Bosses warned - dont talk off the record

EMPLOYERS have been warned not to have off the record negotiations with staff about severance pay before parting ways.

Legal experts have highlighted two recent cases that revealed the risk of having to stump up a bigger package in compensation cases when the details of such conversations are raked up at an Employment Tribunal.

Fiona Holdsworth at law firm Kippax Beaumont Lewis said:

Alarm bells are ringing because in these cases employees were allowed to submit evidence from conversations at supposedly confidential without prejudice meetings. It is bad news for both employers and employees. Workers could miss out on attractive settlements because employers will be reluctant to negotiate openly with them.

Managers should think carefully about what they say to staff in meetings about a final settlement package. What they say could turn up like a bad penny. Employers should be on their toes. It effectively means they are now more likely to dismiss first and then negotiate afterwards.

’Without prejudice’ meetings traditionally enable employers to negotiate a payoff without the discussion being used in evidence either in court or before an employment tribunal.