Compromise Agreement Solicitors & Lawyers » Dismissal Before the Termination Date

Employment Law – Automatic Unfair Dismissal – Reasonable belief of Serious and Imminent Danger – Health & Safety

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:08:14 +0000

In the case of Oudahar v Esporta Group Ltd [2011], the claimant was a chef. The respondent had some electrical work undertaken in the workplace and the claimant asserted that there were unsecured electrical cables. As a result and contrary to the respondent’s instructions, the claimant refused to mop the floor near this area, for fear of his own safety.

The claimant was suspended as a result and, in the investigation which followed, a witness asserted that the claimant was in no danger in the area in question and had not at the time conveyed that he was in any danger. The claimant was dismissed on the basis that he (i) did not observe food hygiene practices, and (ii) failed to obey instructions. The employee relied on the Employment Rights Act 1996, s100(1)(e): ”(1) An employee who is dismissed shall be regarded for the purposes of this Part as unfairly dismissed if the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is that – …. (e) in circumstances of danger which the employee reasonably believed to be serious and imminent, he took (or proposed to take) appropriate steps to protect himself or other persons from the danger.” Decision The Employment Tribunal (ET) ruled that the claimant’s dismissal did not fall within s100(1)(e) by reason of the fact that the respondent had investigated the health and safety risk and found there was none, as conveyed by the witness.

The result was that the employee was being dismissed for a failure to follow reasonable management instructions. The respondent appealed against the decision. Appeal The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that the ET had failed to properly apply s100(1)(e). The EAT said that the ET needed to consider (i) whether there were circumstances of danger which the employee reasonably believed to be serious and imminent and whether he took or proposed to take appropriate steps to protect himself, and (if the criteria were made out) (ii) whether the employer’s only or main reason for dismissing the employee was that the employee took or proposed to take such steps. If it was, the dismissal must be regarded as unfair. The Tribunal reached a conclusion on this second question but it did not reach a conclusion on the first.

Also, the mere fact that the employer disagreed with the claimant as to whether there were circumstances of danger, or whether the steps were appropriate, was irrelevant. The appeal was allowed and returned to the ET for reconsideration.

Employment Solicitors, Employee Rights, Compromise Agreement, Redundancy payment

admin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:48:37 +0000

An employee should seek legal advice on an offer proposed by an employer if being made redundant. We are seeing that sometimes when an employee has another job offer, the employee is keen to leave his or her employment and does not seek legal advice on the offer. Once the compromise agreement is signed, it becomes a binding agreement.

If you require legal advice on a compromise agreement, please contact RT Coopers at enquiries@rtcooperssolicitors.com or visit one of the following pages on employment law:

© RT COOPERS, 2010. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances

Compromise Agreement, Employment lawyers London, Negotiating a Settlement

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:52:29 +0000

Our employment solicitors are finding that a numbe r of employers are offering employees compromise agreements in circumstances where there is no dispute and/or redundancy, but as a means of mutual agreement. The employer has to act fairly. The employee has to negiotiate a good package. It is worthwhile seeking legal advice from our employment lawyers in London at this stage to ensure that the employer is acting within the law and the employee is getting the best possible settlement.

If you require employment law advice especially on your compromise agreement, as we are specialist employment lawyers in London.

Employment Lawyers, Voluntary Severance

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:19:52 +0000

If an employee agrees to take voluntary severance, the employee may have a 3 – 6 month’s notice period. The employee’s employment would end at the end of the notice period (‘the Termination Date’) by mutual agreement. It is usual practice to place the employee on garden leave up to and including the Termination Date.

If you require further information please contact us at enquiries@rtcooperssolicitors.com or visit one of the following pages on employment law:

Employment Lawyers London – Employment Solicitors – Compromise Agreement Solicitors London

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:33:21 +0000

An employee must ensure that any reason given by an employer in a compromise agreement for the employee leaving his/her employment is accurate.

Commonly, compromise agreements will say “your employment shall terminate on the Termination Date by reason of redundancy” or “your employment shall terminate on the Termination Date by mutual agreement”. It is not unheard of for a compromise agreement to state that an employee’s employment will terminate “due to capability”, where this assertion might be contended by the employee, so it is important that an employee attempts to negotiate such expressions out of the compromise agreement as this could have an adverse effect on the employee’s endeavours to secure subsequent employment. The reason being that an employer could refer to this reason for leaving in the employee’s reference.

