Every week, we receive several calls requesting that we witness the signature of a document. After obtaining more details, we regularly find that the employee needs advice on a settlement agreement containing an offer by their employer.
It is a common misconception amongst employees that Settlement Agreements offered by employers are always fit for purpose and non-negotiable. This leads to the belief that the main task of a solicitor is to briefly sum up the content and witness the employee’s signature.
In reality, a settlement agreement can be a negotiable document restricting the right of an employee to bring claims against an employer for a wide variety of employment rights. Once signed, the agreement is legally-binding and can contain a wide range of potential terms. Some terms extend beyond the period of employment itself, for example, the inclusion of confidentiality clauses or restrictions on the employee working elsewhere.
It is, therefore, vitally important that expert legal advice is obtained. In recognition of the need for competent advice, a settlement agreement cannot be legally binding without an employee first receiving independent advice from a qualified advisor. Due to this, it is nearly always the employer who pays for the cost of the legal advice, even though the solicitor’s duty will be to act in the best interests of the employee.
The independent legal advice received invariably depends on the solicitor involved. We believe that the best service is that which fully advises an employee of the content of the agreement, the claims that would otherwise have been potentially available to the employee and the reasonableness of the offer made by the employer.
In order to act in the client’s best interests, there needs to be a focus on the actual reasons behind the employee being offered the agreement and the rights the employee is being asked to give up.
Whenever one of our clients signs a settlement agreement, it will only be after we are satisfied that they have understood the advice we have given them on the sum being offered and the contents of the settlement agreement itself.
By Charles Millett