North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire has burst into life - with people enquiring about whether they can challenge the council's Compromise Agreement.
The answer appears to be - YES.
Crucially, it depends on the exact circumstances surrounding the Compromise Agreement - which council employees were required to sign before they could get their hands on their own money.
But, broadly speaking, things appear to have followed the same path as Glasgow - see the two previous posts to this site dated 26 March and 1 April 2008.
The feedback we've had from North Lanarkshire is that the council organised local acceptance meetings - and hand picked the 'independent' solicitors who were on hand to give people advice.
But, in practice, the 'independent' solicitors were unable to offer any practical advice on the day of the acceptance meetings - because no one could explain how the council's offer of settlement was calculated.
So, no one was able to say whether these offers were good or bad - and what chance people stood of getting a much better outcome - if they pursued a claim via the Employment Tribunals.
The upshot is that the council may well have acted unfairly - if it turns out that people accepted a poor deal - without the benefit of legal advice that looked at the issues from the council employee's point of view.
So, if you think this applies to you - you should certainly consider challenging the Compromise Agreement - and how the council behaved at the time.
Contact Mark Irvine if you need further help or advice: markirvine@compuserve.com
The answer appears to be - YES.
Crucially, it depends on the exact circumstances surrounding the Compromise Agreement - which council employees were required to sign before they could get their hands on their own money.
But, broadly speaking, things appear to have followed the same path as Glasgow - see the two previous posts to this site dated 26 March and 1 April 2008.
The feedback we've had from North Lanarkshire is that the council organised local acceptance meetings - and hand picked the 'independent' solicitors who were on hand to give people advice.
But, in practice, the 'independent' solicitors were unable to offer any practical advice on the day of the acceptance meetings - because no one could explain how the council's offer of settlement was calculated.
So, no one was able to say whether these offers were good or bad - and what chance people stood of getting a much better outcome - if they pursued a claim via the Employment Tribunals.
The upshot is that the council may well have acted unfairly - if it turns out that people accepted a poor deal - without the benefit of legal advice that looked at the issues from the council employee's point of view.
So, if you think this applies to you - you should certainly consider challenging the Compromise Agreement - and how the council behaved at the time.
Contact Mark Irvine if you need further help or advice: markirvine@compuserve.com
