Authors: Emily Haar, Ben Motro

Has this happened to your organisation? You're negotiating an exit with an employee, or perhaps you are working through a conciliation or mediation following the filing of an employment-related claim, and you think you have a resolution, though nothing has been signed yet. You might wonder, do we have a binding or enforceable settlement, even without anything signed?

In this episode of Employment Law for the Time Poor, Ben Motro and Emily Haar push past some of the legalese to work through when a settlement agreement is binding, how particular Court and Tribunal processes can impact the steps taken to "get to the deal", and what common "settlement" phrases mean and how they may impact the enforceability (or not) of a settlement proposal.

For more practical tips from our Employment Relations team, we are hosting several Workplace Training events throughout the year, including on managing common employee-claims. Subscribe here to ensure you never miss an invite to one of our events.

For additional insights into best-practice drafting of deeds of release more generally, see our on-demand training here, and our summary of the Elisha v Vision Australia decision here.