Resign or take offer?

Hi All,

I am in a bit of a predicament, I am a stock broker and I am not sure what to do in this situation.

My line manager has been treating me unfairly (excessive and unjustified criticism) and she is keen to make me leave the firm. She has advised that I will be put on a performance improvement plan. I met with HR and described my treatment by her and they have offered me a Settlement Agreement.

Under the Settlement Agreement they will:
- pay me my salary for the notice period in one lump sum
- let me choose the termination date so I can go on gardening leave
- let me keep my work blackberry (no sim)
- give me a standard reference (not sure if they will give me a non-standard one anyway but I called the HR people and they say they give the same reference regardless of what has happened internally (risk management?)
The culture in the team, as you can imagine is male driven and they are quite laddish/cowboys so it would be in the firm’s interest have me sign a gagging clause. They have made remarks about me as a girl but I fight back (have to be tough on the floor!) but it’s the thought of being pushed out that is more hurting!

I have done ample research on this matter but I wanted to know what your thoughts were. I am worried that my next employer will know that I settled with the firm (rather than a normal resignation) and incorrectly assume that I did something wrong!

Can anyone provide any advice on if there will be an audit trail that I settled with my employer? E.g. on my P45/P60 because if they see an ex gratia payment it suggests settlement which suggest I was mistreated by the firm or that I was underperforming (neither of which are good for the new employer to know).

Many thanks,

B

 
Best Response

Sounds like you realize you're done and are just deciding between resigning and taking a settlement, worried that a settlement will follow you around whereas a resignation would not, so the settlement may not be worth the extra compensation.

First of all, I'd read the terms of the settlement very carefully, it may have a dual-gag order---you can't talk about what happened and neither can then, which should give you comfort. However, for the vast majority of employers, I'd like to think that even if they knew you had settled with a past employer, would view it more that there was something wrong on the employer end, not that you are some sort of troublemaker.

It sounds like the firm wants to put this behind them as much as you do--they are trying to make your transition into your next job as easy as possible--and in exchange are asking you to agree to settle. Seems like the rational thing to do for both sides in what is a toxic situation.

 

Thank you for your replies.

You hit the nail on the head and, its a settlement vs. normal resignation. I have accepted that I am indeed on my way out and my manager is just doing some CYA work to cover his back.

I will ask my lawyer to draft some wording so see what my best offer would be so I can compare this to a normal resignation. In the meeting they can not suggest/pressure me to sign but she voluntarily offered to bump up the money (with out me even mentioning it).

I will call the UK tax offices to see if the Ex Gratia payments come up on the P45, from a quick google it doesnt seem to mention anything about tax free payments.

 
ostrich:

Head for the hills if you're beefing with HR imo

Not beefing with HR at all, just trying to get a fair settlement as they have offerent me literally no incentive to sign, as opposed to settle.

 

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