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Employee exits & settlement agreements
Formerly known as compromise agreements, employee settlement agreements are confidential agreements between employer and employee that record the terms of an agreed exit.
Since an employment settlement agreement is legally binding, it is important that the agreement is drafted by employment law experts. This will prevent the employee from bringing any claims against the employer once the agreement is signed.
Watch a short video outlining the different options for exit plans.
Advantages of using an employment settlement agreement
- It can be a quick and efficient way of ending an employment and settling any potential dispute
- If properly written, the employment settlement agreement prevents the employee from seeking further claims against their past employer
- It can tie up all loose ends relating to the exit, such as resignation from the board, withdrawal of complaints and restrictions on competing with the employer after termination.
Disadvantages of using a settlement agreement
- Negotiating the agreement can take up management time
- The costs of paying compensation
- It can damage the employee relationship if settlement is not agreed
- It can have a negative impact on employee relations if exiting under an agreement becomes customary or is used instead of good management practice.
If relationships have broken down, we can negotiate with the other side on your behalf.
Our approach
Handling employment law issues can be a big distraction when you are trying to run a business. Get it wrong and it can tie up lots of management time as well as being very costly. But, when you get it right, it complements the business and keeps you running smoothly.
So that’s our job as employment lawyers – to keep your business running smoothly and if an occasional hiccup occurs – because life is like that – we’ll help you get through it with minimal disruption.
Our team of specialist employment lawyers, based in Kent, cover London and the South East and act for businesses of all shapes and sizes and in many different sectors. Our advice for businesses covers all aspects of the employment relationship, helping to settle disputes, defending employment tribunal claims and providing employment contracts and handbooks.
The fact is that employment law has become much more complicated in recent years. So you can rest assured that we have a team with terrific expertise and experience across the full spectrum of work. What makes us stand out is the depth of the relationship which we will forge with you based on our unwavering commitment to understand the way you and your business operates. That way we design and tailor our service around your needs – not an off-the-shelf formula. You will experience our unrivalled speed of response, which is consistently praised by those we work with.
So whether it’s dealing with employment tribunal claims or providing a telephone helpline service we’ve got all angles covered to provide commercially driven, strategic and practical advice, given with the energy and proactivity you expect from a trusted professional adviser.
To give a flavour of our work here are some recent examples:
- Advising a multi-academy trust on a claim from a former headteacher concerning whistleblowing, unfair dismissal, breach of contract and unpaid wages
- Advising a multi-national food distribution company in respect of a group of current and former employees who tried to move over £20 million worth of our client’s business to a competitor, we successfully took proceedings against them
- Advising a national insurance broker that had to close one of its sites, we took them through the process of consulting with its workforce
- Advising a care home sector charity on strategies for cost reduction which involved imposing changes to terms and pay, the legality of which was subsequently upheld by the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Accreditations & awards
As a successful SME, we were looking for a highly efficient and professional service when dealing with all HR and legal matters. We have been very impressed with Thomson Snell & Passmore's employment advice service. They have provided excellent, comprehensive compliance advice which has fitted well with our requirements. It has given us confidence and comfort. We highly recommend them and their employment advice service to any SME company.