"Without prejudice" conversation and settlement offer following grievance raised against manager

[Quirkyme]

Morning.

Yesterday, I received an email inviting me to a "without prejudice conversation" to discuss a "confidential settlement proposal" following the substantial grievance I raised last month against my manager. The issues included racism, bullying, harassment, multiple data breaches, and colluding with colleagues and customers, all supported by evidence.

The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow April 11th, 2024, via Teams. I'm seeking advice, tips, and insights to prepare effectively. As I'm hesitant to attend alone, I’ll be bringing a friend for support since I'm no longer part of a union.

I spoke with ACAS yesterday for guidance and plan to conduct further research. Any experiences, information, or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I also submitted a Subject Access Request as part of my grievance. Last week I received an emailing informing me they are extending the deadline until the 14th June (!) to provide me the SAR due to its “complex” nature. Is this something I should be considering as part of my settlement/negotiation too?

I’m anticipating potential lowball offers but my goal is to reach a fair and suitable agreement, considering the distress this situation has caused. I'm still willing to pursue this matter to the fullest extent if needed, as reflected by the substantial grievance.

Hopefully I’ll be moving on from this living hell sooner rather than later.

Hi I work in HR. A settlement agreement would probably include the SAR as it basically is a contract between you and the employer saying that you both agree to end the employment contract, and in return for your agreement to certain conditions you will receive an amount of money. The conditions usually include things like non compete clauses and return of company property. It also includes a clause that says you don’t have any outstanding claims against the employer, e.g. you agree to not make any tribunal claims against them and won’t lodge a DSAR or withdrawal of an existing one.

I have been on both sides of this situation and my advice from experience: negotiate a bit but take the money now. Going to tribunal is not an easy option and you’re unlikely to end up richer than if you took the money now. The big payouts you see in headlines are rare, you’re more likely to get a couple of thousand if you’re lucky. You’ll have to show how you mitigated your losses. You will be more stressed going to tribunal. If you genuinely want to just move on, take the money and leave it behind you and try not to hold on to any baggage from this. Focus on the future.

Thank you

There’s no real need to prepare as such. The meeting won’t take long.

They will need to give you time to get advice from a lawyer and will usually make a contribution to the cost of this. Employment lawyers are charging c£450+ for this so make sure they contribute enough money. Ideally, just get them to pick up the bill entirely.

The compensation element is tax free up to £30k. Your notice will be subject to tax and NI.

Get them to include an agreed reference in the draft agreement for you to consider.

Obviously I don’t know how much of a claim you may have but given you mention discrimination google “vento bands” and this will give you an idea of how much you might have got from an ET in respect of injury to feelings.

You should get around 2 weeks to get legal advice so don’t feel pressured into agreeing anything and absolutely don’t accept their first offer.

If you’ve been there a long time see if you can get funding as part of the agreement for an outplacement consultant too to help you get a new job.

Use the meeting to observe, listen and understand their offer and position. You don’t have to say anything other than “I’ll consider this and come back to you soon”.

Negotiation is for after this meeting not during it. Always ask for more but don’t get greedy either.