Compromise agreement - How much

[aero93]

Hi all,

I have a pregnant friend that has recently been asked to consider a comprise agreement to terminate her employment (no mention of redundancy). There has been a number of issues between my friend and her employer over the last couple of months which appear to have come to a head this week by the employer asking her if she would consider a compromise agreement (and making it clear they would like it settled this week).

My friend is open to this idea (probably wouldn't be returning after maternity) but not sure how much she should be asking for or what would be considered a good offer. Although she will be taking legal advice paid for by the employer I was wondering if anyone here had anything they could share or provide any advice at all.

Details -

Age 28
Salary - £33,000
Entitled to 6 weeks full pay, 33 weeks statutory maternity pay. 19 days holiday left
Planned leaving date - Beginning of June

Thanks in advance

[aero93]

Hey Tonker,

Thanks for the reply. She has been with them 4/5 years (I cant exactly remember). Her notice period is one month though. I will ask her to check for a PILON clause.

Cheers

Edited by aero93 on Wednesday 12th January 23:13

[anonymous-user]

Start at 12 months salary, make sure a suitable balance if tax would be an issue is paid as outplacement support. ANd make sure they pay and are directly invoiced for her choice of legal advisor

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 13th January 10:18

[aero93]

They have made their first offer to her of 5k. It would appear that this is far from acceptable..

[Soovy]

She has a vagina.
She's pregnant.


Start the bidding at two year's salary.

[Deva Link]

aero93 said:

They have made their first offer to her of 5k. It would appear that this is far from acceptable..

Her month's notice and holiday pay would be that much, or is that £5K as compensation, plus the other stuff she's due?

[Muzzer]

Soovy said:

She has a vagina.
She's pregnant.


Start the bidding at two year's salary.

This.

If she's pregnant, in HR terms, she's untouchable so start the bidding VERY high.

[okgo]

Soovy said:

She has a vagina.
She's pregnant.


Start the bidding at two year's salary.

[Beardy10]

Muzzer said:

Soovy said:

She has a vagina.
She's pregnant.


Start the bidding at two year's salary.

This.

If she's pregnant, in HR terms, she's untouchable so start the bidding VERY high.

Yup and when she comes back to work she'll still be untouchable as she has a new baby.

Obviously the lady in question is entitled to full maternity leave which is maybe a year ? Obviously unpaid for some of it but still a huge pain for the employer as they have to keep the job open.

I would have thought a year's salary sounds about right. So she would obviously have to ask for more....but wait to find out what they think it's worth.

Certainly it's very unusual to be asked if you want to sign a compromise agreement and not to have a number attached. First thing your friend should do is tell them it's obviously not a great time for this change to happen in her life and obviously the idea of not having a job to go back to is something that worries her but she would consider it if they made the right offer. My guess is they'll offer £5k or £10k....try it on.

Oh and tell your friend to say that she wants all legal fees covered. Sometimes companies only pay £500 or something like that which won't get you very far with a good lawyer. Try and get your friend to use the lawyer (that the company are now paying for) to do all the negotiating/have them be there at any meetings....again it's fairly classic stuff for the company to negotiate directly as they feel they can apply more pressure this way.

[davepoth]

Considering they've given your friend a slam-dunk unfair dismissal claim, they need to be giving her 12 months' gross salary as a minimum.

Compromise Agreements can only be made if there is a situation whereby the person could be leaving the company (i.e. there has to be redundancy or a disciplinary that could lead to dismissal in the offing), and if there is neither of those then the employment tribunal will take the view that the dismissal is unfair.

Remember you can always hold the tribunal costs over the company's head. It'll be at least £15k for them even if they win, so what's the point?

[mad4amanda]

And remember due to the pregnant female bit and the fact she can blame hormones for any "issues" its a sexual equality claim no cap to award average £65k award!