Compromise Agreement offered

[aandme]

Further to previous posts re unfair dismissal and appeal... now been offered a compromise agreement... what would the usual rate be? They want me to drop grievances in the process and they know I have been treated like absolute s**t for the last year so would have good case I imagine... I think 1 years pay in current finacial climate... does this sound reasonable?

1 year's pay is very top end for most compromise agreements.

Ball park, tribunals expect you to have another job within about three to six months. More at the top end in this economic climate. That's your starting point for negotiation. I can't remember what you said had happened, but discrimination can add an injury to feelings award, but normally only another few hundred to couple of thousand pounds in most cases. You then have to remember that, to be worth doing a deal, they have to see this as coming off better than a tribunal.

You'd be going some to get a year I'm afraid, unless there are really specialised circumstances (e.g. your job is so specialised that only a few employers in the whole country do it).

I had a rock solid sex discrim case being processed, with bullying on the side (whilst I was PG); had directors in the company on the record stating to HR that my boss was in the wrong; Very very clear breaches of contract (eg: he instructed payroll to reduce my salary on grounds that he could hire someone in cheaper - we were in a recession at the time). And even with ALL of that I still only wangled a year out of my old firm..... saying that I did only accept the offer because I already had another job offer...I might have been tempted to go to tribunal if there were no prospect of another job on the horizon. so depends on strength of your case, likelihood of a new job and appetite for a fight (for me the whole thing took 15 months out of my life and was very stressful even without waiting for it to come to a head with a tribunal.

i also had v good grounds for discrim but they offered me 6 months as compromise agreement and weighing it all up with court case etc etc i took the 6 months money
what does you solicitor say?

What Ribena said.

Don't forget if part of a redundancy package your pay-off will be tax free up to £30k.

I was made redundant while on maternity leave, correct procedures not followed etc etc but I was paid an extra three months on top of my three months' notice and, tbh, bit their hand off. Getting out and moving on can be the most rewarding thing about leaving. If you do think a tribunal will give you more, remember that it is a very stressful gamble and your old company will probably play dirty all along the way.

I did actually manage 18 months pay in a compromise BUT I had a rock solid case, all documented and I did a real hard nosed negotiation (my god it was hard!)

Tribunals pay on average 9 months pay and you should only go to trib if you have insurance to cover your legal costs (I didn't but bluffed that I did)

PS my definition of a rock solid case was 4 previous years performance reviews marked at exceed, previous managers commendation, previous performance awards (in order to defend the 'poor' graded performance review), ALL conversations with problem manager documented over previous year, all responses to him documented, all HR responses documented. Solid legal advice on the right buttons to push (you have to be careful what you argue as you need to say things like "this is a breach of the sex discrimination act because.." etc rather than "i feel...")
Lastly when doing it I would advise you to take all emotion out of it (it is a very hard thing to do I know) - but remember at this point you are leaving and the only thing to achieve is MONEY.... you won't get any satisfaction out of it as the whole thing about compromise agreements is that the behaviour/manager is then swept under the carpet....

I recently enetered into a CA.

Unlike a redundancy, which is tax free, a CA is taxable. You need to know which parts are taxable, such as payment in lieu of notice and which parts aren't, and then try and negotiate...

Happy Christmas

Acting for the employer...we have a current case where someone wants to dismiss someone. No procedures have been followed and so it would be automatically unfair. Therefore a comp is the way ahead...and I think that 6 months is appropriate starting point.

An awful lot will depend on your cicumstances. If you end up at Tribunal, most settlements are surprisingly low. The figures are available on line.

My DH got 6 months. Seems to be pretty standard. I agree with lalalonglegs - he was just glad to be out of that situation and free to move on to bigger and better things (which he has!)

Oh yes - I should have said - part of my compromise was that I was made redundant so I got the money tax free....