For virtually every executive, the prospect of having one’s employment terminated on grounds of summary dismissal would cause understandable alarm. Where summary dismissal occurs, the right to receive notice of termination or pay in lieu of notice is forfeited.
Termination of employment
Negotiating a Deed of Release
Our related article was entitled Termination of Employment – Strategies for Senior Employees leading up to your Departure. In that article, we discussed a miscellany of considerations that should be weighed up before negotiating a Deed of Release. In this article, we review the key components that together make up such an agreement.
Your common-law rights and reasonable notice claims
Many written employment contracts contain termination clauses which are defective. This is either because the documentation is so basic that a termination provision is not even mentioned or, if it is, the termination clause operates in a very narrow set of circumstances, none of which are relevant to the case at hand.
Redundancy advice – are you entitled to a severance payment?
Many senior employees seeking redundancy advice labour under a misapprehension as to their redundancy rights. The value of those rights depends upon the “fine print” of the redundancy policy or employment contract provisions (assuming they exist).
Wrongful termination and the law of contract
Wrongful Termination occurs when an employee’s employment is terminated by the employer breaching the contract of employment. Depending upon your contractual position regarding the termination provision (including seniority), a wrongful termination claim may mean you have a reasonable notice claim at common law.
Termination of employment – strategies for senior employees leading up to your departure
Much of the stress of termination of employment can be reduced by better understanding the process and adopting a strategic approach to the exit negotiations. Only a small number of senior employee terminations should ever warrant the issuing of legal proceedings.