How An Employment Lawyer Can Help You
After getting a decent job, it can be traumatizing to get fired for whatever reason. Fortunately, the employment contract you signed before starting your job, as well as the law, provides safeguards to ensure you cannot be fired without a good reason. While employers may have the right to fire an employee when business is failing, moving in a different direction, due to employee malpractices and other reasons, employers are required to compensate their employees accordingly before parting ways with them. By negotiating a reasonable settlement agreement, employees can be assured of getting a decent send off package when their employer decides to terminate their employment. The question you may be asking right now is - what is a reasonable settlement agreement? Keep reading to learn more.
More information on what is a reasonable settlement agreement
How a Lawyer Can Help You
A lawyer is a professional who has studied law and has been admitted to the bar, so they are legally-qualified and authorized to offer legal services to the public. Lawyers work in law firms that specialise in different fields of law. You will find criminal defence lawyers who help individuals who have been charged with criminal offenses in courts of law. There are personal injury lawyers who help clients who have been injured in one way or another by another party. Constitutional lawyers deal with cases that involve the constitution while employment lawyers handle cases related to employment law, including workplace discrimination and breach of employment contracts. It is important to note that there are many other types of lawyers in existence.
What is a Reasonable Settlement Agreement
After getting fired, you may be presented with a settlement agreement to sign. Since you may not be thinking clearly because of the stress related to the loss of your job, you may sign the agreement and take the pay package offered by the employer. Well, this is not the right approach because a settlement agreement may not be reasonable. Ideally, you should consult a competent employment lawyer to ensure your rights are not breached. Employment lawyers understand the law, so they know what employees are entitled to under the law. This means that they can do the math and come up with a figure that can be compared to what the employer is offering. If the agreement fails to live up to their test, the lawyer can try to negotiate with the employer for better terms. If they are not successful, the case may need to go before a tribunal or court. In many cases, however, lawyers are able to negotiate a reasonable settlement agreement, which ensures that the rights of the employee are upheld.
Why Negotiate?
It is always possible to go to court or a tribunal to dispute the terms offered by your employer for you to leave. However, this is a costly option. It can also be time-consuming, and the outcomes may not be pleasant. That is why experts recommend the use of settlement agreements from the outset. Lawyers are an important part of these agreements, so they should be involved from the start.