On this page we are pleased to share with you some case studies of settlement agreements we have worked on.
January 23 – Northampton – Poor treatment by charity
The client originally came to see Sarah with a settlement agreement which proposed to terminate her employment at the end of September, pay her notice of three months and give her less than one month’s money. Sarah raised concerns openly with the employer (a large charity) about the treatment of the client who was disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act and that she was being threatened to sign the settlement or be dismissed for gross misconduct which was then relied upon as a protected act.
The employer instructed solicitors and they refused to negotiate. With Sarah’s support and expertise the client turned down the offer and was then suspended and raised a grievance of victimisation and the disciplinary process commenced. Sarah assisted the client throughout to navigate the process and be two steps ahead of the employer at all times. As a result of the tactics, the client ended up remaining an employee on full pay for three months with benefits and then receiving her notice and an additional six months net pay on top. Had the charity negotiated at the outset then this matter would have cost them less than half the actual cost to resolve and the client was immensely grateful for the support and guidance. It is rare that discussions break down but the client was so relieved to have expert help.
September 2022 – Milton Keynes – settlement after employment ended
A settlement agreement was offered to the client to exit his employment following a dispute. He had already left and secured another role. When the settlement agreement was received the sums could not be negotiated but we were able to remove the warranty that he had not secured alternative employment without which he could not have signed the agreement. We also managed to get a waiver of the non-compete clause in his contract and an amendment to ensure that the overtaken holiday would not be deducted. There were also a series of other amendments agreed. The client did have to make a small contribution to legal fees of £250 plus VAT given the number of changes but without these he could not have signed the agreement and taken the deal.
August 2022 – Northampton – doubled termination payment
The client instructed Sarah after being presented with a settlement agreement already at work. The offer was low at around £5,000 plus notice pay. As a result of advice Sarah was able to negotiate this payment up to £12,750 instead as well as agreeing a number of amendments to the actual agreement as this was a poorly drafted agreement from the employer full of errors. The legal fee contribution was initially also very low at £350 plus VAT but we were able to increase this as part of the amendments to £500 plus VAT meaning the client had no contribution to pay himself as all of the amendments and counter offer were swiftly accepted.
April 2022 – Hertfordshire – mental health issues
The client came to see Sarah with a settlement agreement which was not particularly generous given the
client had suffered from mental health issues during the pandemic, was in a senior role and had not been sufficiently supported. Sarah assisted the client with negotiating the settlement sums on offer by over 100% by relying on the failure to make reasonable adjustments and the client’s disability under the Equality Act 2010. The client not only secured her notice pay as a lump sum, she was able to remain in employment for an additional month, but also received a discretionary bonus and the settlement sum ex gratia almost doubled. The client was pleased that Sarah was able to secure the results she did in negotiations with the Company’s lawyers.
March 22 – Northampton – final deal three times higher
The client brought Sarah in at an early stage to assist with a mutually agreed exit following a period of ill-health. The client had a complex package as is standard for senior executives but the Company had recently reorganised its equity following a public offering and working out what entitlement the client had under the new equity scheme compared to the older scheme made this matter more complex.
The client had ongoing medical treatment and was able to secure a host of additional benefits or cash for the same including £15,000 expressly to cover medical insurance premiums, extended holiday and a longer termination date. The notice was paid as a lump sum and bonuses secured. In addition, there was a relaxation of the restrictive covenants and the release of some IP behind documents the client created for the Company so she would use these in coaching and training going forward under a white label. The final deal was almost three times higher at the end than initial indications excluding the significant equity that the client was able to retain and cash in.
March 22 – London – significant package
Client was approached by her manager on a without prejudice basis to exit the business after 5 years. The client was on a significant package. Sarah provided advice throughout the negotiation process with the Group CEO advising on package and how to handle the negotiations direct including how to pitch the offers and timing of the exit.
We then had a draft settlement agreement which was conditional only on a sale of the business otherwise the offer would lapse. This did not give the client any protection or guarantees as to whether she would get the sums stated or even exit the business. We were able to negotiate an exit without such conditions on a non-conditional basis as a standard settlement agreement not conditional on a business sale.
There was however a need to reaffirm the agreement due to the passage of time on garden leave. As a result, we were able to negotiate a significant increase on the initial offer and removal of the conditions as well as additional items like announcement, reference etc which had no financial benefit. Initial offer was £286k and concluded at over 70% more at £496k.
February 2022 – Birmingham – bullying claims
Sarah was instructed to advise a senior member of the management team after she was removed from her position and demoted after making bullying allegations. Following initial advice we commenced ACAS early conciliation and commenced negotiations with the employer to effect an exit under agreed terms. We wrote a letter before action and managed to agree an exit for the client. The starting point was that she did not want to return from sick leave and saw her position as untenable. There was no offer but she did not simply want to walk away as she had long service. The initial offer meant that the employer agreed to an exit and offered 3 months’ notice and £20,000 compensation payment. The case concluded with another month on the payroll and the client getting more than double the original offer of over £46,000 in addition to her 3 months’ notice pay. The client did need to make a contribution to legal fees of around £1,500 plus VAT due to the low employer’s contribution but this time resulted in the offer more than doubling so the client was very happy.
Nov 2021 – Northampton – redundancy package
Sarah was asked to advise on a settlement agreement given to the client with a package to exit on a site closure. There was not much that could be done with the offer as it was already enhanced but the agreement required about 17 amendments including securing an enhanced reference for the client rather than a factual reference and agreeing that he could not use his holiday before the termination date and be paid for any days accrued but untaken. The costs of the settlement agreement were borne by the employer solely with no contribution required from the client.
Sept 2021 – Yorkshire – exit after grievance
Sarah was able to assist the client with an agreed exit under a COT3 via the ACAS EC process as she had raised a grievance which was ignored but she wanted to leave and work instead in the family business. Sarah assisted her with the wording of her resignation and negotiating tactics internally where the union were accompanying her to the meetings. An initial offer was received but we were able to increase this by 25% before the matter concluded. We also secured a good contribution to legal fees as part of the deal which meant that the client had no contribution to pay personally. She only paid for her initial fixed fee interview and got the outcome she wanted as a result of the advice given.
May 2021 – London – sales position
Sarah was instructed to advise in relation to the settlement agreement and was able to increase the termination payment from £6,000 to £14,000. There were onerous clauses about removal of connections on LinkedIn which were removed and a relaxation in the restrictive covenants contained in his contract of employment. There was a small contribution to legal fees of £250 plus VAT due to the length of the negotiations on this one to achieve the results which increased legal fees.