Negotiating your settlement agreement

Don’t just read the agreement — read the situation

You’re called into a quiet meeting. Your manager says she wants to talk “off the record” about your future.
“You’re underperforming. We’d rather avoid a process… what if we agree this exit package?”
She slides a document across the table. The cover sheet reads: Settlement Agreement.

Your sales figures haven’t gone through the roof. They might even be trending downwards. So, you knew this wasn’t a conversation about making you “employee of the month.” But where’s the pep talk? Are they not even going to try some performance improvement or support? What’s happening here?

This chapter of our guide is here to cut through the fog. Not with legal jargon — that’s what solicitors are for — but with insight. It won’t make you an employment law expert. But it will help you understand the lie of the land:

• Why your employer is doing this now

• What protections they’re relying on

• What pressure tactics they’re allowed to use — and which ones cross a line

• What happens if you don’t sign

• And how you can keep your options open

Because once you know the landscape, the document in front of you stops being scary and starts becoming what it really is: a proposal. And proposals can be questioned, countered, improved — or even walked away from entirely.

So, before you sign anything, step back. Read the situation.

Let’s get into it.