I provided some advice to a client who had been made redundant and wanted to know if he could take action against his employer.
His contract provided that a 4 week notice period could be given by either party to terminate his $200k+ position, well over the high income threshold of $158,500, which takes an employee out of the Fair Work Act jurisdiction, so the employer could have terminated his position by giving 4 week’ notice.
However, the employer offered him 4 weeks’ pay in lieu of notice, 8 weeks redundancy pay and an ex gratia payment of another 4 weeks’ pay and also waived all of the trade restraints, preventing him from taking a position in a company which competed against the employer, some of which were probably enforceable, but which also included various confidentiality provisions (though I believe he is nevertheless not allowed to disclose information that is not in the public domain).
In the circumstances, the settlement was inexplicable. I advised him to sign and accept the offer quickly, which he did.
For advice on termination of employment contracts, see Michael Paterson & Associates