Redmans help executive client increase their settlement agreement offer by almost £10,000
Summary
How Chris Hadrill, a specialist employment solicitor, represented a client in settlement agreement negotiations and secured the client an increase of almost £10,00 in respect of their ex-gratia (tax-free) amount when he was told that he was going to be made redundant. Chris also helped the client to secure other amendments to their settlement agreement.
Situation
Clive (not his real name) worked for an international manufacturing company in an executive position. After a number of years working for his employer he was approached by the Head of HR for the group companies and told that he was going to be made redundant as part of a cost-cutting exercise. He was offered a settlement agreement. Clive was unhappy about this situation and sought legal advice.
Clive instructed Redmans to negotiate his settlement agreement for him and Chris Hadrill, the partner in the employment department at Redmans, advised Clive on his settlement agreement. Clive wanted, in particular, to secure an increase to the ex-gratia sum he was being offered (which could be tax-free up to £30,000) and increase the contribution to his legal fees that his employer was willing to pay.
What we did
Chris discussed Clive’s concerns about the redundancy process with him, as well as the requirements he had with regards to the settlement agreement terms. Chris advised Clive on the settlement agreement and the redundancy process, and discussed the requirements that Clive had for the amendment of the settlement agreement. Chris then negotiated directly with Clive’s employer to secure the amendments that Clive wanted.
Chris negotiated a higher value of settlement agreement (an increase of approx. £10,000 to the ex-gratia value (tax-free up to £30,000) that had initially been proposed) for Clive. Chris also managed to negotiate an increase to the legal fee contribution (to cover off Clive’s fees for the agreement), as well as securing a number of other amendments that Clive wanted.
The result
After a short period of negotiation, as detailed above, Clive’s employer agreed to increase the value of the tax-free ex-gratia sum of the settlement agreement by almost £10,000, to pay Clive out in respect of his payment in lieu of notice and holiday pay, and increase the legal cost coverage so that Clive didn’t have to pay anything out of his own pocket for the advice. It was also agreed that the terms of the agreement – and the reason for Clive leaving his position as an executive with his employer – would be covered by a mutual confidentiality clause, that both parties would agree to not say derogatory things about the other after the agreement was completed, and that Chris would receive an agreed written reference from the business in the future.
Chris Hadrill, the specialist employment solicitor who dealt with Melania’s case, commented on the case: “Redmans are specialists at helping executives to negotiate their severance packages – we deal with the full range of issues relating to executive settlement agreements, including settlement agreements, share options, restricted share units, and other forms of equity. We were delighted to help the client in this matter and look forward to helping other clients in the future.”