Employers

A settlement agreement is a formal document which is signed by an Employer and employee, setting out the conditions of termination of employment. Settlement agreements can be used when an Employer wants to terminate an employee’s contract of employment because of a redundancy situation, if there has been an issue at work with regards to an employee’s conduct/performance/illness. Previously, settlement agreements were known as compromise agreements and were often used in contentious situations. However, Employers are now insisting on employees signing such agreements even if there is not a contentious issue.

In order for a settlement agreement to be valid, it must be signed off not only by the Employer and employee but it must also be signed once the employee has sought independent legal advice. A Solicitor will also be required to sign off an adviser’s schedule once the advice to the employee has been given in respect of the terms and effect of the agreement.

Employees

Employees may often feel bewildered when receiving a settlement agreement. They will often be confused as to what the agreement actually means. We are here to provide employees with advice and assistance in considering the settlement agreement with due diligence as well as suggesting amendments if necessary.

Employers are more likely than not to pay for the independent legal advice for an employee to sign off a settlement agreement. This can range from £250 plus vat to £500 plus vat. We will therefore invoice the Employer directly, which means there is nothing for the employee to pay.

When making an appointment to see a Solicitor in respect of a settlement agreement, we advise the employee to do the following:

There are various reasons that an Employer can dismiss an employee such as:

Many people are unaware that there are actually different procedures that are in place when dismissing employees for different reasons. For example, a person being dismissed because of health reasons would have to be subject to different process when compared to someone that is being dismissed for gross misconduct.

Employees may also find themselves feeling "pushed out" of their job role. This can be referred to as "constructive unfair dismissal". In order to succeed in such a claim, the employee must show that there has been a fundamental breach of contract and the employee has had no alternative but to resign. Before resigning in this situation, an employee must follow through the grievance procedure and must also provide a detailed letter of resignation, identifying the precise reasons why he/she is resigning.

Disciplinary procedure

Prior to dismissing an employee and Employer should ensure that the employee has been subject to a fair and reasonable investigation before actually dismissing them.

It is important for the Employer should firstly investigate the matter first and then decide whether or not a disciplinary hearing is necessary. If so, then the Employer should send the employee an ‘invitation letter’ inviting the employee to attend a disciplinary hearing. The invitation letter must fully detail the allegations made against the employee. The letter should also warn of the consequences and sanctions that could result at the disciplinary hearing. The employee will also have the right to be accompanied at the disciplinary hearing by a fellow co-worker or a trade union representative. Lastly, the employee should also be given the opportunity to appeal against the decision.

Grievance procedure

Submitting a grievance to an Employer (usually H.R) is the first step in bringing a work issue to the attention of the employer in order for the issue/complaint to be investigated.

The Employer has a duty to investigate a grievance raised by an employee. It is essential for the employee provide a detailed grievance letter, stating the reasons why a complaint is being raised. The Employer must then investigate the grievance within a reasonable period of time. The employee should be invited to attend a grievance hearing. At the grievance hearing, the grievance will either be upheld or dismissed. The employee will have a right to appeal against the decision.

Discrimination Law in the UK is governed collectively by the Equality Act 2010. This came into force in October 2010. The Equality Act 2010 supersedes previous legislation that dealt with Discrimination Law (such as Race Relations Act 1976, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995).

The statute states that it is unlawful to treat an employee less favourably on the grounds of their sex, race, disability, age ,religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, gender re-assignment or pregnancy.

There are various ways that an Employer can discriminate against an individual/employee such as:

Direct discrimination is treating someone less favourably because of their actual or perceived religion and belief, or because of the religion or belief of someone with whom they associate

Indirect discrimination: can occur where there is a policy, practice or procedure which applies to all workers, but particularly disadvantages workers who hold a particular religion or belief.

Harassment: when unwanted conduct related to religion or belief has the purpose or effect of violating an individual's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual

Victimisation: unfair treatment of a worker who has made or supported a complaint about discrimination because of religion or belief

We advise individuals/employees to take the following action if he/she feels that they are being discriminated against:

Age discrimination

It is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their age, The Employer should ensure that its practice and procedures do not discriminate against an employee’s age in relation to:

Race/Ethnicity Discrimination

Discrimination against an employee’s race, colour, nationality and ethnicity, is unlawful. There are different ways in which an Employer can be deemed to be discriminating an individual/employee at work such as:

Sex Discrimination

An Employer should ensure that an employee is not treated differently because of his/her sex. An example of this may be whereby a male employee is promoted to a position because he is able to work later than his female counter-part and puts in more hours at work.

A reasonable Employer should ensure that an employee is not discriminated against because of his/her sex for the following reasons:

Disability Discrimination

It is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of a disability. The Employer should ensure that its practice and procedures do not discriminate against an employee’s disability in relation to:

The Equality Act 2010 states that a person has a disability if:

When bringing a claim for Disability Discrimination, it is important to know the definitions of the following words:

Sexual Orientation

You are protected against sexual orientation discrimination if:

An Employer should strive to make sure that an employee is not discriminated against at work because his/her sexual orientation.

It is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of his/her sexual orientation. The Employer should ensure that its practice and procedures do not discriminate against an employee’s sexual orientation in relation to:

Religious discrimination

There is no specific list that sets out what can be regarded as religious discrimination. This area of law covers all types of religion. Employers should ensure that they respect the religious beliefs of their employees. It can often be beneficial for Employers to have provisions in place to allow employees to follow their faith in the workplace. This could involve allocating space for prayer rooms, giving employees time off for religious holidays, and or relaxing the dress code to allow an employee to dress according to their faith.

It is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of his/her religion. The Employer should ensure that its practice and procedures do not discriminate against an employee’s religion in relation to: