Employment Lawyer Advises What To Do With A Settlement Agreement

Employment Lawyer Advises What To Do With A Settlement Agreement

If the company you are working at decides to terminate your contract due to redundancy or because there has been a dispute that you had to handle with upper management, then there is a chance they might offer you something called a settlement agreement. A settlement, as you can see here, refers to the idea of resolving any issues whatsoever without court action. In this specific case, it usually serves the purpose of protecting the employer.

How so? Well, to put things as simply as possible, employers offer these agreements because in an effort to avoid employment law claims. If they simply fire a certain employee, those people can decide to file a claim for things like wrongful or unfair termination, and similar things.

So, instead of having to worry about all of their ex-employees, companies decide to offer those settlement agreements when they are letting people go on account of redundancy or after a dispute. It is clear that the agreement can certainly protect the employer. Does that mean, however, that it does absolutely nothing for the employee?

Well, the good news is that this isn’t correct. To put it differently, there is something in it for the workers too when settlement agreement are in question. Basically, companies often have people sign these agreements in exchange for a lump sum of money that is usually called termination payment.

Read more about how these are actually written: https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Settlement-Agreement

Now, since the employers are the ones creating these agreements, and since the workers are simply there to sign their names and get the money in return, you might come to a wrong conclusion. In simple words, you might start thinking that there is no need for you, as the employee, to think about how this agreement will be made in the first place. In fact, there is no need for you to think about anything but signing your name and getting the money.

Is this really true, though? Well, I suppose you understand that it most definitely isn’t. You are the one who needs to be absolutely sure that your very rights are properly represented and that you are getting the best possible deal when it comes to contracts like these. If you simply sign the document that the company you’ve worked at will give you, without thinking anything through, you might regret your decision afterwards.

This is not to say, though, that you shouldn’t sign these specific documents. The point is that there are some things you should do before signing your name, and that’s precisely what we are going to be talking about today. So, if you continue reading, you’ll understand what an employment lawyer thinks you should do about and with the settlement agreement. That will undeniably make things a lot easier.

First Things First, Get A Lawyer

Above I have mentioned the fact that the employer will create this agreement and that your task will simply be to sign it. I have also explained that these usually serve to help companies avoid certain employment law claims. Does all of this mean, though, that you shouldn’t even think about getting a lawyer during the process of accepting the employment settlement agreement that you are being served? After all, the whole point is to avoid claims and legal professionals, so why would you hire a lawyer?

Things are not quite like that, however, and that’s a good thing. If you are under the assumption that there is no need for you to get a lawyer for this particular process, then you definitely have the wrong assumption. Hiring these experts will certainly be of enormous help, as they will review the agreement thoroughly and let you know if you should renegotiate certain terms or if you might need to take some other actions before actually signing the agreement.

But Make Sure You Hire Great Ones

If your plan is now to simply get the services of the very first lawyer you come across, without thinking carefully about whether that is a good idea or not, then you’re, once again, wrong. What you have to do instead is research different professionals and do your best to hire the perfect one for you. This may take some time, but it will undeniably be worth it. You want to get what’s best for you out of the agreement, and you need an experienced employment lawyer to help you out with that.

Let Them Negotiate For You

A lot of people aren’t exactly great at negotiating the terms when it comes to things like these, and I can definitely understand that. The good news is that you don’t really need to be a great negotiator, since you can actually get professionals to go through the negotiation process on your behalf. So, if you are not sure whether getting lawyers to negotiate or renegotiate the terms for you, let me tell you right away that doing this would be a great solution.

Make Sure That The Deadline For Making A Decision Is Reasonable

When you are making a settlement agreement with your employer (more info), the company will offer a certain deadline for accepting or rejecting the offer, which is perfectly normal. Yet, what’s not normal is for the deadline to be unreasonable. Most companies will offer completely reasonable deadlines, but you need to talk this through instead of ignoring it, especially if you don’t really like the first deadline that they will give you.

Think Carefully About Whether You Like What You Will Get

Speaking of things you will like or not like, the most important thing to think about here is whether you are getting a good deal out of your settlement agreement. If you, for whatever reason, feel that you are not getting enough money, you should follow that thought and talk to a pro to check if your assumptions are correct. That way, you will avoid settling for less than reasonable and you’ll actually get the settlement agreement you deserve.