binding agreement, following the termination of employment. An employee will be offered severance payment by an employer and in some cases, there may be other incentives such as shares included in the deal. There may also be compensation in a Settlement Agreement in lieu of notice of termination of employment.

The purpose of an employer offering a Settlement Agreement is to avoid any claim the employee may have, which might be taken to an Employment Tribunal – because of these employees must seek expert legal advice as soon as possible and before accepting a Settlement Agreement.

Advantage Solicitors can help you on following aspects of settlement agreements:
• Reviewing and advising on agreements;
• Accrued but unpaid holiday days;
• Advising your legal position regarding tax implications;
• Advising on non-compete clauses;
• Advising on restrictive covenants;
• Negotiating settlement packages;
• Advising on garden leave; and
• Providing advisors certificates.

If you require legal help with assessing a settlement package or severance payment, our team of lawyers can assess your offered package – and we can enter into communications with your employer to help you obtain the best settlement package. We are able to advise on high-value Settlement Agreements and settlement packages for low to middle income employees.

Employees may receive free legal advice on a Settlement Agreement, as the employer will usually contribute towards the legal costs for advice. We will invoice the employer directly, so that a client will not have to pay anything, unless otherwise indicated by our employment law team.
In the event that you are a private fee-paying client, our team of lawyers operate a transparent fee scale – and can offer a range of competitively priced funding options for you in employment law cases where costs will be incurred, including:
• No-win-no-fee;
• Damage based fee;
• Contingency fee;
• Fixed fees (for specific tasks); and
• Insurance funded cases.