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We are experienced in helping to negotiate the best financial settlements. Our regulated solicitors have worked for large employment law firms and are ready to assist you wherever you are based.
What Is A Settlement Agreement? Settlement agreements were formerly known as compromise agreements.
Settlement Agreements are formal documents that both parties (employer & employee) will sign. The document sets out the terms of an employee’s exit from the company and any associated payments.
You should seek independent legal advice on your Settlement Agreement and your employer will usually make a payment towards the cost of this advice.
Benefits of Settlement Agreements Enabling a fast, efficient and clean break from your employer.
Often you’ll receive more compensation with a Settlement Agreement than you would under your normal employment contract or statutory redundancy.
Settlement Agreements can help to avoid costly and lengthy complaint procedures or tribunal claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to pay for advice?
Your employer will usually make a payment towards your legal costs. On most occasions, this will cover your fees but in the event that is doesn’t, we’ll let you know.
What about a reference?
It is important to consider a reference for seeking alternative employment. We’ll advise you on how best to negotiate this.
Am I signing away my rights?
Signing usually means that you are waiving your rights to pursue claims against your employer and others, including employees. There may be claims that you are unaware of and some exceptions to this rule. We will explain this to you once we are instructed.
How much compensation will I receive?
Your employer will usually offer an amount of money which will be inserted into the Settlement Agreement. We will advise you as to whether the compensation offered is fair or if we believe we can negotiate a higher sum for you.
When will I receive the compensation?
This should be stipulated in the Settlement Agreement and is usually between 14 – 28 days after the agreement has been signed or the termination date, whichever occurs later.
Do I have to pay tax?
Usually, compensation payments will be tax-free if they are £30,000 or less. Any additional payments, including salary or untaken holidays, will be taxed in the normal way.
Who we are Settlement Advice is part of Surenity Employment Law.
We understand that you need to know that you are getting a fair offer, that matters are progressing, your questions have been answered and concerns alleviated.
We realised that some firms unfortunately provide varying levels of service, turnaround times and quality of advice. We, therefore, created a specific
service offering to alleviate concerns for employees.
As part of employment specialist firm Surenity (surenity.co.uk), our Settlement Advice brand provides a front door for employees to receive friendly, down to earth, quality and independent legal advice.
We take calls and new instructions from clients on a daily basis. Our process is tech-savvy and process-driven, meaning that our turnaround times from the point of engagement are impressive.
TEAM
Jennifer Malcolm
Jennifer heads up the Settlement Advice team and is an experienced former solicitor. She trained and worked at Boodle Hatfield, was Head of Legal at advertising and marketing experts VCCP and then Legal Counsel at Edinburgh airport. Jennifer leads the team and is in charge of the firm’s growth strategy. She believes that law firms should provide clear, accurate advice in an easy to understand way.
Melissa Vangeen
Melissa Vangeen is an employment and immigration law specialist who has held prominent positions at top London firms including; Employment Lawyer and Head of Immigration at Watson, Farley & Williams; and Partner and Head of Employment and Immigration at Solomon, Taylor & Shaw.
Nicole Woolf
Nicole qualified as a solicitor at City and International law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in September 1999 where she practised for many years. She advises on a broad range of employment law matters, both contentious and non-contentious.
Amy Sinclair
Experienced in providing employment law services to employers (from new businesses, scale ups, academic institutions up to large corporations).
After training to be a solicitor, she has held positions at Taylor Wessing and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Nicky Cranfield
Nicky advises both employers and senior leaders on all aspects of employment law and HR issues, across a wide range of sectors.
Nicky’s experience includes advising on the full spectrum of people-related matters from recruitment, service agreements and policies, through to day-to-day HR issues such as disciplinaries and grievances, stress and sickness absence and family-friendly rights. She also works on exit negotiations, settlement agreements and redundancy exercises. Nicky’s practice also encompasses providing advice in relation to cross-border issues, TUPE and Tribunal litigation.
After undertaking a Modern Languages degree at Leeds University, Nicky completed her Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School. She then trained and qualified into the employment law team at Eversheds LLP, and subsequently worked at Fox Williams LLP before joining De Beristain Wallace in December 2015 and is now an integral lawyer within the Surenity Employment Law Team.
