Why do I need an Employment Solicitor?
Compromise Agreements involve compromising potential employment disputes, and as such there are many issues to consider within the context of a comprehensive understanding of employment law. Please have a look at the check list we have provided in the section above. An employment solicitor should guide you through analysing the issues, and provide a cost benefit analysis for you whether the scenario is a simple redundancy or matters have become more complex. The severance agreement needs to accurately deal with the key issues in each case.
Employment solicitors acting for employers are often in effect trying to implement a damage limitation exercise to close down the litigation for the most cost effective amount of money. There are many loopholes in the process that could allow the employee to claim constructive dismissal or even an uplift of the award, if you get the process wrong, this could be a substantial amount of money.
There are other factors to consider when drafting a compromise agreement for instance, whether to increase the post compromise restrictive covenants to protect your business. However, if the sum offered is excessive in respect of the claims settled the Inland Revenue may take the view that the payment is for increased restrictive covenants. It pays to employ a solicitor to advise on the procedure, the potential claim and draft the compromise agreement. In any event, for a compromise agreement to be binding the employee must have the compromise agreement signed off by a solicitor, if the agreement is poorly drafted or the sum offered derisory it is likely that the employment dispute will become more contentious with costs escalating.
You might be tempted, to use an employment advisory service, though recent case law suggests that only the advice from a solicitor is legally privileged. The last thing you would want to have is your confidential conversations with your advisory service being used in the employment tribunal against you.
Employment law is a specialised area of the law and as such there are many issues to consider. If you wish to have a better knowledge of the issues please visit http://www.employmentlaw.co.uk/ that provides a comprehensive overview.
For more detailed advice please call Andre or Ruth both specialist employment partners at Stone Joseph on 0207 8549098.