Redmans help client increase their settlement agreement offer by over £3,000

Summary

How Chris Hadrill, a specialist employment solicitor, represented a client in settlement agreement negotiations and secured the client an increase of £3,000 to their redundancy package, as well as other amendments to the settlement agreement.

Situation

Alex (not her real name) worked for an IT solutions company for a number of years in a mid-level role. One day she was approached by his employer and told that they didn’t think things were “working out” at the business for her. She was then offered a settlement agreement by his employer and told to get legal advice. Alex wasn’t particularly happy with the amounts that their employer was offering to enter into the settlement agreement, as it appeared to her that she was only being offered a ‘de minimis’ amount to enter into the settlement agreement. Alex also wanted to see whether it would be possible to release her from a ‘non-compete’ clause that she was bound by under her contract of employment and, also, to see whether it would be possible to extend her garden leave period for as long as possible so that she had the longest possible period of time in which to find a new job.

What we did

Sam got in touch with Redmans and Chris Hadrill, the partner in the employment department, called Sam to discuss her  case with her. Chris took on board Sam’s concerns and represented her in her settlement agreement negotiations. He went through’s Sam’s settlement agreement in depth with her, discussed what amendments should be made to the agreement with Sam, and negotiated the matter directly with Sam’s employer for her.

Chris made the point to Sam’s employer that no fair procedure (no procedure at all) had been followed before the employer decided that Sam wasn’t capable of doing the job any more, and negotiated a higher value of settlement agreement for Sam. He also managed to get Sam’s employer to release her from the non-compete covenant under Sam’s contract of employment and, further, to increase the period of garden leave that Sam’s employer was willing to give her. Finally, it was agreed that Sam’s employer would cover the entirety of Sam’s legal costs for the advice.

The result

After a lengthy period of negotiation, as detailed above, Sam’s employer agreed to settle her potential unfair dismissal claim in return for giving her an extra sum of money as compensation (over £4,000), to pay Sam in respect of her notice period, to give Sam an extended period of garden leave, to release Sam from her non-compete covenant, and to cover Sam’s legal costs. It was also negotiated that the terms of the agreement – and the reason for Sam leaving her employer – would be covered by a mutual confidentiality clause and that Sam would receive an agreed reference from the business in the future.

Chris Hadrill, the specialist employment solicitor who dealt with Sam’s case, commented on the case: “I was delighted to represent the client in this matter and to achieve what the client was looking for – the solicitors at Redmans always try to go above and beyond to achieve client expectations.”