Employee refusing legal advice on Settlement Agreement

Hi Rachel

I have encountered employees who say they just want the money and don’t want any advice. In that case, once they know that the deal will not proceed without this step, and as others have advised it cannot proceed without this step, they go off to a solicitor.

Actually, you could proceed but the agreement would not be worth the paper it was written on and you would effectively be making the deal on a handshake.

Sometimes I have had staff who have not wanted advice because they do not know any solicitors. In that case, I would direct them to the Law Society’s website where there is a Find a Solicitor tool.

I have a list of solicitors in the area and either give them the list (not as a norm but the nervous) or give them a list of three. They usually go for the first one!
I once had to find the only employment solicitor in Dereham as the individual wanted someone very local.

I have a list of solicitors in the area and either give them the list (not as a norm but the nervous) or give them a list of three. They usually go for the first one!
I once had to find the only employment solicitor in Dereham as the individual wanted someone very local.

Anyone duly accredited to sign off settlement agreements won’t be able to do it unless at an absolute minimum they’ve satisfied themselves that the employee understands all the various main consequences of their signing the Agreement, principally that they’re signing-away all rights to claim for their unfair or unlawful dismissal or for unlawful discrimination by their employer, but also other aspects - typically non-disclosure conditions etc.

Provided the employee responds with something like ‘ Yes, I understand all that - just get on with it - I’m entirely happy to sign up to it all’ then that’s all that needs to happen. Whether or not it has amounted to ‘legal advice’ is IMHO open to debate, but at a very basic / limited level I suppose it has. Even though it’s probably only taken a matter of a few minutes. The signer-off nonetheless pockets their standard few hundred £ fee (typically paid directly by the employer) and (usually) everyone’s happy.