If you require further information please contact us at enquiries@rtcooperssolicitors.com or visit one of the following pages on employment law:

Employment Lawyers – Post Termination Provisions

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:03:48 +0000

Post Termination Obligations

When senior executives are leaving a company, the company may add additional clauses to their compromise agreements to ensure that they are bound. A typical clause would be

“You acknowledge that you will continue to be bound by the terms of your employment contract in relation to Confidentiality, Intellectual Property, Inventions and Patents and Post-Termination Obligations.”

If you require further information please contact us at enquiries@rtcooperssolicitors.com or visit one of the following pages on employment law:

Employment Law Advice – Garden Leave – Compromise Agreement – Dismissal – Redundancy

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:27:28 +0000

A number of employees are being placed on garden leave and do not know what to expect during this period. You can be put on garden leave up to and including your termination date. If you are an employee, your employer may require you to sign a compromise agreement whilst on garden leave. This means that you would not be required to attend work or undertake any work. For instance, an employee will:

remain an employee of the employer until the termination date;
continue to receive normal salary and contractual benefits (less usual deductions for tax and National Insurance contributions);
be required to take any outstanding holidays;
not contact any customers, suppliers or business contacts of its employer or an Associated Company, or undertake any work on behalf of its employer or any Associated Company without the prior consent of, the employer;
not undertake work either on a self-employed basis or for any other company, firm, business entity or other organisation;
not contact the press or other media or make any statement regarding the employer or any Associated Company;
maintain obligations of good faith, fidelity and confidentiality.

The employer may:-

require the employee to carry out duties other than the employee’s normal duties ;
in its absolute discretion, appoint another person to carry out some or all of the employee’s duties.

If you require further information please contact us at enquiries@rtcooperssolicitors.com or visit one of the following pages on employment law:

Advice on Employment Law – Return of Property to Employers

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:10:22 +0000

If you are an employee, your employer may ask you to give a warranty in your compromise agreement that before the Termination Date you will delete irretrievably any information relating to the business or business contacts of the Employer that you have stored on any magnetic or optical disk or memory of any personal electronic devices, including computers of any description, and/or mobile phones.

We have dealt extensively with warranties in this blog.

RT Coopers Solicitors can advise you in this regard. Contact enquiries@rtcooperssolicitors.com for a meeting or more specialist advice. We will give you an indication of our costs.

Garden Leave – Compromise Agreements

admin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:48:39 +0000

There are circumstances when an employee may be placed on garden leave before the employee’s termination date and the signing of the employee’s compromise agreement. If you are an employee and you find yourself in this situation you have to ensure that, during the period you are at home outside the office, you are still discussing with your employer the terms of your compromise agreement. If in doubt, seek advice.

We are advising a number of clients that are placed on garden leave because, for instance, their employers want them to take this time away from the office without paying them in leiu of notice.

Use the time at home to sort out your pension rights (if applicable), to ensure that all of your holiday entitlements are agreed and that you are happy with the terms of your compromise agreement.

Warranties in Compromise Agreements Cont’d

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:27:32 +0000

We are continuing with our discussion on warranties in compromise agreements. Our previous entries explain a number of warranties that you will have to give to your employer. One of the key warranties is that:

1. You have received independent legal advice on all and any claims that you might be able to bring against your Employer in the Employer Tribunal and the High Court/County Court in respect of your employment and termination of employment.

2. You further warrant you have reviewed such claims with the Independent Adviser and been advised upon the possibility of pursuing such claims and you waive your rights to pursue such claims

3. You further warrant and confirm that:

i. You have no other complaints whatsoever against your Employer (except those referred to in the previous entries on warranties);

ii. You acknowledge that your Employer has agreed to pay the Severance Payment only on the strength of that warranty;

iii. Save in respect of claims relating to personal injury and pension rights (as explained in the earlier entries), you will refrain from presenting any complaint to an Employment Tribunal, County Court or High Court; and

iv. You will not present your Employer with any questionnaire, data subject access request or request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (if relevant) in relation to your employment or its termination or in relation to any other matter arising prior to the date of the Compromise Agreement except in respect of any breach or information which may come to light after the date of the Compromise Agreement.

More regulations in the next blog entry.