When your employer offers you a settlement agreement, deciding if you need to accept it can be very tricky. Once you sign it, your employment will be terminated.
You will get a sum of money in return to you have lost your job and some of your employment rights. Refusing will cause you to get disciplinary action or a situation that is redundant. Either way, it is stressful. So, when should you not sign your settlement agreement?
When The Employer Pressures You
Receiving a proposed settlement agreement from your employer can be shocking. Usually, you are given ten days minimum to consider your options and decide on whether you will accept them.
The employer should not force you in any way to sign it. If they demand that you should sign it before the ten days are over, you should not do it. They could lose the confidential protection of the discussion that is done before termination since they have put pressure on you.
When The Employee Hasn’t Had Legal Advice.
Settlement agreements should not go ahead without legal advice. It is only legally binding once you have been given independent legal information on it. The employee is supposed to speak to an employment solicitor or someone from the Citizens Advice Bureau.
They are the ones that will sign the agreement to make it official. The employer usually is supposed to pay all the fees that will be incurred by you seeking professional advice. Any legal costs that will arise from extended negotiations will not be covered. You should note that if you get it wrong, you cannot go back, so getting legal advice should be key.
When There’s A Possibility of Claims that Could Arise in the Future.
The employee needs to ensure that there are no future claims that could be made against their employer when they decide to sign. This is because once you sign, you waive any right that you may have to make any future claim in a court or employment tribunal.
Once you do not sign it, you preserve all your rights to claim against your employer but note that an unfair dismissal claim should be made in three months, less than one day.
When The Employee Does Not Want To
The best thing about settlement agreements is that they are not compulsory. If the employee feels that the terms are not acceptable to them or that they have been discriminated against, they do not have to sign it.
You are free to do as you desire. The employer will not force you to accept it, but you could be liable for disciplinary action if you do not.
Settlement agreements can confuse you as the employee on whether to take it or not. However, if one of the above points checks out, do not sign it.
Take some time to view the pros and cons and decide on the way forward. Remember, no one should force you to do something that you do not want to.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as formal legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article. Specific legal advice should be sort tailored to the individual circumstances in all cases.
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