Whats a Grand Worth £1000

[Stu3k]

Hi Folks

I value the mixed opinions one here and have learnt a lot as a "lurker" that's helped me SO time you gave your honest opinions back

i'm about to get paid off .... seven years and i've help'd grow the business.......Two sides to every story....

Long &short is i work for one of the licensable business(only 4 in UK),seven years nearly eight ,so they want rid of me ,for political/monetary/we can use agency people

I'm offered

Either sign a compromise agreement with 1k more than statutory min, and inherit all tax and ni liability's

option1 (me and famliy could use the cash)

Or

Take the bare minimum and not be gagged, but risk them not paying me,and being happy with myself .

Thoughts please

Edited January 28, 2012 by Steve Bullman
language please!

[felixthelogchopper]

A compromise agreement cannot be enforced if you can prove that you signed under duress

[ThrustSSC]

If they're offering you a compromise agreement they should also be offering to pay for at least one visit to an employment lawyer to get advice. You can bet they've had professional legal advice themselves. Pretty well any professional organisation would stump up on this one.

 

Remember that you can't make someone redundant and then replace them - because it is illegal to make a person redundant: you can only make the role redundant. If you replace them, even with a contract worker, the role wasn't redundant was it?

 

It sounds to me like they are aware of all this, and a compromise agreement of course helps them escape the legal niceties here.

 

Also, if you take the compromise agreement you're potentially liable to tax on what, 2 months of pay? Plus their tax and NI liability, too! How much is all that compared to the £1000 on offer? It eats into the offer, doesn't it? You really need professional advice on this one, as your liability to tax on a redundancy payment can depend on the fine print of your contract. Been there on that one.

 

Don't forget too that you can make £1000 profit on 20m3 of hardwood and a bit of sweat - call it 3 days all in. Why make it easy for them for the sake of three days of effort? I'm a bolshy b*****d so I wouldn't!

[felixthelogchopper]

If they're offering you a compromise agreement they should also be offering to pay for at least one visit to an employment lawyer to get advice. You can bet they've had professional legal advice themselves. Pretty well any professional organisation would stump up on this one.

 

Remember that you can't make someone redundant and then replace them - because it is illegal to make a person redundant: you can only make the role redundant. If you replace them, even with a contract worker, the role wasn't redundant was it?

 

It sounds to me like they are aware of all this, and a compromise agreement of course helps them escape the legal niceties here.

 

Also, if you take the compromise agreement you're potentially liable to tax on what, 2 months of pay? Plus their tax and NI liability, too! How much is all that compared to the £1000 on offer? It eats into the offer, doesn't it? You really need professional advice on this one, as your liability to tax on a redundancy payment can depend on the fine print of your contract. Been there on that one.

 

Don't forget too that you can make £1000 profit on 20m3 of hardwood and a bit of sweat - call it 3 days all in. Why make it easy for them for the sake of three days of effort? I'm a bolshy b*****d so I wouldn't!

 

Good advice

[log dog]

the only thing i would say think about your options ! dont be led into a trap and keep calm and proffesional at all times can you join a union ?

[Cookie]

Good advice above! I was in a similar position a few years back, was offered what seemed like a good deal (a lump sum cash payment) until I had a employment solicitor look it over. As said above the company are obliged to pay the fee for this before you sign anything! Turns out the offer was nothing like what I was owed, so the agreement had to be rewritten before I'd sign. The slightly satisfying thing for me was they had paid a lot of money to some big London law firm to get the agreement drawn up & my solicitor pulled it apart in 5 minutes!!!

Don't sign anything without having it checked first!, hope all works out.

[felixthelogchopper]

the only thing i would say think about your options ! dont be led into a trap and keep calm and proffesional at all times can you join a union ?

 

You might find that a union won't give you help with a problem which exists before you join. It would be a bit like having an accident and then trying to get insurance cover for it. The OP could try their local Citizen's Advice Bureau or see if a local Law school does pro bono work.

[Cookie]

Forgot to say, if you have trouble getting the firm yo pay for a solicitor, check with you bank or home insurance provider, most offer legal cover with the policy or account.

[spudulike]

Compromise agreements often state that you won't be able to work in the same trade for a specified time limit - don't know what your future plans are but be aware of this and see it coming - it is usually used to clear a person out of a company and have no client poaching soon after!

 

Your company will have given you a figure that they think will give the offer a bit of interest - know your rights and if tempted, go in at say £5k or £10k and be prepared to take less - better than taking the first offer.

 

£1K may seem like a lot of dosh but you can burn through that pretty quickly looking for work.

[felixthelogchopper]

Forgot to say, if you have trouble getting the firm yo pay for a solicitor, check with you bank or home insurance provider, most offer legal cover with the policy or account.

 

When I took redundancy from the casino firm I worked for a few years ago, they paid for legal advice and I can't imagine them paying for something they didn't have to. I would expect that they would find it hard to rely on a compromise agreement without it.