Why Do You Need A Compromise Agreement?
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
by Nick Jervis
Samson Consulting Limited
A Compromise Agreement is a document that sets out the settlement terms for a compensation payment from your employer. It will determine how much compensation you will receive in lieu of your employment, but may also bring into play other items such as restrictive covenants that can prevent you from obtaining employment elsewhere.
Therefore, it is important that if you are offered a Compromise Agreement you seek legal advice to ensure that it is a fair settlement for you.
You should seek advice from a specialist employment solicitor. You can normally find a solicitor specialised in Compromise Agreements in Scotland by carrying out a quick Internet search or by looking through your local telephone directory.
Once you find a website of a solicitor that seems to specialise or have expertise in Compromise Agreements you should review the content of their website to ensure that Compromise Agreements have their own place and are clearly something which the firm deals with regularly.
Making Contact.
The next stage is to make contact with the firm of solicitors and to ask how much they will charge to review your Compromise Agreement with you. The good news here is that normally the cost of the Compromise Agreement is fully met by your employer.
One of the clauses of the Compromise Agreement will explain how much your employer will pay for your solicitor's fees and most solicitors will agree to charge no more than this sum.
The Meeting.
Sometimes your solicitor will request a meeting or on other occasions they can review the documentation by sending it to them in the post. Either way, they will review the Compromise Agreement and assess the amount of compensation offered. They will look at your standard hours of work, your salary, over time payments and all other important factors of your employment such as your contract or letter of engagement to determine whether the amount is acceptable for you.
At the end of the meeting they will advise you whether to accept the agreement, and if you are happy and they have advised you to do so, both of you will sign the Compromise Agreement to confirm that your solicitor has given you advice and you have accepted it and wish to take the offer made by your employer.
Compensation Payment.
After the meeting you will need to return the agreement to your employer along with your solicitor's invoice for their work. Your employer will then make payment directly to your solicitor for the Compromise Agreement advice and also will send your compensation payment to you.
A Compromise Agreement is an important legal document as once it is signed you can not re-negotiate the terms of your settlement. It is therefore vital that you seek independent legal advice (normally paid by your employer) to ensure you are receiving a fair and accurate assessment of your employment claim.
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The Work Ethic are Employment Lawyers Edinburgh.
Looking for an Employment Law Solicitor?
Nick Jervis is a consultant to the Work Ethic.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Absolutely true that you should get legal advice. Sometimes, employers try to over-reach in terms of their restrictive covenants. It's a tactic that can backfire on them (for example, if they try to prevent you from doing the work that you do for the next 10 years within a 250-mile radious of company headquarters). Courts don't like people to be placed in a position where they can't earn a living and may have to end up on the dole. But who wants to go to court to fight it?!?!
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