The law states that you cannot sign a settlement agreement without consulting a qualified lawyer, a certified union official or an employee of a referral centre. All of these consultants must be covered by liability insurance and should be specialists in transaction agreements. A “protected conversation” allows you and your employer to have confidential interviews before dismissal, without either of you being able to use the conversations in a subsequent wrongful dismissal proceeding against the other. However, this protection applies only to ordinary rights to protection against dismissal, and not to other rights such as discrimination. In addition, the employer loses protection if they behave inappropriately in the conversation, such as by inappropriately putting pressure on you to sign. Another important tip is to make sure you have the right lawyers acting for you. If you don`t trust your lawyers` skills, always remember that you have the right to change lawyers if you wish. At Truth Legal, we have extensive experience in successfully negotiating transaction agreements. Most of the time, it will be a qualified lawyer, but it could also be a union representative or an advisor authorized to advise on settlement agreements. In the absence of an agreement and depending on the nature of the dispute or problem, the solution can be achieved through performance management, disciplinary or recourse proceedings or mediation, whichever is most appropriate.
The following templates are to be used free of charge and will help you establish a transaction agreement and draft a letter of offer for transaction agreements. The main risk of ignorance of the proposed 10 calendar days is whether it could be considered “inappropriate behaviour” and therefore the discussion could be used as evidence in court in an unjustified annulment action. . . .