The Law Society has responded to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills consultation on ending the employment relationship.
The consultation considered two aspects of ending the employment relationship – facilitating the use settlement agreements (previously known as compromise agreements) by providing employers with a standardised agreement template and looking at whether the cap on compensation for unfair dismissal should be reduced to 12 months pay.
The Law Society submitted that the use of standardised agreements could lead to unforeseen consequences, particularly if a 'one size fits all' approach was adopted. The Society opposes the introduction of a cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal cases which will prevent a substantial number of claimants who have been unfairly dismissed from recovering their losses from the respondent.