Compromise Agreements

Compromise Agreements

For a no obligation telephone discussion about your Compromise Agreement situation call 0800 644 0253

We advise daily on these:

  1. What happens now with my Compromise Agreement?
  2. What is a Compromise Agreement for?
  3. Is this Compromise Agreement proposal the right package for me?
  4. Should I sign the Compromise Agreement?
  5. Can we negotiate the Compromise Agreement offer?
  6. What happens if I do not sign the Compromise Agreement?
  7. What does the tax bit mean within the Compromise Agreement?
  8. Is my employer paying my legal fees for this Compromise Agreement?
  9. Is the reference within the Compromise Agreement right?
  10. Do you offer advice on Compromise Agreements nationally?

We answer all these and more – in plain English and when your employment ends you will have questions!

If your employment is ending or has just ended you may be asked to agree a package of compensation in order to agree the terms of your leaving – the legal term for this is a Compromise Agreement (to be renamed as a Settlement Agreement from April 2012).

(also known as Settlement Agreements)

We are an award winning boutique employment law firm. The positive client experience of the firm is shown by our ISO 9001 accreditation. In the autumn of 2011 we were voted UK Small Law Firm of the Year.

We deal nationally and internationally with employment issues and Compromise Agreements on a daily basis.

What is a Compromise Agreement?

Compromise Agreements are very powerful contracts between employers and employees (or former employees) – they restrict future legal actions and Employment Tribunal and Court remedies. As a result Compromise Agreements are only valid and binding within certain safeguards and limitations:

  1. The agreement must be in writing;
  2. You must have obtained independent legal advice prior to signing the Compromise Agreement;
  3. If the terms of the Compromise Agreement deal only with your employment and the manner of termination.

Bennett’s Legal has vast expertise in negotiating the terms of settlement and Compromise Agreements and advising on the terms offered by the employer. Bennett’s Legal will help and support you if you instruct us to deal with your Compromise Agreement.

We will review the whole document but we focus on the following in the “average” Compromise Agreement:

  1. Is the money offered in your Compromise Agreement enough for your case?;
  2. Is the tax position dealt with effectively by the Compromise Agreement?;
  3. What restrictions will you have from signing the Compromise Agreement?;
  4. Should we negotiate the Compromise Agreement offer for you?;
  5. Do you need a reference within the Compromise Agreement?
  6. What about practical issues like your company car, laptop, Smartphone, private healthcare and are they deal with by the Compromise Agreement?

There is another way of valid settlement through ACAS. Unfortunately ACAS cannot advise you on the merits of terms of any settlement – their role is simply settlement not personalised advice. Our only role (and interest) is to protect your best interests – Solicitors always put their clients first so you can be assured we are firmly on your side.

However we offer the chance to have an expert fighting your corner and seeking to protect your interests in an expert and professional manner. Please contact us to discuss your Compromise Agreement.

Why us:-

  • We have recently scored top marks (5*) in client feedback survey (legallybetter.com an independent review site for Solicitors);
  • We are a 5 * top performing law firm on Solicitor.info employment law;
  • You need expert advice – it’s what we do;
  • We operate nationwide including on tight timescales.
  • Lead by leading employment law and Compromise Agreement specialist solicitor Paul Bennett we are Bennett’s Legal and are just a phone call or email away from helping you regarding your Compromise Agreement.
  • We regularly advise other law firm on handling employment law matters and our Managing Director, Paul Bennett, provides training and advice to other law firms;
  • Bennett’s Legal are Compromise Agreement advice experts and act daily on Compromise Agreement matters so you can be assured of expert legal advice on your Compromise Agreement and settlement;
  • Compromise Agreement advice is a niche field and we are expert within in on a national basis.

Get Advice and Information on Compromise Agreements

Most potential clients are concerned about legal fees and costs when they contact any law firm. Therefore we try and make things simple but using the following approach:

We always inform you about any fees you may incur before you incur any charge so initial contact is FREE on call 0800 644 0253.

We offer the following:

  1. You can contact us FOR A FREE NO OBLIGATION DISCUSSION about your Compromise Agreement and to see if we are the right law firm to advise you. The choice is yours but making initial contact with us will cost you nothing. However 9 out of 10 people who contact us go on to instruct us;
  2. Your employer will usually pay your legal fees – we will confirm this on sight of your agreement and also negotiate our fees with them if the figure offered is too low or unreasonable;
  3. When you may pay a contribution towards your fees:
  • If you employer declines to pay a contribution towards your legal costs (this is rare and can usually be negotiated)
  • If we agree some extra legal advice or service on your behalf such as negotiating heavily with your employer over the proposed agreement. Depending on the agreed employers contribution then we may need to charge you some fees – we only do this if there is a benefit to you i.e. more money, reduced tax liability, a better reference is obtained etc and you have agreed to incur these extra costs. Typically our fees in this scenario are £250-750 plus VAT but sometimes the benefits negotiated will be worth many times more than this sum.

Why We Operate This Way Your legal fees are ordinarily paid by the employer in return for signing the agreement (so rarely do you have to pay our fees!). If they have yet to agree to this do not worry we can negotiate this point for you.

If the fees are not paid by the employer, or if we negotiate heavily on our behalf and need to charge you a fee it will be agreed with you in advance – our ethos is a fair fee agreed in advance.

With us there will be no surprise fees and no misleading or complex “no win no fee” agreements will apply.

We simply agree a fee then we help and advise you.

What To Do Next?

If you are offered a Compromise Agreement and want advice on it please do the following:

  1. Email/send us the agreement – email us or telephone 0844 472 2378;
  2. Telephone us for initial advice – such as “Do I need an agreed reference?” – “What can I tell a prospective new employer” – “Why have I been offered this?” – “What happens regarding income tax?”;
  3. Agree with us a detailed telephone, Skype, email advice session to ensure you sign the agreement only once you are happy with its terms. This can usually be done the same day if you have the agreement already.