Agree to settlement agreement?

Questioner

My current employer, where I have been working for 7 years now, presented me with a draft settlement agreement last week in order to ultimately be able to terminate the (permanent) employment contract by mutual consent. I am 61 years old and have always functioned to my full satisfaction before the arrival of the current director (for the past six months) and there is supposedly no file on me and the substantiation of the stated dissatisfaction is rather thin and rather subjective. In the current proposal, I will receive, in broad terms, continued payment for 6 months (without any obligation to perform work), approximately 10,000 euros in transition compensation and 5,000 to spend on an outplacement program. All this will stop as soon as I start working elsewhere in the coming six months. My question is this: - from a legal point of view and given the circumstances - is this a reasonable proposal or should I take other steps, such as appealing or setting higher requirements? The situation is not such that I would want to continue my work with much job satisfaction.

Lawyer

Firstly, if you are dismissed with a settlement agreement, you are entitled to the statutory transition payment. This seems to be included in the proposal in your case. Secondly, your employer cannot force you to sign a settlement agreement. It is your own decision whether you agree to it. Before you agree to it, it is important that you are clear about the terms of the agreement and that they are in your favour. Thirdly, it is important to know that if you sign a settlement agreement, you are normally entitled to unemployment benefits, provided that the agreement is drawn up correctly. Therefore, it is essential to have the agreement checked by a lawyer or attorney. Fourthly, because there is supposedly no file on you and the dissatisfaction is slightly substantiated, it seems that your employer would not be able to fire you for poor performance. It therefore seems that you may be in a strong negotiating position. Given your advanced age, it may be more difficult to find another job, so it may be relevant to ask for a higher transition payment or longer salary payment during negotiations. These are general guidelines. Consider consulting a specialized employment lawyer for advice based on your specific situation. ------------- Stichting Rechtswinkel.nl is a national organization with students and volunteers. The above advice is based on limited information and may be incomplete or even incorrect for your situation. Always consult a lawyer or attorney for your further steps. Read disclaimer: https://rechtswinkel.nl/disclaimer I would like to invite you to rate the above answer so that we can learn from your response.