Compromise agreements limited

The Employment Act 2002 is expected to become law this month. Following a vigorous campaign in the House of Lords the government has withdrawn a proposal which would have allowed employers to get their employees to sign away all their statutory employment rights as part of a compromise agreement between the employer and employee. This would have included rights under sex and race discrimination law even in circumstances where, at the time of signing the agreement, the employee was unaware of the fact that such statutory rights had been breached.