The government has responded to our concerns about the validity
of compromise agreements drafted under the Equality Act. From 6
April, the Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Order 2012 will amend
section 147 to confirm that an employee's lawyer can be an
independent adviser for the purposes of preparing a compromise
agreement.
Law Society president John Wotton commented:
'The wording of this section casts doubt on whether a solicitor
for the employee could be recognised as an 'independent adviser'
for the purposes of preparing a compromise agreement. This could
have rendered unenforceable any discrimination-related elements of
a compromise agreement made following an employment dispute on
which the solicitor had up until that point given advice to the
employee.
'Employers would not have been able to safely rely on these
agreements without the risk of challenge due to the ambiguity in
the legislation.'
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