A Law Society campaign has led the government to re-draft legislation to remove uncertainty over whether a dismissed employee’s solicitor may be said to provide ‘independent’ advice on a compromise agreement.

Compromise agreements are undertakings between employers and dismissed employees, whereby in return for a severance payment the former employee agrees not to take a case to a tribunal. The original wording of the Equality Act 2010 makes such agreements binding if certain conditions are met, such as the employee receiving advice from an ‘independent adviser’ about the terms.

The Law Society’s employment law committee argued that it was unclear whether an employee’s existing solicitor could be said to be an ’independent adviser’, a view that was endorsed by counsel. Last year, a practice note to this effect on the Law Society website received around 16,000 postings from solicitors calling for the wording to be amended.

The Law Society lobbied the equalities office (part of the Home Office), and the Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Order 2012, which came into force on 6 April, now confirms that an employee’s lawyer can be an ‘independent adviser’ for the purposes of preparing a compromise agreement.

Law Society president John Wotton said: ‘The wording cast doubt on whether a solicitor for the employee could be recognised as an "independent adviser". Due to the ambiguity in the legislation, employers would not have been able safely to rely on these agreements without the risk of challenge.’