How long should an employee be given to consider a settlement agreement?
If your employer has offered you a settlement agreement, you may have been told that they require a response within a short amount of time, for example by the end of the week.
Can an employer insist on such a tight time scale for responding to the settlement agreement offer?
What does the law say?
There is no legal requirement for an offer of a settlement agreement to be open for a minimum length of time.
The employer can withdraw the offer of the settlement agreement at any time before it has been signed by both parties. In reality, this rarely happens because the employer is usually keen to finalise the settlement agreement.
If your employer insists on a tight timescale for you to respond to the settlement agreement, you should immediately contact a solicitor who is able to provide some advice.
Of course, if you don’t intend to accept the settlement agreement, the timescale is irrelevant anyway.
The ACAS Code of Practice on Settlement Agreements
The ACAS Code of Practice recommends a minimum period of 10 days for considering a settlement offer. This is not a legally binding requirement but it is something that an employment tribunal would take into account in determining whether an employer has acted reasonably.
What happens if you make a counter-offer?
Often, employees are worried about what will happen if they make a counter-offer to their employer. If the employer refuses the counter-offer, will their original offer remain open for acceptance?
The employer does not have to keep the offer open for acceptance. Usually, however, the worst that happens is that the employer refuses the counter-offer but says that the original offer is still on the table.
Do you need to set up a settlement agreement?
If you need to establish a UK settlement agreement you will need to purchase a formal, legally approved settlement agreement document which you can find by clicking here.
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