A settlement agreement is a binding legal contract between an employer and employee. If
you have been presented with a settlement agreement, this article will explain what you
should do to protect your rights.
They are most commonly used to end an employee’s employment contract due to
redundancy or a capability concern. However, they can also be used to settle grievances or
disputes.
Where an employee is going to be leaving their employment under the terms of a Settlement
Agreement, the agreement itself should be seen as creating a “clean break” in the majority of
Settlement Agreement Advice
What should you do with a Settlement Agreement?
What is a settlement agreement?
cases.
Once you accept and sign the settlement agreement, you give up any legal claims you may
have against the employer such as unfair dismissal. This is one of the main reasons that you
should seek independent advice before signing a settlement agreement.
As experienced employment law solicitors, we begin by obtaining as much information as to
the background employment circumstances as possible, so that we can properly advise our
clients on the relevant issues, the potential claims that may stem from these, and the merits
of entering into a Settlement Agreement.
The vast majority of Settlement Agreements will include provision for some form of payment
to the employee, so it is important for the employee to understand the value of any claims
they may be giving up by entering into the agreement, and the merits of those claims ie their
likelihood of success. It is also crucial that the employee is advised on what the employer
may do if the employee does not agree matters. Is the employer likely to proceed to
disciplinary action, or even dismissal? Could this be seen as fair by an Employment Tribunal?
These questions allow us to properly assess the employee’s bargaining position, and that in
turn can help our clients decide if they wish to accept an agreement, refuse it outright, or
have us negotiate on its terms.
Employee Settlement Agreement Advice
One of our specialist employment law solicitors will be happy to have an initial no-obligation
discussion about your settlement agreement and your available options.
Settlement Agreement fees are often covered by an employer in a Settlement Agreement,
and for other employment law work, we have great value fee packages designed to allow our
clients to benefit from expert advice at a reasonable cost.
How the employment law solicitors at ELP Arbuthnott
McClanachan can help you
Tel: 0131 554 8649 or 0131 312 7276
Email: enquiries@elpamsolicitors.co.uk
Website: elpamsolicitors.co.uk
Employment Law: Employment Lawyers Edinburgh



ELP Arbuthnott McClanachan
Contact